Houston Dynamo 1, FC Dallas 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. These ratings are interesting because we all view how players perform differently. Rating websites like WhoScored.com view things from an analytical perspective, but a statistic, even one as big as a goal, doesn’t quite tell the entire story as some goals are bigger and more important to a game than others. I think seeing how we as a community feel can create fun conversations. 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) The atmosphere at BBVA Compass Stadium was electric and the best I’ve seen in years. Perhaps every seat was not taken, but it was close. Houston Dynamo fans were loud and chanting. Even during the National Anthem when the singer’s microphone was not working, the fans decided to help out and sing loud. FC Dallas shenanigans really brought the crowd out as well. On two separate occasions their players made tackles against our players and afterwards they were the ones staying down in order to waste time. The crowd’s boos filled the stadium and it was pretty incredible.

2) The Dynamo could have scored more goals, but they just couldn’t. On at least 3 occasions Mauro Manotas was too slow to pull the trigger as his extra touch or delayed decision often led to blocked shots or a miss. Cubo Torres could have drawn a penalty late in the match after going down in the box following a corner kick, but the official opted against it likely because Cubo had been going down easy all game. Cubo needs to learn when it’s a good idea to fall over and when to stand tall because it could have made a difference late in the game.

3) This game had passion in it and for the first time in awhile it felt like a proper rivalry game. For years Sporting Kansas City were our chief foes when both clubs relocated to the Eastern Conference and after we made the move back to the West, frankly we weren’t good enough to re-forge our rivalry with FCD. However, with both clubs competing for top spots in the West it appears as if this rivalry has been renewed. The FC Dallas antics I mentioned earlier led to a fight breaking out. After an FCD player went down, Dallas continued to build up an attack, but after the Dynamo gained possession they cried for us to put the ball out. After we tried our own luck on goal, patience seemed to have been lost with both sides pushing and shoving each other. Ultimately only Alex and Hernan Grana received yellow cards, but it could have been worse. We have returned to the physical and emotional rivalry with Frisco.

4) I want to see Romell Quioto and Alberth Elis together on the field again. The two do so much that complement each other and their center forward. Manotas has played well on the wing, but he’s not a true winger and the team will be better served as soon as Quioto and Elis are 100% and starting again.

Rate the Players: