It’s clear as a bell what Chicago and many teams on the road in MLS do. Play conservative, stay organized with tight lines, don’t concede space and put the onus on the home team to break you down. Challenge them to break you down and beat a deep defending squad. A point it fine and you put the hope in that Chris Rolfe on the counter and produce a single moment of brilliance to earn you three points. Earn one it is a good point against the defending champions earn three and it is a bonus. Chicago issued the road tactics challenge and the Dynamo could not solve it.
Now to be fair if Brian Ching’s header goes it then it is tactical advantage Dynamo , if Brad Davis and his blast goes in it’s tactical advantage Dynamo because it would force Chicago to open up and attack. Scoring the first goal against a team employing these tactics is vital. It is also another reason that MLS has to continue to find players with that individual ability to beat compact defenses. Tactical sophistication maybe but deep defending teams are going to be attractive yet the reality is the Dynamo will like many teams will face this challenge repeatedly. To compound matters they are not producing the best of soccer right now.
The emails are rolling in to me and what I can say is that remember it is a long season, don’t forget what this team did last year and the key is finding your game at the right time. The Dynamo did it last year, LA did it the year before after a poor regular season. Landon Donovan proved you could take much of the year off and produce at the right time. It made a mockery of the league’s playoff system format.
Ok back to the Dynamo and Chicago. Brian Mullan is a needed man right now on the right side and the start seemed promising in that Dwayne DeRosario was involved in the first half and is seemingly finding his desirous attacking capability. The most concerning point to me is that the Dynamo in the first half relied on creating their best chances off set pieces. More is needed from the run of play.
After the Chicago goal attacking substitutions and pushing Wade Barrett into midfield added to the pressure.
No kidding the Dynamo were going to have more of the ball and the territorial advantage in this one with the tactics Chicago employed. Breaking down compact, deep lying defenses is not easy but you must get penetration out wide, circulate the ball quickly, shoot from long range and get strikers holding the ball around the penalty area.
Ball movement is slow and it has been starting from the backs who are not finding midfield players quick enough.
The Dynamo got some breaks in New York but didn’t get them against Chicago including what could have been a penalty on Jim Curtain for a hand-ball in the area.
I look at the criticism coming from fans in a number of ways…..you care! And that is a positive sign. I temper your desire for the Dynamo to play better with the mere fact it is a long season and all teams will have ups and downs. Who would have thought DC would not be getting the desired results. Lets hope the Dynamo fans that are soccer fans don’t become fair weather like other professional franchises in our city, we have waited a long time for soccer to arrive professionally and you were rewarded with a championship from this team. It was a remarkable year and it has set the bar high. True fans are there in both the good and the hard times. Which leads me to a moment in the game when I was doing commentary on Channel 55? Where did El Batallon and the Texian Army go?
Let me know your thoughts on the Chicago game and the answer to my question.
A reminder the Dynamo Power Hour will air Tuesday night at 7pm.
Glenn