Dynamo v Sounders - 11-July-2009

First of all, special thanks to KHOU channel 11 for inventing a channel (11-2) that does not exist anywhere. Apparently Comcast is the only TV provider that is Comcastic enough to have space for 11-2. After going to three sports bars in the Rice Military area, all of which questioned whether the channel even existed), I was forced to head to Target to pick up a nice set of rabbit ears from Phillips. It included HD, so the $13 is really an investment for additional Dynamo games on old 11-2. The best surprise waited for me until I got home to find that 11-2 broadcasts in 480i (baby HDTV), yet the Dynamo game was in a grainy, Fox Sports-ish picture. Oh well, better than nothing.

So, back to the game. I caught the first 13 minutes on radio (AM 790) and it was clear the Dynamo were succeeding despite a very green lineup. Glenn Davis's favorite observation of the day was how the Dynamo were playing without 8 (or 7, or 5, or 4, it changed a lot) starters. Either way, the defense (Chabala, James, Mulrooney, Waibel) were up to the challenge and hold the Sounders back. Meanwhile a nice setup from Mullan gave Davis a point blank shot that he buried in the low right netting, 1-0 Dynamo.

It was then that I entered in Target and spent 7 minutes acquiring a video source for the game. A phone call took up my ride home, but I had full picture by the 38th minute. Unfortunately, I missed the most controversial play of the game, the first Sounders goal. The halftime highlights provided that whoever was broadcasting the game was clearly using HandyCams and picture phones. If this game were on ESPN, not only would it have been in HD (as well as shown at BW3s, The Tavern, and the new Sawyer Park on Washington), but they would have had definitive video that the ball never went over the line. Terrible call by an out of position linesman, but the halftime score was 1-1 nonetheless.

The second half started off disastrous. With mere seconds ticked off the clock, Onstad sloppily clears a through ball for a corner. Glenn Davis was a little hard on Onstad on the commentary as he HAD cleared a ball the defender should have played, but a corner was surrendered either way. A well fed ball by Ljungberg accompanied by a Mullan absolutely freezing in the box lead to Patric Ianni making an improbable flip of his head for the goal. Not the way to start the half.

The next 15 minutes showed that the Dynamo's current lineup was not going anywhere, so Kinnear looked toward the bench. First Cruz was put in for Mullan who looked nicked up and slow in the first 15 minutes of that half. Not sure if he was injured in the locker room or not, but he was a good person to replace. Cruz immediately showed his speed and aggressive dribbling blowing by and drawing a card on one of his first touches.

A few minutes later, Chabala found himself with a lower leg issue and Eric Ustruck found himself on the field. Being the first 30 minutes I have seen him play against top talent, Ustruck played very well especially when he is listed as a forward. Akinbiyi became the final sub in the 64th minute coming in for a quickly slowing Oduro.

Slowing would pretty much sum up the last 30 minutes of the game for the Dynamo. Brad Davis can only play center midfield for 60 minutes before he becomes very worthless. The easiest demonstration of this was visible when Davis continuously found himself behind offensive breaks in the latter stages of the game when the Dynamo had to score.

The Sounders on the other hand continued to take advantage of counter attacks, mainly though Montero and Ljungberg, but they too were unable to crack the net in the final stages of the match. In the end, a few chances by Kamara and one hopefully chance from Akinbiyi was all the Dynamo could muster. The two young subs, Cruz and Ustruck both showed they deserve to see more minutes, especially while Ching, Holden, and Hainault (please don't take Ricardo too Bob Bradley!!) are away at the Gold Cup.

Tough to give out grades for a game I only saw 50+ minutes of, but hey, its my blog.

Kamara = B- (could have done a better job holding the ball up in the front third, never capitalized 1-on-1 chances)
Oduro = B (showed he could run past Ianni or anyone else, show have been playing outside instead of forward)
Ashe = D (he was out there? looked short, slow, and very timid. Isn't he the young guy with the experience?)
Davis = A-/D (tale of two halves. First have deserves an A effort, but it tired him out for the second half and was non-existent)
Clark - B (kept the Sounders from extending the lead in the second half, but didnt factor in the offense. Was probably wondering why Davis was standing next to him the whole second half)
Mullan - B- (got tired quick, must have picked up an injury or something. Played a good first half and set up the goal. Should have cleared the ball off the line on the Sounders second goal)
Waibel B (didnt do anything great, but played the solid defense he is known for)
Mulrooney B (found it crowded around him in the midfield with Davis struggling to get forward. Probably was wishing to see Holden run out on the field at some point to give him someone to pass to)
James B- (very tentative at times, but looked a lot better than his early session performances. Has the skills and speed to handle the back...but I cant wait to have Boswell and Cameron back!)
Chabala C+ (didnt look nearly as terrible as in prior games, but still doesnt seem to pass the ball well over 5 yards and he better look behind him because Ustruck looked really good)
Onstad B (made a save or two, but made a mistake or two too)

Subs
Cruz B- (fast, really fast but made some terrible shot selections and seems to have the same problem as every other outside half where they can not get any air on a cross from the side)
Ustruck B (give this kid some more time)
Akinbiyi C+ (looks like he needs time to lean on a guy all game and then make a move or two. Made Ianni look bad once, but hey, its Ianni)

Kinnear A- (did the best he could missing Ching, Holden, Cameron, Boswell, Robinson, Hainault, and Weaver. Notice a left off Barrett, that was on purpose)

Good news is that the Dynamo will be right back in Seattle on 7/21 to avenge the loss and Toronto better be ready next week when at least a few of the guys will be back in action.