Player Ratings: Dynamo vs Crew

5 quick observations about this one:

1) The defense looked lost without DMB

2) Another Bruin 1v1 with the keeper and he fails to find the net again

3) What will the impact of this loss be on our team's playoff chances?

4) At the end of the day, the team that was more composed, organized, and dangerous won

5) Sorry, no man of the match for this one

Houston Dynamo Player Ratings:

Tally Hall (4.5) - Hall's center backs and line as a whole were woefully unorganized. Maybe some of that was due to DaMarcus Beasley's absence, but things were not right in the back. While Hall can't take too much accountability directly from the goals, it could be argued that at least one goal was savable, but all were preventable with stronger defending in front of him. Who is the man in charge of organizing that line and can see it all in front of him? You guessed it.

Kofi Sarkodie (4) - Was not nearly involved in the offense enough. Sarkodie struggled to find space to cross the ball in and make an impact. Defensively, he was fairly average as he mostly cleared the ball out of the back.

David Horst (3) - The center backs were not in sync. Aerial battles were lost and goals were scored on the team. Horst's attempt to settle a ball set up the game's opening goal for Justin Meram. Horst did try to make up for this effort with a goal of his own, but his header was off target.

Jermaine Taylor (4) - Taylor looked slower than usual as he failed to keep up with an organized and possessing Crew attack which was evident by his poor tackling. While Taylor's passing was better out of the center, it often led to turnovers when he came out of the left side. Taylor was able to intercept some key passes around our own 18 yard box which does improve his rating.

Corey Ashe (4.5) - Ashe was back in the starting lineup at his familiar LB role as DaMarcus Beasley was out nursing a minor hamstring injury. While Ashe did provide some opportunities going forward and did link with the midfielders and forwards from time to time, the defense as a whole looked overrun including Ashe's side.

Luis Garrido (6) - Garrido was often tasked with too much to do as the midfield could not disrupt an organized and motivated Crew attack. Garrido had to fall back into the central defense to help assist far too often.

Ricardo Clark (6.5) - Did his best to try and make an effort moving forward and had a very good look at the goal, but he could not find the back of the net despite putting in a strong effort up the field overall. Perhaps Clark got caught up too far up the field, but the Dynamo as a whole struggled against the counter attack and to win the midfield.

Oscar Boniek Garcia (5.5) - Had a relatively quiet night, but when he was active he linked well and made good runs. Garcia had one good opportunity early, but his shot was just off the mark.

Brad Davis (6.5) - Davis was one of the most active players for the Dynamo and the most frustrated by the team's poor showing. Davis's service once again proved dangerous, but his targets could only get close to the goal instead of inside of it.

Giles Barnes (5.5) - Made some great runs and linked well with other players in the middle third of the field, but failed to come up with big chances for himself and create for others in the final third.

Will Bruin (5) - Had more shots than any player on the field (really he did), but the real talking point of his performance was his 1v1 miss with Crew goalkeeper Steve Clark. My critique of Bruin in these opportunities is that he takes too many touches. He needs it to be perfectly lined up, but by the time that it is the keeper has already adjusted. In this case it was brilliantly (and perhaps luckily) adjusted for.

The Subs:

Brian Ownby (5.5) - Tried to help push the tempo for the Dynamo offense, but only saw a yellow card for a poor late challenge for his efforts. Ownby passed pretty accurately and showed strong defensive efforts all over the field, but couldn't get the support he needed.

Andrew Driver (4.5) - Moved the ball well out of the midfield, but failed to make an impact on the offensive end as his attempts to find other players in the attacking third were unsuccessful.

Jason Johnson (N/A) - JJ barely touched the ball so it's unfair to give him a rating.

Coach Dominic Kinnear (4) - This is a Dynamo team that must find a way to earn points away from BBVA. In this game the defense looked unorganized and lost, the midfield struggled to prevent the Crew's offense from moving through it, and the offense lacked a nose for goal. We can only blame so much on DaMarcus Beasley not being around.