Big game tonight on ESPN2. It starts at 9:30 pm CT. A tie (1 pt.) is ok but a win (3 pts.) and they are definitely back in playoff contention.
A scoreless but entertaining 1st half. It should have been the Dynamo leading 1-0 at halftime but Brad Davis missed a penalty kick. I hate when players stutter step on their penalty kicks. That's unlike him, he doesn't usually do those kinds of PKs. He should just go straight, full-power right at the upper 90 on that kick.
And that's all folks. Missed PK, terrible center back play and a lack of a true threat in the middle has doomed the Dynamo. Looks like this might be our second season in the 9 that we miss the playoffs
David Horst absolute garbage, Dom MUST make some major adjustments -Clark MUST slide back into the defense, they have to get Horst out of the lineup. The center backs are just atrocious -Ashe must move back into the lineup somewhere. He is too talented to be sitting on the bench and too valuable defensively. Either he or Beasley gotta move into the midfield and allow Boniek to move centrally. -Bruin just blows. He's gotta be taken out. Give Cummings or Johnson a shot
They are having trouble getting points on the road and it's been the past four years even when they are a good team. This is on coach Kinnear, he must make adjustments to reverse the road curse. I can take and accept tie games on the road over road losses.
Agree with all points. On this game, Davis cannot miss that pk. I'm sick of seeing theses stupid antics players are taking on the approach. Stutter, stop, then hit the ball like you're hitting it with your purse doesn't work. Pick your spot. Put the ball there. That he all it takes. A goal there would've changed the game drastically.
Interesting that the team basically blamed Boswell for a ton of their problems in the back last year and he has played like an All Star for DC United. Team needs a complete overhaul from ownership on down. The atrocious defense has masked an complete no-show from Boniek Garcia over the last year and a half. I don't know if it's Garcia falling off as a player or Dom strangling his creativity wanting 1 touch only football.
Organizational rot could be a good theory, but Dom is a good coach who deserves the benefit of the doubt for now. I think leroy has said it, but it may have been Dr.Ludicrous: I don't get the "pipeline" we're building to Honduras. Of all the countries in CONCACAF to poach talent from, that doesn't seem like the one we'd want. Two straight World Cups for Honduras and 0 points to show for it. The ownership issue is a much larger problem that MLS is letting fly under the radar to Houston's detriment. It's ridiculous that AEG still owns the Dynamo and is allowed to treat the team like an obligation in comparison to the Galaxy. Given the entry fees new MLS teams are paying, I can't imagine there wouldn't be a list of potential buyers for the Dynamo. The organization, from scouting to management, seems to be adrift and ownership probably doesn't care.
The team has been bad for 2 straight seasons. They turned the switch for 1 week last year. They were a .500 team in 2013. Obviously Dom is a really good coach. That doesn't mean that changing the organization isn't a good idea.
AEG will not sell the Dynamo in the near future. You said it. The entry fees for new clubs are sky high and AEG will sit on their golden egg until it sinks. Les made and offer and then AEG took the team off the market. Get used to being the red headed step child compared to the Galaxy. The success of the MLS will only mean the continued AEG ownership. This is an investment to that Jewish dude not something he cares for.
Boswell found some youth this year for sure, but he was absolute trash last season, there is no argument otherwise. He also wasn't so good in the season before. Jermaine Taylor had been carrying a huge load the past two seasons and was better than Boswell. But he seems to have fallen off a cliff this year for some unknown reason. Taylor not playing at a level he is capable of is just as big of a problem. But replacing Boswell with a guy that shouldn't even be on an mls roster is also a huge problem Like others said, ownership is the main problem. No coach, I don't care who they are, can do a better job given the situation. Once ownership changes and structural changes take place, then it might be time to move on. No one can get more out of as little as Dom can. He just may not be able to maximize talent once it is in place ( but the dynamo are nowhere near that situation). He is similar to someone like jvg in that regard. But until that day comes, I'm not changes coaches, not even thinking about it
I think management and talent evaluation is more of a problem than the ownership. The team is paying close to a million dollars on Beasely and Garrido and paid another million last year for Lopez. The problem is that Beasley and Garrido, while good players, don't address our problems and Lopez can't get off the bench. We're spending money, just very ineffectively. From what I've read, when Dempsey and Bradley were in talks with MLS it wasn't that we weren't willing to spend the money, we just didn't know they were options. Maybe the owners still wouldn't be willing to pay what they cost but we'll never know since we weren't even aware of it. Also, teams have recently been in talks with Sascha Klejstan and Mix Diskerud. Bringing in playmakers like that would have helped us a lot more than another defensive mid, but once again we're not in these discussions. I doubt Klejstan's salary would be more than Beasley + Garrido so money wouldn't be the issue.
I agree with most of what you're saying but one thing. I don't think not knowing the players were on the market is a defense for anything other than management's ineptitude. If they didn't know Texas-born Clint Dempsey was available before he signed with Seattle, that's on them for being too disconnected. I have a hard time believing Bradley had Toronto at the top of his list when he thought of coming back.
Those were supposed to be examples of their ineptitude. You can't fully blame the owners when the management isn't even trying to get things done. And from what I remember Bradley wasn't planning on coming to MLS. Tim Leiweke (who was in charge of the Galaxy when they brought in Beckham) knew he was available and then made the deal happen. I guess you could still blame the owners for leaving the current management in charge though.
Ownership sets the tone. If Cannetti, et al, doesn't feel like they'll be supported in going after a bigger name/dollar deal, they're not going to even look.
Apparently the Dynamo have former Ivory Coast international, Marc Zoro on trial right now. He couldn't be worse than the CBs they have
Nah, Bradley's agent Ron Waxman, got in touch w/Tim Bez at TFC and initiated talks about bringing Bradley back to MLS. TFC, Bezbatchenko and Leiweke had no idea Bradley was available to be "got" until Bradley's agent contacted them. This kinda ties into the Dempsey thing. I don't know wtf relationships the Dynamo have developed w/agents but i find it absolutely telling that while the Sounders were keeping in touch with Dempsey's agent and constantly reaffirming their interest in Clint in case he ever decided to return to MLS(during the time Dempsey was in Europe), there was never any sign, note, rumor, etc that the Dynamo were doing the same. I'd imagine the Dynamo FO probably felt confident that if Clint were to come back to MLS, he'd list a bunch of teams, include Houston in it and then contact the Dynamo. Instead of being proactive the Dynamo seem to be reactive and not even doing a good job at that.
They(Dom and Canetti) did the SAME damn crap the last few years. They sign a player from 1 country and then think, hmm, we did ok there, why not concentrate on signing more players from that country? As if there aren't other countries and other good players out there to sign. It's as if they can't build good enough connections in other countries, w/other scouts, etc. Or maybe they are just scared and like to sit in their comfort zone when they find one player in a specific country. Very annoying.