Pick the Houston Dynamo Starting XI against the San Jose Earthquakes

The unbeaten home stand is now a thing of the past as the Houston Dynamo were defeated 0-1 by the Colorado Rapids last week at BBVA Compass Stadium, but now the team must move on as it goes on the road to play the San Jose Earthquakes at Avaya Stadium.

Against the Rapids the Dynamo were not their usual home selves as they were slow to transition the ball to offense and allowed the Rapids to get numbers back and in position. The Dynamo needed a playmaker and their designated player & playmaker Tomas Martinez came off the bench and helped open the game up some, but it wasn’t enough.

Wilmer Cabrera’s starting lineup against the Rapids was a little unusual with many international players that just returned seeing heavy minutes and Alex (in danger of yellow card accumulation) starting over Martinez, but it was very close to his usual XI. Alex did see a yellow and will not be available against the Earthquakes. It made sense to experiment some and rest some players with the Rapids being in last place, but regardless of one’s stance on the XI we saw a mostly full strength side fall to the league bottom.

One change we did see was Philippe Senderos get the start over Leonardo (for some reason…I mean Machado was the one in danger of yellow card accumulation) and he was mostly okay, although some of his passing nearly led to breakaway chances for Colorado. Unfortunately Senderos went down and was forced to sub off before the end of the game. I haven’t heard a report on his availability yet so I’ll include him as someone you can select for your XI, but I don’t think he’ll get the go over Leonardo. The other change was having Romell Quioto on the bench to play the full second half with Mauro Manotas (who did not take part in international duty) starting the first.

Following this disappointing result, I think that Cabrera comes out strong against the Earthquakes. Up top we’ll see him go back to his usual top three with Romell Quioto, Cubo Torres, and Alberth Elis.

The midfield is a bit trickier with the versatile Alex Lima missing. I think it would make sense to plug in Tomas Martinez who can play the free roaming creator role just fine next to Juan David Cabezas and Ricardo Clark. Should Cabrera deem Martinez not ready to start there are a few other players who could see time at LM including Memo Rodriguez, Oscar Boniek Garcia, or possibly even Joseph Holland. I think Martinez gets his first start, but I wouldn’t be surprised by Memo or Boniek getting the go either.

In the back I think it’ll be DaMarcus Beasley at LB, Leonardo back in his starting spot at CB next to Adolfo Machado, with A. J. DeLaGarza at RB.

My Projected Starting Lineup

So who do you want to see lineup against the San Jose Earthquakes? Let us know and feel free to share your choices in the comments section below!