Houston Dynamo 3, LA Galaxy 3: 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 usually on Tuesday mornings depending when the game takes place. 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) This was among the craziest games by the Houston Dynamo that I’ve ever seen. They came in with so much on the line and somehow scrapped together a draw late after an unbelieveable push from being down by two goals. However, it was self inflicted mistakes that need to be talked about first here because the Dynamo gifted the LA Galaxy three goals. First on a cross, Adolfo Machado gets a slight touch on a ball near post which sends the ball across the mouth of goal to DaMarcus Beasley who puts it into his own net. Second, Cubo loses a ball far too easily which leads to a quick counter attack and goal. Third, A. J. DeLaGarza tries to play a ball to Ricardo Clark, but it’s picked off and another goal is the result. The first goal was unlucky, but going down a goal in just the third minute means everything must tighten up for the rest of the game and at times it was too casual.This was sloppy by our defenders and forward and it must be better if we want any chance at a playoff spot.

2) The other part of this game is the tremendous amount of heart and effort on display to put the Dynamo back into this game. Romell Quioto, Tomas Martinez, Alberth Elis, and Vicente Sanchez stood out the most with their combined 15 shots that led the way with quality chances on goal. Martinez helped the Dynamo get within reach of the LA Galaxy and Quioto had a goal that should have stood, but was called back. Late in the game Elis drew a penalty, stepped up and buried it and after that Sanchez linked up with Elis to equalize. The Dynamo also hit the post twice in this game and had a total of 27 shots. Hopefully, the Dynamo offense can capitalize on more than just 3 of 27 next outing, but the offensive display was encouraging.

3) It’s hard to say that center official Fotis Bazakos was not a factor in this game. I think fans typically over blame officials in general and it’s a tough job, but there were several missed or poor calls that definitely had an impact on how this game played out. First, LA goalkeeper Clement Diop thought there was a whistle blown and he walked the ball out of the 18 yard box in his hands. There was no call and the Dynamo had the right to a free kick outside the top of the box for Diop handling the ball outside the 18 yard box. Somehow, after it looked like the Dynamo would get the call, the ball was given back to Diop.

I mentioned Quioto’s disallowed goal which was for him fouling a defender was far too weak in my opinion to be called, but Quioto was also fouled hard which could have been, in my view, a straight red to Hugo Arellano who was already on a yellow. No whistle was blown. Late in the game, Alberth Elis was brought down by Arellano inside the box and a penalty was awarded to the Dynamo, but no card shown for a vicious tackle. Dynamo Goalkeeper Coach Paul Rogers was ejected for sharing his thoughts on the tackle with the officials. VAR was not used where arguably it should have such as Quioto’s goal and the foul leading to a penalty.

4) This was not the desired result, but it was hardly a bad performance if you ignore the obvious mistakes which is something that is admittedly difficult to do. Wilmer Cabrera began the match with one of his strongest starting lineups intending to get three points, but individual errors proved extremely costly. The team didn’t give up and even though the winless streak is extended to six matches, the playoffs are still a possibility.

Rate the Players: