Houston Dynamo 4, New York Red Bulls 1: Rate the Players and Quick Thoughts

At the beginning of the year I introduced a new way for the Dynamo Theory community to be a part of Player Ratings. After matches everyone will get a chance to submit how each player did on a scale of 1 to 10 which will be averaged out in a later article. I think it’s interesting to see how we collectively felt about a player and use that as a discussion piece, but of course how we feel individually matters as well so please comment about player performances as you wish in the comments.

Quick Thoughts about the Game:

1) This is an inspired Cubo Torres. With 6 goals in 4 games, he is playing the best soccer of his career and it is fun to watch. Not only is Cubo the league leader in goals scored, but he scored his hat trick without his usual striking partners, Alberth Elis and Romell Quioto. Of course you can argue that provides himself with more chances, but it also puts more pressure on him when he does have the ball to produce. His goals aren’t the only way he’s contributing to this squad either as his pestering of defenders often leads to turnovers and his passing, strength holding the ball, and overall vision all look much improved over last season.

2) Depth looked good overall. With many players injured or resting following their international responsibilities, it was up to the Dynamo depth to hold things down and they did a fantastic job. Dylan Remick obviously scored a fantastic goal to equalize, but he was incredible holding down the left back job while DaMarcus Beasley sat on the bench. Remick’s tackling, positioning were all sound and he was able to head some crucial crosses away from danger. Eric Alexander also showed well through his solid distribution and tackling. Mauro Manotas drew the penalty, but also passed well along the right wing. International dates will come back so it’s great to know we have players ready to step up when called upon.

3) For the second game in a row the Dynamo went down a goal first, and against RBNY they responded brilliantly. To be honest, the Dynamo didn’t look that engaged until Bradley Wright-Phillips’s goal. However, the goal woke them up and they showed they can transition from defense to offense with lightning speed.

4) This is easily one of the most dangerous attacking teams in the league, but they still have work to do to be considered elite. The Dynamo have yet to yield a clean sheet and the tendency to sit back on leads early can be frustrating. They need to figure out how to possess the ball for periods to allow opponents to chase them. There is time to develop that and early results are obviously encouraging. It’s important to point out some room to grow, but I don’t want to take away from how great this win was.

Rate the Players: