Player Ratings Houston Dynamo vs. the Philadelphia Union

The Houston Dynamo just can’t seem to get it done on the road as they’ve failed to earn a single point away from BBVA Compass Stadium. Earlier this week the Dynamo went to Chester, Pennsylvania to take on the Philadelphia Union in their fourth game on the road and once again managed a defeat. Although the 0-2 loss to the Union felt bad given how the Dynamo were playing in the game, the team still has time to capture form on the road and be competitive. The Dynamo dropped from the top club in the West to the second highest club in the West so there is still room to be fight among the top clubs.

Those who voted on player performances also recognized that this match wasn’t quite the catastrophe of a game that the Toronto FC game was as the ratings were more average which is really what this game was. The Dynamo looked very average –at times bad, but this was supposed to be the easiest game of the road trip which makes it hurt much like the draw to Minnesota United FC was at home.

The Top Performers:

DaMarcus Beasley, Man of the Match, (6.9) – I think no player really stood out overall in this match, but Beasley still managed to do the things necessary to keep his side of the field in control. While a little too highly rated for me, DMB passed the ball nearly flawlessly and was able to get up the field regularly. Defensively he covered a lot of ground and even helped Leonardo and Adolfo Machado when they were caught out of position.

Juan David Cabezas (6.5) – Cabezas did well to stop some of the build up by the Union as he made a team high 3 tackles and intercepted passes well through the middle of the park. His distribution was also solid for a central midfielder as he moved the ball to wide positions and up the field very accurately and even had a long key pass in the 76^th minute.

SUB: Vicente Sanchez (6.5) – While some thought it a bit odd to bring on the 37 year old forward for Alex, Sanchez actually brought a lot of creativity and energy to the team that had been lacking. The Uruguayan slalomed through the defense at times with his apparently ageless dribbling and he created some quality chances for his team and himself from the run of play and on set pieces.

Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera (5.1) – Watching the Dynamo at home vs. on the road is seeing two different teams. At home we run everywhere hoping to get the ball and quickly (within seconds usually) we’ve created a chance on goal. On the road we sit back, are more compact, and do not chase defenders to create errant passes. The guys from The Peel pointed out to me an odd trend for the Dynamo – when we have more possession we tend to lose and when we have less we tend to win. That seems completely backwards until you think about it. We don’t hold onto the ball that often because we’re creating quick chances. When we hold onto the ball longer we aren’t getting as many chances and we’re not built to make lots of good plays through possession. We need to play the way that maximizes our personnel and that’s what we do at home.

The Rest of the Starters:

GK: Joe Willis (5.8)

DEF: Leonardo (5.7)

DEF: Adolfo Machado (5.8)

DEF: A. J. DeLaGarza (5.3)

MID: Ricardo Clark (5.6)

MID: Alex Lima (6.1)

FW: Romell Quioto (5.5)

FW: Erick “Cubo” Torres (4.6)

FW: Mauro Manotas (5.6)

The Subs:

FW: Andrew Wenger (6.2)

MID: Joseph Holland (6.2)