Now before we get into the Dynamo 1-0 loss at Pizza Hut Park lets look at a few things from the opening games in the MLS playoffs. Predictably tight score lines as teams play more conservatively in game one. Three 1-0 games and a 0-0 draw.
Lets look at how the goals where scored:
Chicago 1 DC United 0- 14th minute the DC defense is hesitant and don’t attack a ball in the air well (Greg Vanney as well) ball drops to Chris Rolfe who rifles it home in the upper corner. Reason for goal: MISTAKE
KC 1 Chivas USA 0 - A free kick from Davey Arnaud (Nederland, TX) provides the difference. FREE KICK
NE 0 NY 0 - A draw in the Big Apple
FC Dallas 1 Houston 0- A long Adrian Serioux throw in (ironically last year a Dynamo weapon when Serioux was in Orange)
is not dealt with properly by the Dynamo, Eddie Robinson and Ryan Cochrane got caught too high and the throw gets over their head. Pat Onstad’s starting position was in question to deal with the throw in which nobody gets a head on and Clarence Goodson pounds it in. Reason for goal: MISTAKE
So four games, three goals , two from mistakes and one from a free kick just reminds us that teams are conservative in game one, gripped by fear and tactics. All the teams are in a position in game two to go through and none really have played good attacking soccer purely because of the conditions of the series.
Here are some thoughts from Dallas.
Atmosphere- still the Pizza Hut Park is lacking energy, where was the playoff energy. IT was a big dissapointment for me after being in Chicago Thursday for the ESPN2 seeing poor attendance and no passion at the PHP. Dynamo fans get a thumbs up for making the trip up.
How embarrassing to the sport of soccer and to FC Dallas was in to see football lines on the field from a high school football game? A big thumbs down to FC Dallas for that, come on , how will anyone think we are taking this game seriously if a high school sport can leave lines on the field. Oh but they looked good in high def. The players, the league, the fans, and the sport deserve more and it just makes all involved look poor.
We have to set the bar higher.
The Dynamo and FC Dallas scratched and clawed which should be expected in game one of a series.
Arturo Alvarez and Stuart Holden cancelled each other out wide, the Dynamo had difficulty getting any width in their attack so the bread and butter of creating chances off crosses was eliminated so Brian Ching did not get any real service.
Brad Davis did not effect this when he came on.
FC Dallas matched the Dynamo intensity and had a bit of an edge to their game, lets face it they are playing without pressure which may be a good thing for them as they have nothing to lose.
FC Dallas coach Steve Morrow was smart getting Carlos Ruiz and Pablo Ricchetti off who were both carrying yellow cards.
The Dynamo were in this position last year coming home to Robertson a goal down to Chivas USA.
Workmanlike game, typical tight opening playoff game with mistakes magnified, few chances and little free flowing build-ups.
Players getting that little bit less time on the ball.
The Dynamo have it all in front of them on Friday as FC Dallas comes to Houston.
Your thoughts on the opening playoff games including the Dynamo.
Glenn
How embarrassing to the sport of soccer and to FC Dallas was in to see football lines on the field from a high school football game?
About as embarrassing as an MLS game being played at a college stadium?
As many a poster at the FCD fan forum will tell you, if you want the football lines gone, there\’s a simple fix: Send a check for $15 million to Frisco ISD, Frisco TX.
I can live with a couple of months of football lines to ensure the financial health of the team. Rice-Eccles is forever.
BTW - I don\’t recall seeing any special signage on the turf signifying \
Comment by Ethan — October 28, 2007 @ 9:22 am
…MLS Playoffs, which further detracts from the sense of playoff atmosphere. Oh well, I’ll take the win.
Argh - keep forgetting you cannot use quotation marks in this comments box.
Comment by Ethan — October 28, 2007 @ 9:24 am
If that was the condition that the stadium was built on then I say it was poor negotiation Ethan.
If you want to set your bar that it is acceptable to have football lines during a playoff game then that is pretty sad.
Football lines on a soccer field cheapen the product, the presentation and looks downright bush league.
The NFL has no soccer lines on their field so why should we accept it?
