Player Ratings: Houston Dynamo vs Sporting Kansas City

5 quick observations about this one:

1) 4 games, 0 goals, 0 wins. This team needs to score if they want points.

2) Deric filled in very well, but it's clear now more than ever that Hall was not the problem with this team.

3) Another game that had an off the line save. Great save, but let's stop letting that happen!

4) Up a man and we out possessed and outshot the opponent and still managed to lose. Not good

5) The Dynamo midfield really struggled to pick out forwards and the team as a whole looked sloppy anywhere near the SKC goal.

Houston Dynamo Player Ratings:

Tyler Deric, MotM, (6) - Deric replaced regular goalkeeper Tally Hall in goal, possibly to relieve some of the pressure on Hall. Deric filled in ably and showcased his very good ability at defending against the 1v1.

Kofi Sarkodie (5) - Sarkodie pushed the ball up the right side and continued to develop chemistry with Omar Cummings. Sarkodie had a couple of good crosses in, but he failed to pick out targets and sometimes sent in some wild balls.

A.J. Cochran (4.5) - Cochran got the start and did his best to limit a Sporting Kansas City side that counter attacked beautifully. Whether we agree with the decision or not, it was Cochran that "handled" the ball that led to the penalty kick which sealed the deal for the Dynamo.

David Horst (-) - Horst did not make it more than 10 minutes into the game before he had to be taken off. The good news is that his injury does not seem all that severe and he now has ample time to ease back into things.

Jermaine Taylor (5) - Taylor got the start at left back with Corey Ashe sitting out with an injury. Taylor actually played better than he has in awhile at the LB position and looked a lot less lethargic than he had against Colorado.

Alexander Lopez (5.5) - Alex got the start and attempted to fill the creative void left by Brad Davis and Oscar Boniek Garica. Alex showed us a few great passes and movements with the ball and even helped the Dynamo go up a man by being elbowed in the face. It's clear that he still needs some time to fully integrate in the "Dynamo system", but Lopez was one of the better Dynamo players out there.

Servando Carrasco (4) - Carrasco continues to show us that his service is very good, but Carrasco was responsible for his share of mistakes. He gave the ball away more than he normally does and was almost responsible for a goal - he can buy Eric Brunner dinner for bailing him out on that gaffe.

Andrew Driver (4.5) - Was one of the few players that tried to get the ball into the final third often but he lacked support and his service was far from perfect.

Omar Cummings (5) - To me, over the last few games Cummings has been one of the few bright spots and that continued into this game. Cummings made some very good runs and tried to push the offense. That being said, his distribution wasn't up to his usual standard this time around.

Giles Barnes (4) - Barnes had a few nifty passes and tried to get the forwards involved more, but overall there was a huge disconnect between the midfield and the forwards which led to another game in which the Dynamo failed to score.

Will Bruin (3.5) - Will Bruin donned the captain's armband, but the Dancing Bear never really showed up. Part of that was poor service to him, but Bruin didn't seem to get himself more involved in the game. There were a few moments that looked dangerous, but the ball was just out of Bruin's reach which pretty much summed up the Dynamo offense.

The Subs:

Eric Brunner (3.5) - Came on for the injured David Horst early in the match and was a little shaky in his first match back from injury. On one hand, Brunner kept the Dynamo alive by making a great off the line save. But on the other hand, he also played a terrible pass that led to the first goal of the game.

Warren Creavalle (4) - Came on for Eric Brunner and had trouble against the counter attack.

Jason Johnson (3.5) ­­- JJ came on for Omar Cummings and could push the ball the way that Kinnear intended.

Coach Dominic Kinnear (4) - This was a tough one for Kinnear and he accepted full responsibility for the match. The Dynamo out shot and out possessed Sporting Kansas City while being up a man for the majority of the game and still managed to lose. The Dynamo was simply not threatening and couldn't connect with the forwards. Even with Alex Lopez in the game the creativity and passing was very poor in the final third of the field. The Dynamo dropped their fourth game in a row and it was also the fourth game in a row that the Dynamo failed to score. The Dynamo are short handed and it is a depressing situation, but it is up to the coach to get this team ready for game day and this team was not ready. Things aren't quite as bleak as some of you are making it out to be, but the Dynamo need to turn the ship around and start getting some points.