“Soccer Matters with Glenn Davis” on FOX SPORTS HOUSTON presented by MEMORIAL HERMANN SPORTS MEDICINE INSTITUTE tomorrow at 5pm (Comcast, ATT UVERSE)
Twitter.com: Soccermattersgd
Soccer Matters with Glenn Davis camp to “KICK CANCER” December 11,12,13 at Pin Oak Fields in Bellaire……all proceeds go to Texas Childrens Hospital and the fight against cancer and Nicksteam.org…….join area me and area college coaches for this fast paced, fun filled three days of teaching, coaching and playing!
DANISH INSPIRATIONS CONTEMPORARY FUNRNITURE, Soccertots, MARK WEST PINOT NOIR, Space City Futbol Club, San Jacinto College Coyotes
MIDFIELD PLAY
Thursday night when the Dynamo take on Seattle one area of the field to keep an eye on will be midfield. Think of first the match-up in the middle which could be between RICARDO CLARK (coming off injury) and STUART HOLDEN against presumably OSVALDO ALONSO and BRAD EVANS. Evans and Holden are the two that try to join attacks late while Alonso and Clark generally balance off their partners. Four players that will be very determined in the trenches.
Out wide for Seattle you will find Freddy Ljunberg although don’t expect him to stay there as he has a free reign and is an interchangeable with Nate Jacqua. Ljunberg will also come central. Steve Zakuahani out of Akron is a former Arsenal youth player and when he is involved can be dangerous.
The Dynamo counter with Brad Davis who also can be problematic as he comes inside and scored a fantastic goal in the Dynamo 2-1 loss at Seattle earlier in the year.
Brian Mullan will also need to control the wide area of his side of the field as Seattle like to get their outside backs Leo Gonzalez and James Riley into the attack.
Keep an eye on the Dynamo four set in midfield in a classic match-up against Seattle.
ARE WE SPOILED? Two MLS Cups set the standard when the Dynamo came to town and I know we have tons of loyal fans but are fans too pessimistic going into tomorrow’s playoff match at Seattle. The second season is alive and in a home and home series anything can happen. I don’t have a problem with fans airing it out and being critical as long as they have a reason for their criticism and are buying tickets, this in essence is professional sports where expectations can be askew……Teams in every market go in cycles and one day maybe the team will not be as successful will you be a loyal fan?
PODCAST IS UP…I loved the passion from Dominic Kinnear on last night’s radio show plus Seattle coach Sigi Schmid and team president Oliver Luck on the program.
Head over to 790thesportsanimal.com, click podcasts, click Glenn Davis.
More talk on mayoral candidates and how the Sports Authority issue can influence the court of public opinion when it comes to the Dynamo stadium.
Danish Inspirations
Fiesta Mart
Houston Web Design
Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute
SportTalk 790
Zukowski, Bresenhan & Sinex, L.L.P.
It is true, we are spoiled. I am spoiled. But I have had season tickets since day 1 against colorado. I like these open forums where we can share our ideas. I understand that teams go up and down. There are good and bad days too. Where am I going? that I, as a hardcore fan will expect administration to always have as the main priority the athletic performance of the team over money, sales of shirts, and popularity. I pay to see my team play, not to see to know how rich the owners are. So far I have been satisfied with decisions. I understand kamara traded for thompson (allocation money) and how DeRo had to go. What is really confusing is how we have been adding defernders and strikers galore and no midfielders. I understand when a better team beats you. I understood how red bulls got us out in a lop sided game. I do not understand how MLS persecutes our team with bad referees and with scheduling conflicts. Dynamo’s office should be more outspoken concerning these issues.
I heard Coach Kinnear’s comments last night then went back and listened to the podcast today. Ouch!
Glenn, you ask the question Are we as fans spoiled? Absolutely we are. But……
The question should also be asked: Are the players and Coaches spoiled?
I say absoluetely! They get great support, an enthusiastic and devoted fan base that could not be prouder (Forever Orange). Fans turn out even though the facility is horrible at U of H.
We love our team! Would Dom rather not get critisism and call Denver, or Dallas home? Or would he rather have passionate fans that care, turn out and sometimes critisize? The coach needs to remember that if fans are not critical it is an indication that they don’t care. Far too many teams in MLS are irrelevant in their markets because they heve not engaged fans, people that are engaged feel a part of the team and feel that they have a part to play — in short…they care.
Just becasue we are armchair coaches, or critical before or after game day has ABOSLUTELY NO EFFECT on our support of our team once the players take the field. After the disappointment fans suffered after New York last year can anyone really be blamed for being a little concerned (pessimistic) this time around. To Brian who called Glenn’s show last night, I for one am glad you spoke your mind. Blind faith is for cults not sports teams. I’m sure you will be there on the 8th chearing as hard as anyone for a win. Ignore Kinnear, we want engaged supporters that feel the joy of winning and feel the pain of loss. In my opinion it makes your support more sincere.
