The Official Houston Dynamo / MLS Thread

Rico with a pretty amazing and out of character goal to tie up the game at Dallas

 

For some reason the team thinks that Barnes' performance is worth near DP level money. Hopefully the rumors aren't true but I'm afraid they are.

http://www.dynamotheory.com/2015/9/...houston-dynamo-chandler-hoffman-taylor-hunter

 

Heard he was still injured though, dealing with something.

 

I think Barnes has been hurt. Up until the gold cup he was playing like a top 5 player. It also doesn't help that he is paired with bruin up front who botches more plays than anyone in the league. Give him a full year with Cubo playing in front of him.

 

Bruin is as good as or better than Barnes when it comes to scoring stats (total goals, goals per minute, and goals per shot). Barnes does more fancy dribbling and Bruin had a number of good chances that he blew which tends to change people's perception, but to say that one of them is a top 5 player and the other is trash shows a lot of bias.

At the end of the day they are both, like almost everybody else on this team, pretty average MLS players. Which makes it even sadder that Cubo hasn't been able to beat either one of them out of a starting spot.

 

Well, the crapper of a season ended with a 0-3 pasting by Vancouver last weekend. I wonder where they go for 2016. Right now, they're risking becoming completely irrelevant in this city. Yes, there's still the supporters groups and there are still enough soccer people in the area to keep attendance from going completely in the toilet. But if they hope to win the casual fan over, they're going to have to make some kind of splash.

If they go into 2016 with few changes, I for one, won't be attending any games next year. It was boring, uninspired, slow, and generally disorganized soccer for most of the season. I'm not sure what they can or will be willing/able to do. I believe that Coyle didn't have the types of players that fit what he was trying to do. He doesn't have any true wingers and he doesn't have the guys that finish the crosses consistently. He doesn't have the central midfield threats from distance (was also the downfall of Kinnear since Holden left). Sometimes, it's actually hard to tell if the defense is good or bad when the midfield is constantly giving the ball away in dangerous spots (a Rico Clark specialty). There's only so much pressure a defense can handle before giving up a goal.

On top of that, Tyler Deric has a knack for the spectacular but makes mistakes at crucial times. He still gets himself lost on balls out of the wings. I think he's worth keeping but he's going to have to do better when it doesn't take the amazing save. If you look back at those Save of the Week saves, they were mostly from in the box. It's the shots from 20-25 that he seems to struggle...which are usually given up because of a failure in the midfield. I'm not saying they couldn't find ways to improve the defense...but it's not entirely on the back 4 either.

There is one think I truly hope will finally happen for this team. If this is the only thing that happens and nothing else changes on the field, I would still be satisfied. Don Garber and the MLS needs to force AEG to sell their stake in the Dynamo. Going into their 20th anniversary year, it's time for the MLS to act like adults and end multi-team ownership.

 

I agree with you on all points, leroy. Except for the fact that Tally Hall doesn't play for the Dynamo anymore.

In addition to what you said, I'm extremely disappointed with the Cubo Torres signing thus far. He was with the team for approximately the last 1/3 of the season and it seemed like he barely played. And when he did see the field, I saw nothing to make me think that giving him that contract wasn't a mistake.

 

Oops. Meant Deric. Fixed it...

Torres was a disappointment...but, again, I'm not sure it's totally on him. He needs mids to set the table for him. The midfield is priority #1, IMO.

 

Rumors out that Dynamo might be moving Torres and Davis.

If true, those are fairly big changes. I hope the trust in Coyle/Jordan is not misplaced. Not sure what the overall vision for the team is in terms of style of play, but it was frustrating to see both the offense and defense take a step back at times last year from what we're used to seeing from the squad in terms of an identity.

 

^

I'm not against moving Davis. His prime has passed. He's essentially out there for free kicks and corners. Not much else left in his game.

The only problem I have with getting rid of Torres is that it might mean they think Bruin is the answer up front. He is not. Yeah, he might've been in double digits for goals again. But if you throw in the simple opportunities that he had and missed, he could've easily been in the 20's. If you're going to play a lone striker and expect nothing more out of him than to finish in the box, it has to be someone who does it more consistently than Bruin.

 

Agreed on Bruin. The Davis "situation" is starting to sound a lot like the way things went with Ching at the end of his career. I agree that Davis has lost a step (or more), but could he still be valuable as a part time player who comes in late to help preserve a win or push for an equalizer with his dangerous left leg? There could be a leadership void if they move off of him (and Ricardo Clark) next year.

 

They need a complete overhaul of the midfield. Clark shouldn't be here either. His few goals don't make up for the many stupid giveaways and fouls in bad spots. I'm surprised the Coyle allowed him the freedom he gave him. Granted, it's likely out of a lack of better options. But he should've been on a much shorter leash.

 

If Lucatero is as good as people build him up to be then it could make sense to keep Davis and transition from one to the other.

The front office has a tall task ahead of them this offseason with the decisions they need to make and I'm scared they're going to put us into a bad position for a long time.

 

Signing Cubo was a huge step forward for this franchise, actually spending money for once

getting rid of him already is a giant step backwards


As for Davis, he is aging. But I think he would be fine and still contribute if the midfield in general was better. The midfield is just atrocious. They need at least 3 new starters. Brad cannot be the best player on a midfield anymore, but he can still be a competent role player

 

From the "Soccer Matters" Facebook page run by Glen Davis...

IMO, this is great news, if true, and is the only way the Dynamo can hope to become competitive on and off the field again. they've been at an unfair disadvantage for too long. It's time the MLS forces this to happen.

 

thats ****ing fantastic news. I can't believe they have been as competitive as they have been given their crappy situation

 

You have to remember, a large majority of those successes came with players that moved from San Jose. Outside of Holden, there weren't any homegrown players that helped...and he wasn't really a "homegrown" player as he came from Sunderland. Deric is probably the most successful to have gone through the system. Few of the draftees and signings have done much of anything. When you're forced to shop in the discount aisle, you typically get what you pay for.