Write On Sports LLC - "Weight of Expectation? + Week 3 Summaries" by Jeff Bull

Weight of Expectation? + Week 3 Summaries

2007-04-23 14:50:39 | By: Jeff Bull

Of Major League Soccer’s (MLS) 13 teams, two entered the 2007 regular season with the greatest expectations: DC United and the Houston Dynamo. Pundits dubbed the Dynamo the cream of the Western Conference with near unanimity, while DC entered the season widely viewed as the team to beat league-wide. DC United’s early stumble - they lost their first two games, surrendering six goals along the way - continues to be dissected by interested parties. With regard to DC it’s fairly clear where the blame lays: with the offense scoring three goals over two games - an entirely respectable haul - it’s clear that those six goals pose the greatest threat to the team’s season. Even as more advanced (read: obsessive) punditry delves into other issues - midfield possession, formation, even personnel - the fundamental problem (e.g. defense) seems pretty clear.

Far less attention has been paid, however, to the Dynamo’s early-season stutter (yes, it’s a subtle distinction, between a stumble and a stutter). Part of the reason comes down to the fact that the Dynamo currently sits on four points (league rules apply three points for a win and one to each team in a draw) while DC has so far earned zero. And there’s also no question that Houston, for all their struggles, have so far defended very well; they’ve conceded only one goal so far in 2007. But Houston’s defensive record has, in a sense, papered over some fairly indifferent play from the defending champions on the offensive end.

Another reason the Dynamo may have coasted as long as they did comes down to the fact that they’ve showed flashes of competence. Even if they played poorly through the first half of their first two games, they turned it around after the half with speeches by head coach Dominic Kinnear attaining semi-legendary status for the second-half turn-arounds. Nothing came in their season opener, when they played a goalless draw against the Los Angeles Galaxy, but in their second game, a home game against Chivas USA, the relentlessness of their second-half attack left most observers willing to dismiss both first halves as aberrations.

Week 3’s result, however, should sharpen the questions directed against the Dynamo offense. Houston came out flat for a third consecutive first half, ceding too much ground and too many chances to a Red Bull New York side that looked more than up for the occasion. A 36th minute, and barely-justified, ejection of Red Bull forward Clint Mathis suggested an inevitable change in momentum, but the Dynamo never once took the upper hand against a 10-man New York team. (For those unfamiliar with the rule, when a player on a team gets shown a red card or two yellow cards in one game, their team must play a man down for the rest of the game.) When teenage phenom Josmer Altidore scored the game’s lone goal in the 60th minute, it felt, for lack of a better word, right; Red Bull simply played the better soccer on the day.

All this is not to say that Houston’s comparative indifference has gone totally unnoticed. The uninspired opening halves aside, the rust clinging to key-midfield-man Dwayne DeRosario has been hard to miss and forward Brian Ching, another key player for Houston, continues to recover from injury, which limits his minutes for the team. Unlike the situation with DC United, whom every pundit has by now piled on, Houston continued to be viewed as a top, if not the top, team in the league through the end of Week 2; the question is what will happen to them now.

On one significant level, pundits, fans - everyone who cares, really - looks at the rosters of both DC and Houston and assume they’ll “get their groove” back. At this point in the season, it’s fair to call this assumption almost reflexive. That doesn’t mean, of course, that that assumption will hold. Just something to watch...

Here’s a look at the rest of the action in MLS’s Week 3 (games with asterisks were watched in their entireity).

Columbus Crew 2 - 2 New England Revolution*
Goals: Ned Grabavoy (Crew, 8th min.); Andy Dorman (NE, 10); Taylor Twellman (NE, 38); Kei Kamara (Crew, 86)

Columbus scored its first goals of the season, but it’s fair to say New England didn’t make it too hard for them; Columbus, who had been solid in defense to this point, obliged going the other way. Gift-wrapped goals aside, both teams enjoyed periods of better play: Columbus all but owned the opening 20 minutes, while New England managed their best part of a, frankly, shaky game between Twellman’s goal in Kamara’s equalizer. All in all, Columbus is showing promising signs to this point in the season: they’re showing well for the ball and generally being constructive in possession. New England, on the other hand, is showing some hints they’re a team in transition.

