Playoff Edition Player Ratings: Houston Dynamo vs. the Seattle Sounders Leg 1

The Houston Dynamo were unable to get an advantage in the first of two games against the Seattle Sounders as they squandered their home game to the tune of 2-0 and will now have a tough task to finish off the series in Seattle if they want to make it to the MLS Cup Final. The Dynamo came out flat and were quickly punished. To make matters worse a Jalil Anibaba red card reduced the Dynamo to 10 men which made the uphill climb even more difficult. In the accompanying piece for the Player Ratings I briefly discussed the lack of energy to begin the game and how the Dynamo gifted Seattle some easy goals.

The ratings overall are close to what I had. Joe Willis made a good save to keep the Dynamo in the game and Jalil Anibaba made things tougher for the club. I think Juan David Cabezas probably needs to be higher and I thought Alex under performed, but it’s not too far off from where I had either of the players.

The Top Performers:

Joe Willis, Man of the Match, (8.2) – Joe Willis was crucial in this one even though he allowed two goals. I don’t think you can fault him for either of the goals, especially the opener, but it was his saved penalty that will make going into Seattle for the second leg much easier.

SUB: Dylan Remick (6.5) – Remick replaced Philippe Senderos in the 59^th minute who went down with an injury which pushed Adolfo Machado back into central defense and Remick into new territory at right back. Overall, it was clear this was different for him and he often tried to cut the ball onto his left, but he did produce several quality crosses, many of them low and across goal. Defensively he had some good clearances and he recovered the ball well in our half.

SUB: Leonardo (6.3) – Following the red card to Jalil Anibaba, Leonardo replaced Alex Lima to bring the defense back up to four players. Leonardo made five incredible tackles, three of which came in the box with another on the edge of it, and he distributed the ball well out of the back passing over with 90% accuracy.

Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera (5.7) – To me, Wilmer Cabrera is rated too high for this game. Make no mistake, I think he’s done a fantastic job with the club this year, but this Dynamo team that came out against Seattle was not prepared. They were not focused, they lacked energy, they gave up an easy to defend early goal, and ended up giving up two away goals total in a shutout loss at home. I think Wilmer had the team playing better after going down a goal and a man as Seattle was a little more cautious going forward, but the lineup was a little too conservative and the injuries meant he couldn’t get difference makers like Vicente Sanchez on the pitch.

The Rest of the Starters:

DEF: DaMarcus Beasley (5.8)

DEF: Philippe Senderos (6.3)

DEF: Adolfo Machado (6.3)

DEF: Jalil Anibaba (3)

MID: Juan David Cabezas (6.2)

MID: Tomas Martinez (5.3)

MID: Eric Alexander (5.2)

FW: Alex Lima (5.5)

FW: Mauro Manotas (5.9)

FW: Alberth Elis (5.4)

The Subs:

FW: Romell Quioto (5.8)