Dynamo vs Colorado Rapids - Player Ratings

After each game we’ll be handing out player ratings on a 1-10 scale. The Houston Dynamo earned a 1-1 draw with the Colorado Rapids Saturday night, thanks to Tyler Pasher’s late goal. Let’s have a look at the ratings as the Dynamo now head into the international break. All stats referenced are from fbref.

Starters

Steve Clark – 6

Clark made three saves, including a big one on Jonathan Lewis very early in the first half. His passing was, as always, solid, and the one goal he conceded was a tap-in at the back post.

Adam Lundkvist – 7

Outside of allowing the one goal, the Dynamo defense had a solid game. Lundkvist completed 86% of his passes and had 7 progressive carries. The stand-in captain also had 4 clearances and 8 pressures, showing he can play solidly on the defensive and offensive ends.

Teenage Hadebe – 7

With Tim Parker on the bench, Hadebe got his first start of 2022 and put in a solid 90 minutes. Hadebe had 8 clearances (second to Steres’ 9) to go along with 3 interceptions. The Designated Player center back led the team with 106 touches and 92 pass attempts, showing how the Dynamo are comfortable playing out of the back.

Daniel Steres – 7

When the Dynamo traded essentially nothing to get Steres this offseason, I don’t think I was alone in initially thinking “that’s a fine depth piece.” Steres has now started all 4 games to begin the 2022 season and continues putting in good performances. Daniel led the team with clearances, with 9, and added in 10 pressures.

Griffin Dorsey – 6

Dorsey continues to bring an attacking element to the Dynamo, especially when he plays on the same side as Corey Baird. He led the team with 10 progressive carries and his passing, especially short passes, remain very good. Dorsey doesn’t bring as much defensively, being out of position more often than you’d like, bit he did have a team-high 4 interceptions Saturday night. He came off after 71 minutes for Zeca.

Matias Vera – 6

Vera seemed to get forward more in this game, he did have a left footed shot that was blocked in the first half, but all things considered Vera continues to do the dirty work he is asked to do. And saying that, he does a very good job at it.

Adalberto Carrasquilla – 8

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I got a text from a friend who covers another team in MLS after Saturday’s game, it simply said, “Carrasquilla is insane”. That’s a pretty good way to sum up Coco’s performance. The Panamanian had 2 shot-creating actions, 5 progressive carries, 4 successful dribbles, 2 tackles, and 3 interceptions. Time to get this guy signed long-term.

Darwin Quintero – 6

After making the MLS Team of the Week last time out, Darwin came back down to earth a little. He had zero shot-creating actions and only completed 66% of his passes. The impressive stat for Quintero from Saturday, he led the Dynamo with 14 pressures. And people say he doesn’t play defense!

Fafa Picault – 7

Fafa had no attempted dribbles this week, which is odd for him, but he still had a good game. Picault is just a hassle for opposing defenses with his pace and constant motor. His passing was solid on Saturday, and he continues to put in work defensively. It’s easy to see why Fafa is such a fan favorite.

Corey Baird – 5

At some point Tyler Pasher is going to start (or Thiaguinho?). Baird came off his best game of the season against Vancouver but struggled against Colorado. You know what you’re getting from Corey, a strong defensive work-rate, and that is fine on a team with a lot of explosive offensive weapons. Right now, the Dynamo are not that.

Sebastian Ferreira – 5

It’s not time to panic about Sebas. Hopefully, this international break will do him some good to clear his head and get him back in the swing of things. Ferreira’s miss from 5 yards out in the second half was a bad one, no two ways about it.

Subs

Thor Ulfarsson - 7

I mentioned last week that Nagamura likes Thor because he has played him in every match so far. We may see him starting soon if Ferreira’s struggles continue. Thor came on and looked lively for his 30 minutes, creating for others, and registering 2 shots.

Zeca – 7

Zeca is very smooth on the ball. There was a couple instances Saturday where he received a pass and took the perfect touch to play himself away from danger and into space. He had 7 progressive carries in his 19 minutes on the field and completed 16 of 19 passes.

Tyler Pasher – 8

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Pasher scored the equalizing goal in the 90^th minute but he was dangerous throughout his 19 minutes in the game. He managed to send one decent chance in to Row Z, but his goal was so well taken to beat an onrushing goalkeeper. Like I said above, Pasher should be starting soon.

Memo Rodriguez - 8

8 minutes isn’t a long time to leave an impact on a game, but Memo managed to do that Saturday. Memo picked up William Yarbrough’s errant goal kick and played a great through ball to Pasher for the Dynamo goal. He had a chance to win it at the death on a dangerous free kick, but his attempt was saved.

Darwin Ceren - 5

This isn’t a knock on Ceren as much as it is proof to show the Dynamo still have some areas of the roster to build. Trailing by a goal, with 5 minutes to play, Nagamura brought on Ceren, a defensive midfielder. This isn’t a knock on Nagamura either as the only other options he had on the bench were backup goalkeeper Michael Nelson and defenders Zarek Valentin and Tim Parker. Here’s to Pat Onstad and company’s search for more attacking players coming up aces.