Because we are second class and afraid to speak up and make it an issue?
I feel strongly about it because I think it influences alot of areas of the growth of the sport.
Even the FC Dallas players were shocked about the lines.
When we are promised soccer stadiums with our sport as the priority I feel we have to hold executives to the fire on this if not the sport does not progress.
I assume you were happy with the fan turn out as well for a playoff game?
Thanks for the post.
Glenn
Comment by glenndavis — October 28, 2007 @ 9:30 am
What a bad game from our team, the bad news is that we lost, but we have 2 good news.
Number 1 is that one goal is nothing when the second leg of the match is in your field, my dad used to say that 2 goals was the minimum advantage you should get from the first leg when you are the home team, tying he said was a complete failure, no chance of advancing without a miracle, one goal he used to say was very bad, that one goal advantage most of the time would result in the home team in the second leg advancing (my dad had no hard numbers, but a friend a few years ago did the work on the Champions League home and away matches and my dad was dead on right). A 2 goal advantage he used to say was no guarantee, but it gave you a real chance, the game was yours to control or yours to give away on the first half of the second leg game, a 3 goal advantage he used to say meant only a miracle from the other side would prevent you from advancing. Think Pachuca, they lost hear 2-0 and then revert things in the second leg game.
Good news number 2 is that they canīt play worst, there is no way they will miss chances like yesterday or give a goal like that in the second game, chances are they will play better, and hopefully that will be enough, I will be there, shouting and cheering.
Comment by Jarrambide — October 28, 2007 @ 10:09 am
Glenn, excellent point regarding the crowd at PHP. When I saw those lines on the field I asked myself….soccer specific eh?
Love your broadcast on HDNet and am flying in from Florida to catch Part Deux next Friday night.
Comment by Peter — October 28, 2007 @ 12:03 pm
Glenn,
On the stadium/football lines issue, while I understand the need for the venues to be somewhat multipurpose (football, concerts, stage - although Toyota Park looks like they incorporated the stage best), the message that the football lines or the lack of effort to remove them sends to the team is \
Comment by JJ — October 28, 2007 @ 12:40 pm
The NFL has no soccer lines on their field so why should we accept it?
Um, ever been to Giants Stadium? Or Gillette? Soccer lines. NFL stadium. Heck, what about Qwest field? Those are USL lines, not even MLS.
I get your concern about the football lines, and I agree that the game should have had more of a playoff vibe to it. From the turf to the signage to the attendance, more could have been done. But in many ways, this strikes me as the Year Zero for MLS. I realize that they have been around for longer than this year (I have not, as an MLS fan). I think MLS is still finding their way toward long-term success. Heck, the first few NFL Super Bowls were played at college stadiums. Worse or better?
Re: Multi use, I guess I shouldnt take soccer in the UK seriously, what with the concerts (gasp) and NFL game (horrors) at Wembley. The NBA and NHL share space, and apparently thats a-ok, right? Or should there be stand alone basketball arenas and stand alone hockey rinks? I guess the 49ers and the SF Giants brought down MLB and the NFL by sharing space.
Thanks for replying, I really didnt expect a response. If FCD has to be embarrassed by football lines for roughly 2 months out of a 6-month season to secure their financial future, I can handle it. I wonder what, if any, criticism you might level at the, lets see, Dynamo, Revolution, Real Salt Lake, Red Bulls for their use of college or NFL stadiums to ply their trade. Again: Worse or better?
Comment by Ethan — October 28, 2007 @ 3:01 pm
(Naturally, after I typed in the above comment, the NE/WSH game is on, and the Gillette crew managed to use the Photoshop magic eraser tool to wipe out the soccer lines. You can still see where they *were*, but they are not as conflicting as other times when the NFL lines are white and the MLS lines are yellow. So, not sure why the FCD grounds crew couldnt have done the same.)
One more point re: playoff crowd: The Fire didnt exactly pack the house either, and that game featured Air Cuauhtemoc AND Beckham. I shouldnt have seen the cement under the seats.
