Player Ratings Houston Dynamo vs. Minnesota United FC

In the sixth week of Rate the Players we saw a very large turnout that voted generally on the negative side – I saw a lot of 1’s while putting this together. I understand it, the Dynamo had 1 very lousy half, but at the same time they had 1 very good half against Minnesota United FC which is why I don’t agree with how some of these ratings ended up. Oscar Boniek Garcia for instance was the lowest rated player at 3.7, but on the website WhoScored.com he’s listed at 7.57 – the highest of any Dynamo player due to his assist and 5 tackles (the most of any Dynamo player). The Audi Index has him as the 3^rd best Dynamo player. I wouldn’t put him up that high since he didn’t mark Christian Ramirez which led to Minnesota’s opening goal, but he certainly wouldn’t be at the bottom of my list. But, this is why it’s interesting to see how we all feel about certain players.

The Top Performers:

Alberth Elis, Man of the Match, (5.5) – I’m okay with Elis being in the top spot this week as Elis was a goal scorer and he nearly had a brace had he not been called offside. I continue to be surprised by the speed Elis has. He harassed MNUFC defender Marc Burch on the right side of the field with that speed as he would receive passes that were closer to Burch, but Elis would blow by him and reach the ball. He was in the right place on Boniek’s set piece to put the Dynamo up 2-0. The only thing that needs work in Elis’s game is his defense, and that’s been a theme of his, but I’m wondering if it’s more emblematic of Cabrera’s system which requires very little defending by the forwards.

Mauro Manotas (5.4) – It was very good to see Mauro Manotas get a goal. After his breakout towards the end of the year last season, it was tough for many fans (and tougher for him) to have been relegated to the bench by the new coach. When he plays, he plays with a hunger for goals to prove to the coach that he deserves playing time. On his goal, although there was little threat by defenders that gave him plenty of space to maneuver, he showed a great turn and finish to open up the scoring at BBVA. Like Elis, Mauro needs to contribute to the other end of the ball or else it gives teams a numbers advantage in our half which disrupts our defensive organization.

Joe Willis (5.3) – In my mind Willis was not the 3^rd best player on the Dynamo. It was a surprise to see him get the start over Tyler Deric, who was on the bench in this game, but I think Willis did not have a strong performance overall. I don’t blame the goals scored on him, especially the second which was poor by the entire defense, but he never looked in control and he had 0 saves.

Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera (3.6) – I think it was a good move of Cabrera at the end of the game to put the blame on himself which I think is fair. This 4-3-3 system, the way that Cabrera implements it, is designed to score goals – not defend them. When we’re up 2-0 at halftime, we need to find ways to control the game more effectively and that means team defending, better possession, and picking out chances to make it 3-0. But it seems like Cabrera has his team stuck on “Ultra Attacking” like in FIFA because players are getting caught up the field and aren’t getting back often to help. I looked at the heat maps for our starting forwards and they all rarely made it past halfway into our own half. In fact, only Cubo does. That does not lend itself to getting clean sheets. That lends itself to teams, especially quick teams like New England and Minnesota, taking advantage of an overwhelmed defense. Luckily, our offense kept Minnesota occupied enough to not over commit their numbers to the other side of the ball, but if they had it wouldn’t have been good for Houston.

The Rest of the Starters:

DEF: DaMarcus Beasley (5.1)

DEF: Jalil Anibaba (4.4)

DEF: Adolfo Machado (4.5)

DEF: Oscar Boniek Garcia (3.7)

MID: Alex Lima (4.9)

MID: Eric Alexander (4.8)

MID: Ricardo Clark (5)

FW: Erick “Cubo” Torres (4.8)

The Subs:

DEF: Kevin Garcia (4.4)

FW: Vicente Sanchez (4.5)

FW: Romell Quioto (5)