2009 Dynamo & USMNT Soccer Thread

[Keith]

Apparently the Laredo Kid went back home to finish school. Hmmm.

Went to the friendly versus Dallas today, Dynamo winning easily 3-0. Game was played in three 30-minute periods, and Dynamo were up 2-0 after the first one. Goals came from Wondo, James, and Waibel.

Julius James definitely has some speed in the back. He wasn't entirely crisp, but next to Bobby Boswell (who looked pretty darn good), I think the trade-off might be nice. Another new guy, Andrew Hainault, played CB in the final 30 minutes. Tall guy, also promising.

Tally Hall played the final 30', but wasn't challenged much. He looks confident back there though.

Kamara didn't score, but he had some flashes of brilliance. Mullan drew the ire of a Dallas player, and both were sent off with reds. Not sure Mullan's was deserved, but whatever. Brad Davis had a decent game in DeRo's spot. Wade Barrett played the first 60' at LM, and I thought he struggled. Mike Chabala was in his old spot, and while his service was iffy, the rest was alright.

Live blog from MyDynamo.net has more details on the game.

[papabear]

Originally Posted by Keith

Apparently the Laredo Kid went back home to finish school. Hmmm.

Went to the friendly versus Dallas today, Dynamo winning easily 3-0. Game was played in three 30-minute periods, and Dynamo were up 2-0 after the first one. Goals came from Wondo, James, and Waibel.

Julius James definitely has some speed in the back. He wasn't entirely crisp, but next to Bobby Boswell (who looked pretty darn good), I think the trade-off might be nice. Another new guy, Andrew Hainault, played CB in the final 30 minutes. Tall guy, also promising.

Tally Hall played the final 30', but wasn't challenged much. He looks confident back there though.

Kamara didn't score, but he had some flashes of brilliance. Mullan drew the ire of a Dallas player, and both were sent off with reds. Not sure Mullan's was deserved, but whatever. Brad Davis had a decent game in DeRo's spot. Wade Barrett played the first 60' at LM, and I thought he struggled. Mike Chabala was in his old spot, and while his service was iffy, the rest was alright.

Live blog from MyDynamo.net has more details on the game.

Sounds like the Kid got a little overwhelmed by all the attention. I understand wanting to finish school, but I heard he walked out of a meeting/training and missed a mandatory physical before leaving town without telling anyone. Hopefully it's just a kid who needs to grow up a little.

Thanks for the report. I'm not sure if I like Mullan getting sent off in what amounts to a practice. Even if it was undeserved he should be able to keep his cool better than that. Didn't see it so it could just be the ref being extra cautious and keeping an exhibition match from getting out of hand.

[Keith]

The Mullan red happened on the West sideline and all of the fans were seated on the East, so even though I think I saw it, I was far enough to have missed something.

Basically, what I think I saw was Mullan playing his typically gritty way and getting tangled with the FCD player. Both fall to the ground, and the FCD player elbows Mullan. Scrum ensues. The referee probably saw less than I did, so he did the lazy thing imo and just sent both players off.

The ref otherwise let the guys play for the most part, not a lot of whistles. I think had this been a regular season affair, both might have received yellows.

[papabear]

Champions cup tonight against Atlante...They should be a little sharper than us, but I think we win this game easily. We need to do it with a couple of goals in the bank too. The second leg will be much tougher. Of course if we get out to a big lead like last time we run the risk of someone getting injured by the cheap shots they will start taking. I really wish the start time wasn't so late. I want to go, but with a 9:00 pm start I'll probably watch from the house.

[papabear]

I'm not going to start another thread...but if the national team doesn't beat Honduras, and look damn good doing it, I'll be past ready to fire Bradley. I thought he was a big step up from Arena, soccer's Dom Caperish mouth breather, but the team has looked terrible in their last couple of matches. That Costa Rica was ridiculous. Better results than that have gotten better coaches fired in other countries.

[Keith]

Bradley sent out a lineup designed to lose. He looked at both games this week and basically chose to go three-and-out and punt against Costa Rica to get ready for Honduras. Boo.

Our backline is really overrated, and by that I mean they suck. Onyewu seems to disappear, Bocanegra isn't as good as we seem to want him to be, and the experiment with Beasley at LB needs to end at least until we get better play at CB. (I kinda like Marvelle Wynn at RB, just wish he was a bit more consistent defensively.) I realize this is a bit of homerism, but why isn't Bobby Boswell called into this camp more?

Speaking of overrated, I'm looking at you Clint Dempsey, sorry. I get he can finish (does a pretty decent job at Fulham), but if he isn't moving forward, then he's not really an asset at all. Makes you really appreciate the sort of game Brian Ching brings to this squad and makes you realize how much they miss him like they did against Costa Rica. Sounds crazy since Ching's finishing hasn't been anything special lately, but Ching might be as important as anyone to the squad right now. I hope his partnership with Alitdore grows, though given time it seems obvious that Jozy will eventually replace Ching completely.