But lest I give the completely wrong impression, I want more (and better) for MLS, and hopefully the league gets better overall with each passing year. And since youre reading this, apparently, I hoped to meet you after the game yesterday but wasnt able to stick around. You were the first announcer I saw/heard call an MLS game, and with the aid of Marcelo really turned me on to the MLS, and led me to attending my first ever FCD game in April. Thanks to you, marcelo, and HDNet for your commitment to MLS and attracting more fans to the game.
Comment by Ethan — October 28, 2007 @ 3:15 pm
Ethan,
The LA-Chicago did sell out. The playoff game with DC-United, while not quite a sell-out, was far more understandable than FC Dallas\’ weak home crowd, since the Chicago FO had 4 days to promote a Thursday night game. All in all, it was an admirable showing by Chicago fans.
Apparently you\’re an FC Dallas fan, and as nice as it must be to enjoy the financial security a SSS provides, Pizza Hut Park does, in fact, offer the perfect example of the road the Dynamo don\’t want to follow. Namely, the Frisco-Sugarland analogy- by pushing the stadium to the suburbs you in effect harm the long-term growth of the fan-base, especially in an international city like Houston, as opposed to say Salt Lake. Also, if you\’re bargaining partner is a Sugarland/Frisco, and not downtown authorities, they shouldn\’t be in a position to dictate terms, or at least should be accountable for something as simple as cleaning up the lines or moving the football games to an alternate venue in the event of a playoff game. If you want to admit football is king in texas, but at the same time want to pretend you\’re wearing the crown in your SSS, for your own sense of propriety, at least take the time to ensure you control that much.
Comment by steven — October 28, 2007 @ 4:16 pm
Comment by ryan — October 28, 2007 @ 4:21 pm
Ethan,
I believe you missed the point Glenn was trying to make. You make it seem like it is an either-or situation, as in either FC Dallas has the football lines and gets the money or they do not have lines and do not get the funding. I believe it is very probable that those terms were not what the deal hinged upon. Instead, a compromise should have been worked out with both parties that would give preference to FC Dallas games but still allow football lines for those games.
Although you claim Glenn avoided your question, you proceeded to do the same thing with his question. You simply did not address the lack of fans for the FC Dallas playoff game. The Fire were able to pull in 21,374 fans for their game against the Galaxy, but FC Dallas was only able to manage 12,537 fans. We have to question the marketing techniques and front office of FC Dallas on this one. Although the playoff numbers were low around the board, it seems that FC Dallas has really struggled to bring in fans.
Moreover, the criticism you are levelling at the Dynamo for sharing the stadium with U of H is not the same as the football lines in a playoff game. It is a well-known fact that Houston has very supportive fans and has done well bringing them in, and I think you will have even more evidence of this at the game this weekend. Your criticism of the Dynamo might be valid if Houston were content to remain without a stadium of their own, but this is simply not the case. The Dynamo have been working hard to get a place of their own, and it is only a matter of time.
Comment by Nick — October 28, 2007 @ 9:08 pm
Ethan,
I was at the Fire game and there was a great atmosphere and over 17,000 fans.
I understand the whole connection to the Independent School District in Dallas but somebody has to be smart enough, savvy enought to some how have that field in better conditon.
A playing surface devoid of lines helps sell the product let alone make all involved feel more professional about the environment. This was a playoff game! One of the biggest in FC Dallas’s short history at PHP.
Don’t compare to other teams playing in another stadium, their issue is to get out of those monstrosities.
We are talking about FC Dallas, a team that has it’s own facility that somehow has to do a better job . And you as fans should be ticked off, not making excuses or saying if you have multi-millions you can buy out the school district.
Talk about bowing down, we must demand more from organizations who build these buildings and tell us that soccer will be primary.
I do appreciate your comments and thanks for the nice comments about HDNET.
