Player Ratings Houston Dynamo vs. Toronto FC

Once again the Houston Dynamo seemed to figure out how to forget how to earn a result away from Houston as they were unable to pick up their first points away from BBVA Compass Stadium in their 0-2 loss to Toronto FC. What really seemed to work against them was themselves as they felt they had a strategy to withstand the high-pressing and attacking oriented Reds, but it only allowed Toronto time to pick apart our defense. Later in the game Wilmer Cabrera opted for more of an attacking influence in his game as he increased the number of forwards on the field which saw an increased amount of possession in Toronto’s half of the field and chances on goal, but those players were unable to succeed in putting a dent in Toronto’s lead.

The Top Performers:

DaMarcus Beasley, Man of the Match, (5.8) – While DMB is not my top performer in this match, and I think Machado deserves a bit more credit (although he was lost on the second goal TFC scored), I thought Beasley did a good job at cutting out some passes and actually got up the field well to support attacking opportunities. Beasley wasn’t at fault for either of the goals and did his job when Toronto was pressing throughout the first half of the game. The defense as a whole though just didn’t look totally organized in that period as we decided to sit in too much and invited pressure.

Joe Willis (5.7) – Once again the man between the sticks over Tyler Deric, Joe Willis had a decent outing as the goalkeeper. He had a number of quality saves, including a finger tip save by a Sebastian Giovinco free kick which ended up hitting the side bar of the goal. I think Willis could have prevented one of the goals that he allowed, but the entire process leading to Jozy Altidore’s shot was all on the defense. I think Willis did well enough to earn a top 3 spot, but maybe not number 2.

(SUB) Romell Quioto (5.7) – Was Quioto the best player in terms of stats in this game? No, he was an early substitute. Was he the difference in how the game was played? YES. When Quioto entered the match, opportunities started coming the Dynamo’s way. It wasn’t all Quioto, but rather Cabrera shifting the style to the way it should have been played from the beginning, but Quioto brought a savvy element that helped push the chances for the team to bring a goal back. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to get one at BMO Field.

Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera (4.4) – I gave Cabrera a lot of credit for changing his style of play last game and I hoped he would have learned to take things a little more game by game. Well instead he doubled down and decided to park the bus on the road from the beginning against a high pressing, attack oriented team. That means they got to possess the ball in our half often and got to create more chances on goal. The Dynamo’s earliest identity under Cabrera was designed to beat teams like TFC due to its pace and counter attacking capabilities (perfect against a team with only 3 defenders), but we slowed things down for them and let them in. I will say Cabrera did well to change things early in the 2^nd half and going at TFC – even though he had little choice, but that was largely successful given the number of chances we saw. I just hope Cabrera can figure these issues out sooner – or better yet, before the match.

The Rest of the Starters:

DEF: Leonardo (5.1)

DEF: Adolfo Machado (5.1)

DEF: A. J. DeLaGarza (4.5)

MID: Juan David Cabezas (4.8)

MID: Eric Alexander (5)

MID: Oscar Boniek Garcia (4.6)

MID: Alex Lima (5.6)

FW: Erick “Cubo” Torres (3.5)

FW: Alberth Elis (4.8)

The Subs:

FW: Mauro Manotas (5.3)

FW: Vicente Sanchez (4.5)