More overrateds? Pablo Mastro-card... goodbye. Ugh, I wish Bradley would quit giving him minutes. Give me any of our other midfielders and let Mastroeni ride off into the MLS sunset.

Lil' Bradley is a good player, he's won me over, but Daddy keeps him on the pitch too long and too often. He should have not been out there before he got his yellow, and now he isn't available for Honduras. Hopefully this means Rico gets a shot. I like Rico, and would have loved him out there instead of Mastrocard, but lil' Bradley is obviously the better player overall.

As for the Dynamo... right on schedule it seems. This 2-game stretch @ Chicago and vs. Chivas will be telling though. Ching out for tonight (and Rico), but Chicago is missing Blanco and others too, so maybe that's a wash. Actually, I'm interested to see Kei and Ade together, and with Mulrooney able to play Rico's role, should work in our favor.

[papabear]

Originally Posted by Keith

Bradley sent out a lineup designed to lose. He looked at both games this week and basically chose to go three-and-out and punt against Costa Rica to get ready for Honduras. Boo.

I can understand looking at the two matches and deciding to focus on Honduras. That might have been what he was doing, but why did he have to play a 4-3-3? We could have pushed someone forward later in the match if he wanted to try and create more of an attack. You knew that Costa Rica was going to come fast and hard, and with that turf an extra midfielder to try and break up their attack before it got started would have been the smart thing to do. Yes, Rico would have been perfect for that role. Yes, I am a homer.

Our backline is really overrated, and by that I mean they suck. Onyewu seems to disappear, Bocanegra isn't as good as we seem to want him to be, and the experiment with Beasley at LB needs to end at least until we get better play at CB. (I kinda like Marvelle Wynn at RB, just wish he was a bit more consistent defensively.) I realize this is a bit of homerism, but why isn't Bobby Boswell called into this camp more?

I still like Onyewu. The oustside backs were out of position so much that he was really forced out of his comfort zone in the middle several times. Bocanegra is so-so. I wonder about Boswell too. Bradley seems to be falling into the same trap as Arena of getting stuck on the same players even when they don't play well. I like Wynn's potential, but you shouldn't be starting in a world cup qualifier based on potential....especially when the other outside back is playing out of his natural position. Beasely was absolutely terrible. I don't even want to see him on the field. His first touch is embarrassing for a player at this level. A poor touch by Wynn indirectly set up at least one of their goals if I remember correctly.

Speaking of overrated, I'm looking at you Clint Dempsey, sorry. I get he can finish (does a pretty decent job at Fulham), but if he isn't moving forward, then he's not really an asset at all. Makes you really appreciate the sort of game Brian Ching brings to this squad and makes you realize how much they miss him like they did against Costa Rica. Sounds crazy since Ching's finishing hasn't been anything special lately, but Ching might be as important as anyone to the squad right now. I hope his partnership with Alitdore grows, though given time it seems obvious that Jozy will eventually replace Ching completely.

I still pull for Dempsey because he's form Nacogdoches. He didn't play well at all. Ching would have made such a huge difference in this game....not just because he wouldn't have tried to hide from the ball all night and look like he was about to cry like Donavan (can you tell I'm frustrated with him). He would have dropped back and forced himself into the action and used his strength to fight off the Costa Rican pressure instead of crumbling from it. Altidore didn't have a great game, but he at least looked like he was trying. He'll get better. I hope he manages some more minutes wherever he ends up on loan next year. Oh....and can someone else besides Landon please start taking free kicks. He completely misses anything that could be considered a target more times than not. We cannot afford to miss those opportunities.

More overrateds? Pablo Mastro-card... goodbye. Ugh, I wish Bradley would quit giving him minutes. Give me any of our other midfielders and let Mastroeni ride off into the MLS sunset.

Please God

Lil' Bradley is a good player, he's won me over, but Daddy keeps him on the pitch too long and too often. He should have not been out there before he got his yellow, and now he isn't available for Honduras. Hopefully this means Rico gets a shot. I like Rico, and would have loved him out there instead of Mastrocard, but lil' Bradley is obviously the better player overall.

Bradley hasn't won me over, but he's a solid player and showed at least some effort. Not sure I really like him in that role though. He's just not creative enough to initiate an attack for me, but that goes back to that idiotic formation. One more time. Rico would have been perfect as a defensive midfielder against Costa Rica. I understand he was a last minute replacement because of injury, but I couldn't believe he wasn't inserted to start the second half. I can't believe he took Torres out, unless it was to save him for Sat. He seems to be the only player we have who's willing/able to create something 1 on 1.

As for the Dynamo... right on schedule it seems. This 2-game stretch @ Chicago and vs. Chivas will be telling though. Ching out for tonight (and Rico), but Chicago is missing Blanco and others too, so maybe that's a wash. Actually, I'm interested to see Kei and Ade together, and with Mulrooney able to play Rico's role, should work in our favor

I'm looking forward to finally getting a good look at the Dynamo's new forwards. Holden's going to need to keep stepping up with Ching gone. Mulrooney should be able to handle Rico's role well enough. If we can come away with four points from our next two games I'll be estatic.