Glenn
Comment by glenndavis — October 29, 2007 @ 8:29 am
Glenn, like I have written before, I am relatively new to soccer but I am old enough to see a pattern developing when I see it. In the last 3 games, the Orange have scored 1 goal. They attack and press on goal but I do not see shots on goal. DeRosario has hit some wild shots in these last 3 games and Ching I believe has had only one or possilby two shots on goal. They swarm but they don\’t shoot! Jacqua, I still don\’t know what to make of the guy. He is so clumsy yet he made a beautiful pass to Ching that could have been the equalizer. Nguenga has the speed but he is always offside or falling down. They are definitely in a scoring slump. I hope the home cooking snaps them out of it. A good game and they are off to the races. Just as the Boston Red Sox.
Let\’s hope the Orange right the ship.
Comment by manny rivademar — October 29, 2007 @ 8:36 am
What a game Glenn, I was very dissapointed with our team’s intensity…I’ve been saying it for at least a couple of months now and everyone seems to be blinded by love for our Dynamo…but honestly this team is not even close to the team last year…something happened at the end of that great unbeaten streak we had during the middle of the season, and honestly I cant put my finger on it…
But what I can see now and I’ve been seeing for a while now is our lack of possesion, control of the ball, and passing accuracy…Our game has become very unnatractive. But that’s not the worst thing, it doesn’t have to be fancy soccer all the time, but our finishing has gone down the drain…DeRosario keeps dissapointing me too…every game I think he’s finally going to go back to that level we expect from him and then I wake up and see how many uninspired passes and dribbles he makes….he probably throws 4 or 5 bad passes forward every game…bad passes because he waits too long and does not know what he wants to do with the ball…
To me Ching is still the weapon, but he found himself with no support most of the game, he would hold the ball waiting for someone to come in from the midfield and then make a run but no one would do so…It’s gotta be very frustrating to play like that…
Waibel, God…he’s a good player but what’s the deal with clearing 60% of the balls that come his way…does he not realize that most of the time there is no one around him for at least 15-20 yards?
This post is just too long now…I’ll just give my own grading of our team
Onstad - 7 - His experience never gave confidence to the defense.
Defense - 6 - Most of them (except Barrett) clear the ball right away, losing possesion of the ball and throwing it over the midfield….that’s not good soccer
Midfield - 5 - I feel for them because with almost no support from the defense (offensively) and the injury status, this is probably the most frustrating position to play in our team right now.
Offense - 5 - No creativity, Ngwenya runs like a bull most of the time, he’s expecting the long ball always and usually misses passes for running before looking up at the passer…Ching needs more support and also work on finishing…well actually the whole team.
Coaching - 4 - This one’s hard for me to grade, because I love what Dom has done in the past year and early months of this year, but I feel that the team is out of rhythm…and that falls on the coaching staff. I sometimes wonder what Dom works on during the week, because our set piece strategy is a disaster, our intensity is way below where it’s supposed to be, and the finishing is horrible (finishing should be something they work on during the week, every team does)….
Sorry for being so negative, but I know these guys can do a lot better, they just need a little boost…I hope we find it before Nov 2..
Great work on ESPN Glenn…I enjoyed that game….
Comment by Moises — October 29, 2007 @ 9:16 am
i thought i was the only one having a problem with those footbal lines, i think it\’s disrespectful to soccer.
luckily we don\’t see them as often here in houston.
Comment by jorgito — October 29, 2007 @ 9:31 am
Wow, looks like the bus let off on the corner, huh?
OK: 1. I do not work for FCD in any capacity, and defer to the FO to address the *what could have been done to market the playoff game better* issue. (Sorry, since quote marks are a problem in this comment box, Ill do what I can.) Same with the funding situation that led to the football lines - which I contend arent the Complete and Total End of the World as some do. Here is what someone who works for the FCD FO said about the funding issue:
Serious answer - I believe PHP penciled out (final costs) $75 mil or so. $55 mil of that was paid for by the school district, among other govt entities, so they can use it for football games, etc. This allows us to have at least as good if not a better overall facility than any of the other SSSs in the league to date - and apparently in the near future as well. No other venue has a better situation in terms of the all around facilities, etc. Of the other venues, only DSGP has fields nearing the same volume. KC has a pencil sketch of one similar but dont have their ducks in a row yet.