Notable: Taylor Twellman currently holds the goal-scoring lead for this young 2007 season with three goals scored over two games.

Red Bull New York 1 - 0 Houston Dynamo*
Goals: Josmer Altidore (RBNY, 60)

A basic “tale of the tape” appears above, but it doesn’t really do justice to how poorly Houston played against a team that won in spite of spending 54 minutes a man down. Red Bull played the aggressor throughout with rookie Dane Richards and second-year man Altidore posing the biggest problems. The worst thing one can say about Red Bull was that Clint Mathis, who would later be sent off the field, missed an early penalty, but that would only have made the loss worse. Houston lacked urgency on offense and didn’t look all that hot on defense, either; Altidore, in particular, turned in a performance that should give doubters (like me) pause to reconsider.

Notable: It’s official: Red Bull is officially the best team in MLS. They have seven points from two wins and one draw backed by a +4 goal differential. One can’t grasp the novelty of this statement without an appreciation of the deep, deep frustration of long-suffering New York-area fans

Chicago Fire 2 - 1 Kansas City Wizards
Goals: Chad Barrett (Fire, 36); Rolfe (Fire, 73 - PK); Marinelli (KC, 90 - PK)

Kansas City’s season-opening romp was the only thing that made this score surprising; the reality is that the Wizards don’t do well in Chicago, as their now 1-12-1 (W-L-T) record in the Windy City demonstrates. Reports on the game suggest a fairly even one, though it appears Chicago had a particularly effective spell late in the first half. Judged by results, it seems that Chicago has a fairly solid team with scoring standing as the greatest, though by no means fatal, weakness. The Wizards, on the other hand, followed their impressive opening game with two straight losses, one in the U.S. Open Cup to Real Salt Lake and the game currently under discussion. It’s certainly worth asking whether that first game merely served to underline the weakness in the DC United defense.

Notable: Chicago also holds seven points in league play and only sits in second place overall due a lower goal differential.

Chivas USA 4 - 0 Real Salt Lake*
Goals: Maykel Galindo (Chivas, 1); Galindo (Chivas, 9); Ante Razov (Chivas, 43); Matt Taylor (Chivas, 89)

While many expected a Chivas win, few would have been bold enough to call so lopsided a score - but it could have been worse...by far. Time and again, especially late in the game, Chivas players ran straight through the center of the Salt Lake defense; after several promising, though shockingly futile, spells from visiting Salt Lake, Chivas spent the last 20 minutes of the contest attacking in waves. The visitor’s control of two-thirds of the field for so much of the game spoke to a high work-rate and smart passing, but Salt Lake never looked much like scoring a goal. In reality this was the shock result of the week.

Notable: Razov picked up his 100th MLS goal in this game - and it was a beauty. However he scored it, Razov is one of only three players in league history to reach triple digits. Not incidentally, one of Real Salt Lake’s players, Jason Kreis, holds the current all-time career goal-scoring record with 108 goals.

FC Dallas 3 - 1 Colorado Rapids
Goals: Ramon Nunez (FCD - 29); Jovan Kirovski (Rapids, 34); Nunez (FCD - 78); Dominic Oduro (FCD, 93)

The state of FC Dallas came into question after their three-goal loss to Red Bull New York in Week 2. They turned in an answer with an important win over conference rivals Colorado. Speaking of answers, the matter of which team played the better game seems to depend on the report you read: the Rapids feel they dominated the second half, while Nunez’ second goal and Oduro’s late insurance goal suggest the Colorado team may continue to struggle on the road. As it turns out, the Rapids haven’t won in Dallas since May 2001 - which is something I wish I had known before predicting a win for Colorado.

Notable: While they’re the only team in MLS to have played four games so far, FC Dallas has both scored and allowed the greatest number of goals: 7 of each.