MMCB: Thoughts from the Texas Derby

The Dynamo won on Saturday over rivals FC Dallas 2-1 in the only scheduled meeting between the two clubs this season. It wasn't a dominating performance by the Dynamo at all, but in typical fashion, they got the job done. Dallas played extremely well and if not for the momentary lapse of reason shown by Jair Benitez, Dallas probably could have gotten a draw or even the full three points.

I'm hardly going to hang my hat on this win as some kind of major victory because while it was an important three points (and it's always fun to beat a rival) the Dallas team we saw this weekend was ravaged by injuries and all sorts of bad luck. What concerns me is the fact that for stretches of the game, Dallas was able to dominate play and attack nearly at will thanks to their incredible team speed on the wings. Perhaps this shouldn't worry me, after all being able to pick apart the Dynamo will good team speed is no a new concept and we've been doing alright despite that deficiency.

Still, I can't help but see the speed issues in the midfield and defense as a problem that creates an exploitable weakness. Despite that, the Dynamo still managed to keep things under control and that's why this roster continues to be successful, that and many other MLS teams aren't built with the type of speed we saw from Dallas.

Kinnear understands this league and sets up his team to play the system and style he prefers. I've stopped worrying too much about this issue because the Dynamo have have a ton of success using their system and if it ain't broke, don't fix it right?

Still, the speed thing bothers me because it's such an obvious problem. Fortunately, I think most of MLS has a similar problem and there aren't exactly a plethora of speed happy teams out there.

More thoughts from the match after the jump

Brad Davis: Wow, that might have been the worst game I've ever seen Brad Davis play, in terms of his distribution. Everyone is allowed an off night of course, but I can't remember seeing Davis make so many errant passes and lack the consistent accuracy we've all grown accustomed too. Nothing to panic about I'm sure, but it's probably worth watching as we move forward.

Je-Vaughn Watson: He has been a lightning rod for criticism, but he's clearly getting better. He's still not perfect as we saw from several poor decisions in the final third that led to counter attack chances for Dallas. He's still a bit wasteful in possession but you cannot question the fact he worked his ass off on Saturday. When Dallas was controlling the midfield in the first half, Watson dropped back and provided some extra defensive coverage. He was covering a ton of ground both on the attack and in defense and that kind of effort makes up for the mistakes. I still think Luiz Camargo ultimately adds more to the attack, but we're starting see why Kinnear has faith in Watson and is giving him all the starts.

Brian Ching: Our captain is so frustrated and I think we all share that frustration. He's doing everything right in terms of effort and positioning, he's getting to balls and getting great chances, but the goals are eluding him. I'm not about to diagnose the problem, but you have to think that the breaks will go his way soon and if they do, look out.

Will Bruin: Wow, this kid is a beast...a dancing bear even! The second year forward is tearing it up right now and you can just see the confidence oozing from him. He believes he can score every time he touches the ball and it's awesome to watch him play at the moment. Moving up in last year's draft to get him looked like a great move at the time, now it looks like an act of scouting genius. I cannot wait to see how much better Bruin can be when Oscar Boniek Garcia arrives.

Handbags: Noted scumbag and misogynist Daniel Hernandez accused Jermaine Taylor of spitting on him during the post-red card fracas. Taylor was asked about the incident after the match and adamantly denied doing anything of the sort. I'm sure the league will look in to the incident for a variety of reasons and if Taylor did spit on Hernandez, he deserves punishment. Somehow though, I doubt he did anything since Hernandez is easily one of the dirtiest players in the league and has done nothing to earn credibility in my eyes, but we'll see.

What are your thoughts and observations from the win over Dallas?