2. More about the lines: Glenn (and others), I\’m new to MLS and soccer overall, so I dont have the storied history that many of you have with the sport, league, etc. But like it or not, MLS isnt quite to the point where football lines make or break the league. Aesthetically, we can argue til the cows come home, but I contend that MLS faces bigger challenges than shared use facilities - even so-called SSSes. Look at St Louis, and the sales pitch theyre giving right now for an SSS (conveniently in IL, not STL). Theyre talking multi purpose. Am I right to assume that if there were no football lines at PHP ever, that the new target of ire would be the stage at one end? My understanding (I heard it on an MLS radio broadcast last year) is that PHP is essentially the model for all future MLS stadia (in that it is designed to be multi use). It may not be aesthetically pleasing, or respectful to soccer, but really, short of say, NASCAR, what sport in the USA gets a _sovereign_ stadium these days? Seriously? The NFL shares space. The NBA shares space. (The _circus_ drives the Mavericks out of their *house* for a week or two every year - hows that for respect?) Even MLB shares space. As I am wont to argue, if you want pitch sovereignty, take up Cricket. BTW, the NTCA here in Plano shares space with - wait for it - park district soccer. (Just saying.)
Now: Do I accept football lines as how MLS/FCD ought to be forever? No. If it gets MLS profitable and stable in the near term, yes, I can dig it. Again, I consider college stadia to be a far bigger *insult to soccer* than football lines that show up for at most (!) 1/3 of the season. And remember, the NFL did their time in college stadia. Sure, one might expect that 11 years later MLS would be on more solid footing (without the football), but such is life.
Comment by Ethan — October 29, 2007 @ 10:20 pm
And the fan disparity still looms large…
Comment by Nick — October 30, 2007 @ 7:17 am
Glenn,
On the stadium/football lines issue, while I understand the need for the venues to be somewhat multipurpose (football, concerts, stage - although Toyota Park looks like they incorporated the stage best), the message that the football lines or the lack of effort to remove them sends to the team is that they are nothing more than “date fillers” for the venue, much like Arena football or the circus. Part of MLS is the venue business, but what is going to carry the league is the primary focus on the SOCCER business. It’s not like the schedule at PHP wasn’t known in advance - they should have had a crew ready and directed to get the field cleaned up for the game. And FCD controls the venue! To me, that shows a lack of leadership by someone with Hunt Sports or the venue.
While I appreciate the contribution of Lamar Hunt and the Hunt family, I can’t help shake the feeling that they run their franchises cheaply. It’s somewhat unfortunate that in MLS, cities and fanbases like Houston, DC, and even San Jose have to wait for stadiums while teams like Dallas, Columbus, and Colorado get them, with owners that want to milk cash flow out of the stadiums rather than invest in the product. You’ve pointed it out many times on your show, but how badly has Colorado blown its opportunity this year? And by investing in the product, I don’t mean running up excessive losses, I mean focusing on the soccer portion on the field and not the sidebar stuff that sounds good but means nothing. Let’s hope the Dynamo get the stadium deal done and a good partnership with all other tenants with the focus being primarily on the soccer pitch (and if we have a soccer-specific stadium, we’ll get our fair share of internationals and exhibitions to fill dates rather than motorcross)
On the crowd at Dallas, it certainly seemed dead on HDnet. I’m not sure how they promote up there but the Dynamo has been promoting the heck out of the game and it falls on a night (Friday) that is ripe with local HS conflicts for families but I think we will get a great crowd that is involved in the game. I really believe that the Houston fans are worth a goal at Robertson with teams being equal.
As for the game, it was one sitter chance for Dallas that came as a result of a defensive miscue. The Dynamo had a lot of possession but really only 2 great chances. It felt like April again. I think Balboa said it best during the broadcast that it was more important late in the game not to go down 2-0 rather than even it up for Houston. The question is if Morrow will try to bunker for 90 like Bradley did with Chivas last year and if Kinnear tries to push a 3-5-2 or more agressive tactcs early in the game. It feels alot like the Chivas series last year but I felt better going into Game 2 the way the Dynamo played last year as opposed to last week.
Comment by JJ — October 30, 2007 @ 11:47 am