All that siad, I love Dominic’s passionte support of his players and their effort. If the ll men on the field Thursday night live up to Dom’s faith in them it will be a sight to behold. If they play with a little bit of a chip on their shoulder – like they have something to prove- watch out Seatle you will be coming to H town down a couple of goals down, and no one will stand in our way on the way to the cup!
I can only speak for myself Glenn, but I was down at the shithole known as Butler Stadium supporting my damn USL Houston Hurricanes FC in the late 90’s. So NO! I have waited to long, I know when we have a good thing here in Houston nowadays!
I’m content to have a true “club” in MLS, a solid crest and tremendous passion behind it all.
DALE DYNAMO!
If they were to start losing ala FC Frisco; I can honestly say I’ll still be a fan. I would still attend ALL the games, and to me the victories will only taste that much sweeter. Eh…but I am a Mexican fan and well we’ve supported our national team through the worst and the best so I guess I’m used to it. For Pachuca I’ve been through bad times i.e. this season, but I still support them and never miss a game. That’s the difference between the casual fan and the hardcore fan. The casual fan barely even buys tickets, but the hardcore fan always buys tickets and is always there!
I listened to the podcast this morning. About Brian’s call and while his “giving up on the future before the playoffs” was odd, his complaints about the team’s form for large parts of the season certainly have merit. If Dom wants to get fired up about it, fine. He’s welcome to. But there have been games this season (as recently as the trip to El Salvador), or if you want to include the first team, a painful draw to witness against Kansas City on October 4th, or a loss at Colorado in August where the result was so bad that the Telefutura commentator (I forget who it was) mentioned that if the Dynamo “played like that in the playoffs, they won’t go far”.
So Brian certainly had some validity to his points last night. We’ve been disappointed at certain times of the season (yes, I see the standings. I know where we ended up. No need to remind me), but the disappointment comes from knowing that on certain days, we should have been better.
We all love this team. We all want to see them win and do well. And sometimes, we get frustrated when it appears that they aren’t playing up to their potential. Like Kirk and a few others, I’m thankful that Brian called and gave his thoughts. If I was listening to the show last night, I would have called up just to defend him and his right to criticize.
One thought that has occured to me: nobody seems to question any of what Brian said about the team’s recent form. Probably because we all know its true to one degree or another. There are lots of days when they’ve been underachieving.
As said earlier, we all LOVE this team. But that shouldn’t mean not calling out players and/or the team when they don’t play well. Having said all of that, looking forward to the playoffs and hoping the guys do really well.
Are we spoiled? You’re darn right we are. And whose fault is that? We ALL want the Dynamo team of 06 and 07. We want that team and those results. Players have come and go but the coaching staff is still here. They get paid to train and motivate and mold players into a winning unit. And for the most part they have done a good job. You can just train players so much but when they take the field its their JOB to put out. For all the disappointing games this season, the Dynamo pulled out second place in the West. Not a bad finish. BUT, the real season starts now. So guys, practice time is over. Time to win another MLS cup!!
We are definitely spoiled by both the championship wins in 2006 and 2007 as well as the quality of play we are accustomed to seeing from the Dynamo. Did the Dynamo still do well (2nd in a tight conference) this season, absolutely. As a season ticket holder, will I still come to games regardless of outcome, absolutely. Do I even enjoy the games that end in draws, absolutely. Do I get frustrated by sloppy play, stupid fouls/cards that can be blamed on players and officiating alike, lack of finishing, etc, yes. It just feels like the Dynamo haven’t been playing like the Dynamo recently. I think it is a credit to the fans that we actually watch enough to recognize a change in play because we are are there every game. Maybe our expections are higher for the Dynamo than other fans have of their teams, but they are expectations the Dynamo are perfectly capable of achieving. I will always support the Dyanmo, but I do expect better play because they can deliver better play. Even without the championship this past year, I still believe we are the team to beat. Forever Orange.
I am a soccer fan. I’ve been all my life. I have had very disappointing moments(i’m from colombia and I root for America de Cali, we had 4 horrific losses in the finals in of the copa libertadores in the 80’s and 90’s. One of those losing to a goal in stopish time)
I have the right to argue, critique, yell, and complain about poor decisions from my team. DK can get mad, upset, whatever, but those manifestations from the fans are only “tough love”. He has experience, he knows how to deal with criticism. He has to take it out on the field, that is the way to shut us up (in a good way). I expect that from my coach. I expect the players and managerial staff too show passion and to be aggresive, i just wish that passion didnot translate into stupid decisions like cam’s in the kansas game, or ching’s in the LA game.
bye
Just as most people here I just finished listening to the podcast and well Im even more dissapointed about our team than before.
