Player Ratings: Houston Dynamo vs San Jose Earthquakes

5 Quick Observations:

1)    The Dynamo really miss our starting midfielders

2)    Tally Hall will want to forget this night

3)    The Dynamo need to start making the most of their chances on goal to support the defense

4)    Omar Cummings is looking to fill the void in midfield, but he does need help from somewhere

5)   There were some pretty iffy calls, but the penalty kick awarded was one of the most dubious of the season

Houston Dynamo Player Ratings:

Tally Hall (3.5) - Hall made some crucial errors of judgment which ended up costing the Dynamo big. First, his decision to handle Horst's backwards pass ended up putting the Dynamo down and then his positioning outside of the 18 yard box on the 3^rd goal was avoidable if he were just a few steps back inside the box.

Kofi Sarkodie (5.5) - Had his hands full with Shea Salinas, but he was able to operate a bit on the offensive end. The team as a whole, once again didn't seem to click without their stars and Sarkodie was the recipient and giver of more than a few poor passes.

Jermaine Taylor (4.5) - Taylor couldn't quite keep up with the San Jose attack, either by a lack of effort or fitness. A.J. Cochran's somewhat early substitution for Taylor could tell us a bit about what Dominic Kinnear was thinking of Taylor's play. Could we re-visit the Horst/Cochran duo?

David Horst (5.5) - The defensive line has become Horst's line, but it struggled with communication and positioning issues all game. Horst can't be blamed for the free kick following his handled back-pass to Hall, but it's clear that the Dynamo defense cannot be leaned on this much and needs support coming from somewhere.

Corey Ashe (5) - The penalty kick that was awarded to San Jose after Ashe "fouled" Steven Lenhart was easily one of the worst calls I've seen all season. Not only did Ashe barely make contact with Lenhart, a well-known diver, but on the play Ashe did everything he could to not make contact with him.

Warren Creavalle (5) - Struggled to control things and sync well with Carrasco, but was able to put in a header that forced a tough save from Jon Busch after great service from Omar Cummings. Creavalle's own service doesn't seem to be up to snuff as he couldn't combine well with other players.

Servando Carrasco (6.5) - Carrasco definitely won the job of interim free kick taker while Brad Davis is away. Carrasco provided excellent service and whipped in great balls time and time again, but unfortunately this was not the Dynamo's game. However, service can be for the most part eliminated as a cause for a failure to create chances.

Andrew Driver (5) - Driver had a few moments going up the field that looked threatening, but overall his pretty predictable play make it hard for him to be too effective.

Omar Cummings, MotM, (6.5) - Cummings is quickly learning a lot of the things that make Boniek so great. He has proven to be an excellent passer, dribbler, and his pace is still there. He showcased those things against San Jose, but the Dynamo failed to convert their chances.

Giles Barnes (6.5) - At times Bruin and Barnes seemed to be working very well, especially some of their passing to each other. Barnes also linked well with the midfield, but could have tracked back to help defend a bit more.

Will Bruin (5.5) - Was able to link well with Barnes and had a few good opportunities to get the ball in the net, but he should have put at least one of them away. He still needs to improve his footwork and decision making in the final third.

The Subs:

Jason Johnson (5.5) - JJ came on for Driver and played 45 long minutes. Johnson had a few promising looks, but it should be pretty clear that Johnson is not a midfield player.

Alex Lopez (6) - Alex provided some much needed creativity for the Dynamo when he came on for Warren Creavalle, and did link well with the forwards, but his defending still needs to improve.

A.J. Cochran (6) - Cochran came on for Jermaine Taylor with still plenty of game to be played and while Cochran didn't have a lot of work to do as San Jose was content on sitting back, he did look good.

Coach Dominic Kinnear (5.5) - This has not been an easy road trip for Kinnear or his team. Kinnear did all he could with the depth he could and one cannot blame Kinnear for a few more than questionable calls, but ultimately the result falls on the coach. Things aren't all lost and a few tweaks here and there may be the solution. Still, Kinnear must deal with the loss of Davis and Boniek to national team duties and right now it's clear that this team really hurts without them.