Dynamo/Dash Delivery: Dynamo restart sputters

The Houston Dynamo picked up right where they left off before the international break sputtering to two disappointing draws. HDFC went into the break knowing they needed to improve on their midfield play and backline defense, but neithet has shown any improvement. Head coach Tab Ramos is at a loss for getting the players to get the message. It’s a simple message.

“I think it starts with me – I deliver the message,” said Ramos following the team’s mid-week draw with Portland. “Obviously, we said the message at halftime, and I thought it was clear we needed to start the second half well, because the next goal was going to be the important one, and we needed to keep our goal at zero.”

It was definitely a tale of two halves and if new owner Ted Segal was still in attendance by the final whistle, he learned firsthand that this is not a team that plays a full 90.

With the seconds ticking away, Portland began its final attack in the attacking third. With a quick give and go on the far sideline Dynamo defender Adam Lundkvist was slow to get over. Larrys Mabiala had the space he needed to whip in a cross that neither defender Maynor Figueroa nor Tim Parker were in a position to defend and the rest as they say is history.

Following the drW, one might say that it is a stretch to call for the release of a player but maybe that’s the kind of wake up call this team needs. For far too long, Dynamo players have known there are no real repercussions for poor play or lack of hustle. Fans have watched time and time again as the same players show up in the starting XI and keep their big contracts. For far too long, the Dynamo fans have endured the the same response to a disappointing loss or draw that they don’t even have to listen to a presser or read the recap in the papers. Before the team has left the pitch, they already know what the coach and players are going to say. For the most part this is what you’ll hear or read, “it’s disappointing, we have to do better and we have to forget it and look ahead to the next game.”

If you continue to do things the way you always have, you are going to get the same results and that is exactly what has happened in Houston. If new owner Ted Segal learned anything on Wednesday night, it’s that things have to be changed. Clean house at the top and when a player loafs on the field at a most critical time, he is at the least relegated to the bench, if not sent packing. If the Dynamo are to return to their winning ways, it’s going to take a front office that is uncomfortable and players who know there are consequences for poor play.