Sorry Coach Kinnear, but if you had said those things to a fan directly as you did anywhere else in the world or to the whole fan base in general, you’d be on your way out.
I am a Season Ticket Holder as well, and honestly I think I will keep being one for 10, 20 years or more. So I think I support my team as much as possible and as most people point out, yes…there could be bad games here and there…
but the fire has been missing from these players…
I’ll point out to one play from this last game, and that one play is a perfect display in the change of attitude our team has shown in the past few months.
Flores from Chivas is brought down by Hainault and a penalty kick is awarded. We all saw it!!! Hainault and everyone in the team knew it was a penalty…but what happens next?
Bobby Boswell starts screaming and pushing the much smaller and remember just fouled Flores. BB is acting as if he wants to eat him just because a penalty was just called on his team.
He should’ve been doing all that to Hainault for some really sloppy play…
What Im trying to point out is the attitude! Most of this team has been acting like this for a while now and unfortunately I see that this is coming from the top now.
All this talking back to the refs, red cards and sloppy play is lack of concentration, and I don’t know at what point this was lost, and sorry to say this DK, but that’s your job…mine is to chant you to victory whether your in first place or last! And I think we’ve done that here in Houston.
Are we spoiled, yes we are, but that does not take away our right to voice out our opinion about the team we support.
Hey Coach! We love our team, and we DO have the right to criticize, just as the Dynamo has the right to throw me out of a game if I don’t act as a good fan.
With all that said, I’ll be there Nov 8 at 10 AM tailgating…you can’t take that away from me!
A couple of things in response to great passionate posts.
Without fans there is no league, without discussion and engaged conversation the sport doesn’t grow and quite frankly is less interesting.
I have loved all the great comments on this website, via emails I receive and on the radio show.
No player or coach in professional sports goes into their job knowing that they are not a target for praise and criticism. Every professional athlete has taken criticism and so do those who comment and have opinion on the sport.
Bathing in the glory comes with taking a few hits per say.
Every fan has the right to comments whether praising or being critical as long as they are buying tickets which supports the club and I urge you to continue your passionate discussions about soccer!
Last night was healthy on the radio….a coach protecting his team and very passionate which is what fans have come to love about Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear! A fan equally as passionate with his own thoughts and criticism which then leads to more passion from you the fan!!! It is what makes the world go round and it is what will grow the sport…..Would we rather be in Colorado? Or KC?
Or Dallas? Or New York for that matter where few seem concerned with MLS……Seattle and the Dynamo has got all the makings of a great series……
In Dom we trust.
Naranja por siempre.
Nothing rhymes with Orange.
Frankly, I love this passion from both sides. I have always longed for this type of Euro-South American type of passion here in the states, and to have it this city is just wonderful! I love the fact that I can say I’m a Football Team’s Season Ticket Holder. Now that this passion has been brought up in us; let’s not let it die out. This should be the type of discussions that occur day-in and day-out. Now we finally have a REAL Football Team!
I think it is great also that the fans get passionate and Dom gets passionate defending his team. It shows that this sport is starting to carve a chunk of the sports landscape in this country in a very crowded arena. Dom’s intensity is contagious with his team and maybe them being together for 5 days will help the team come together and have a second wind. I also hope the team can get motivated by the criticism of the fans.
It will be a very interesting series and it will very interesting to see what team we see during the playoffs because we have not seen a very consistent team all year long.
Dom, we are in your corner no matter what us fans say on the blog boards and talk shows.
I have a question for you. Are the other teams channeling the ball out of the back over to Hinault? It seems to me like they are doing that; and that he the vast majority of the time kicks a long ball up the field that the Dynamo promptly lose to the other team. I was wondering if you could comment on that. It also seems like the Dynamo this year have preferred the long ball to building the attack out of the back.
The players and coaches need the pressure from fans. It’s healthy.
Just secured my Season Tickets for Next Season! alright Dom, now put the product out on the field! win or lose, we just want the Dynamo that we all know and love! … but try to shutout Seattle!
As I said when I called into the show Glenn, Dom’s attitude has me fired up and ready to go. If I interpret Brian’s remarks correctly (and I am not him), he was saying that Dyanmo seemed to playing without fire and if that continues then it looks like Seattle will usher them right out of the postseason. It’s a sentiment I’ve expressed as well at times and many of us have thought it during this weird second half of the season.
This is certainly a fair criticism, but you know how it is with pro athletes and coaches, they can be a sensitive lot. Scratch the surface just a tad and you will find that fire and motivation and killer instinct. And if that is not there, then that athlete/coach should seriously think about finding another line of work. For Dom, clearly that fire and passion are there, and the response alone should reassure Brian. It sure as heck reassured me.
I can not wait for tonight! Today is C R A W L I N G by ….9:00 can’t get here fast enough! I have a feleling that the Orange are going to come out with a fire we haven’t seen in a while. I predict a quick goal (first 20 min) from the Dynamo and 3 total on the night. LEts hope they hold Seattle to fewer than that.
is it 9:00pm yet?
I can’t wait!
I predict a 1-1 tie
but as a stubborn fan i hope and want a 5-0 lead.
Slightly off-topic, but Glenn (and everyone else), what do you think about this story:
Payne Fined By League
DC DC United president Kevin Payne was fined $5,000 dollars for telling the Washington Post’s Steven Goff: “We don’t want to play like Colorado or New England, which most of the season sat with eight or nine guys behind the ball. How many people go to watch Colorado or New England play? That’s a problem for our league. We can’t play like we’re a team desperately trying to remain in 14th place in the Premiership. Our market isn’t there yet. They want to see something that is entertaining, and DC United has always had a way of playing. Given a choice, we would rather attack than cynically defend.”
The fine was levied directly by MLS commissioner Don Garber. The official announcement referred to Payne’s comments as “detrimental to the public image of the League.”
This is nonsensical. Payne was right on the money. Teams that play back, that play anti-football, need to be called out for doing that. No matter what you think about DCU, the sentiment he expressed needed to be said.
Not yet. I have 1:55 on my computer. But the time is slowly (very slowly) getting here. Looking forward to it.
Now JC, I have a question for you. You mentioned the America de Cali issues from the 80s. My question is about 1987. Its been said that America were only 10 seconds away from victory. But Diego Aguirre scored in the 120th minute to win 1-0. So if he didn’t score, the final score would have been 0-0. Would the match have gone to penalties then? Or was the first tie-breaker aggregate goals? America won the first match 2-0; lost the second match 2-1 and thus, scored more total goals (3-2). I’m not trying to re-open old wounds (there are some bizarre matches in this stretch that I would be afraid to talk about). Though, I’m trying to understand the tie-breaking system used at that time. I realize it was a while ago and the rules have changed several times since then. But I’m curious about this.
Looking forward to 9:00pm.
Payne is correct with his comments. I can’t disagree with them. But, we have to remember that coaches are hired to get points, not play entertaining football (as we all know). Though, Payne, in a small way, is criticizing the league. So I see the point in Garber fining him. But yes, its absurd that it happened.
It’s 2:00pm. Only 7 more hours to go.
This is why scrubs like Heath Pearce, Sacha Kljestan, Pablo Mastroeni as of his last 4 or 5 games Damarcus Beasley, Jay Heaps, Robbie Rogers, Jimmy Conrad, Clearance Goodson, sorry guys Brian Ching can play in the national team and hold the US back.
Again like Glenn has said, it goes back to grass roots, we are so freaking obssesed with winning that we damage the kids when they play at club level, we penaized them for having creativity and not being the “tough to play against” type of player that Bob Bradley looks for and the way a lot of coaches in MLS play and coach.
I for one can tell you this, when you ask Bob Bradley on a radio show like Glenn did why he is so freaking defensive with fast pacy players like Donovan, Jozy at the time Beasley was still okay, etc etc and he says oh well the best teams in the world play with 2 defensive midfielders like Man U, dude sorry but we don’t have a Ryan Giggs or someone like the talents level they have there, no his little baby boy is not that good, and when you have viable options like Maurice Edu, Ricardo Clark, Jose Francisco Torres, and even Benny Feilhaber available or guys like Danny Szetela is ilogical to keep playing your little boy who was prone to cards almost every match!
Let me ask you guys something, how does Beckham ( and you know I am a Galaxy fan and support the spoiled poster boy no matter what because at the end of the day he helped in big ways to turn it around) how does he get fined $1000 for doing what he did and saying what he did and Payne gets fined $5000 for saying Colorado is a boring team to watch? LOL
Now in a more unbiased point of view, his team should of held on to leads better in some games and we wouldn’t be talking about it, you have to back it up, last year when Chelsea packed it against Barcelona my favorite team in the world pretty much, I hated it because it is hard to get thru and cheap, but Barca stayed true to their style and ultimately it paid off, had they not had 2 or 3 clear chances in the 1st game it would of mattered but it is frustrating watching a team that defends it self for the sake of earning a point!
If Seattle breaks the 40K mark in this game I seriously will make a trip to their stadium next year and will make sure we do our best to fill up HDC in Carson when we play them, is time to step up Houston, put pressure on Gene Locke and Brown and whoever else, we need a stadium in Houston, DC is the same story once they get it, San Jose and KC will eventually have theirs most likely before both of those successful franchises and New England will be lonely dark horse, with TFC changing BMO field to grass only New England in the east and Seattle in the West will have turf, Portland will have grass and Im sure Vancouver will too!