FC Dallas players surround Ryan Hollingshead as he celebrates his goal versus Houston last weekend
Photo: Thomas Gosse
Houston, Texas — The Houston Dynamo conceded just 4 goals in its first 7 games this season, but after two devastating home games, Houston has now conceded 8 goals in its last two. Could Owen Coyle’s switch to 4-4-2 be to blame, or is it something much simpler?
Dynamo fans watched Sporting Kansas City return from a 3-1 deficit on April 26th to tie the game 4-4. There was little argument as to why the derby game with Kansas City went the way it did, at least in Owen Coyle’s mind: Individual mistakes and poor refereeing decisions.
“We had the game won at 3-1” said Coyle after the game versus Sporting Kansas City.
“The man next to me [Giles Barnes] who was unplayable tonight, he made an error and he allowed them back in the game. Having said that, you have to choose your words carefully, but the ball clearly hits Jermaine Taylor in the chest. Suddenly we’re faced with a penalty and down to ten men which they score.”
MLS subsequently rescinded Taylor’s card so there’s no doubt Coyle’s grievance was genuine on that score.
There was some questions from certain corners of the press about Owen Coyle’s decision to take Will Bruin out of the game and how that ruined the Dynamo’s lead, but we’re aware by now that the defining factor was Jermaine Taylor’s red card. That red card that was rescinded allowing Taylor to play versus FC Dallas. It also got Kevin Stott demoted from the following weekend’s games.
Could the Dynamo have managed the game better at 3-1? Sure.
We can all look back in hindsight and say that. I’m sure Giles Barnes wouldn’t have played that hospital ball with the outside of his right foot in hindsight, too. In hindsight Kevin Stott wouldn’t have given the penalty, and in hindsight maybe Raul Rodriguez doesn’t turn his back on Feilhaber’s shot for the fourth goal.
Rodriguez summed up the problems Houston had vs Kansas City with this quote:
“Today I made maybe 10 mistakes in the game, every one of us 10 mistakes. Soccer is about mistakes, you have to learn from them. Giles’ mistake is a goal against us but everything is about mistakes. It’s about learning, it’s about moving on to the next game.”
The next game though, it didn’t look much like the Dynamo learned from anything. FC Dallas came at them hard, fast, and the Dynamo never really looked like they knew what hit them. By the time Houston had settled into the match, they were already two goals down — completely inept at dealing with the Dallas counter attack.
The game ended 4-1 to FC Dallas. The Dynamo were completely outclassed, outplayed, and overmatched. What went wrong? Another four goals in one game? Was it the 4-4-2 that the fans had pined for all this time that had actually turned Houston’s fortunes against themselves?
Owen Coyle said following the defeat that this wasn’t the case. When asked whether the Dynamo could get back to being lean defensively with the 4-4-2 Coyle simply said “Yes. I believe we can” before going on to say:
“…to lose that way at home… It’s a credit to them, they took their chances. Having said that we cannot, as a group, defend like we did tonight. We went two down to two great finishes but arguably we could’ve defended those instances better. It was self inflicted.”
The Scotsman isn’t wrong when you look back at the chances, either. Take his account of the first goal for example; Coyle lamented giving the ball away cheaply, and said that
“We [Houston] could’ve done a lot better there’s no getting away from it. We’ll take our medicine for that.”
Many fans on twitter opened up about the change to 4-4-2. The 4-4-2 is something many had longed for during the Dynamo’s stingy streak that, while they only conceded 4 goals in 7 games, they only scored 6 — 3 of those coming in an explosion of offense against Montreal Impact.
Coyle switched to the 4-4-2 in the second half of the DC United game and the Dynamo looked like a different team offensively, they also kept their defensive stinginess. The following two games, however, the 4-4-2 yielded 8 goals against them. Was it down to 4-4-2? Or was it down to stupid mistakes?
Take a look at the screen shot from before the ball is played to Ryan Hollingshead. DaMarcus Beasley is on the half way line to begin the “C” or “U” shape of the Dynamo back four. Kofi Sarkodie is pushed up way too far (and that position is AFTER he tracked back a little), slightly deeper than him Raul Rodriguez, and wide on the left — covering DaMarcus Beasley — is Jermaine Taylor.
For the second goal Taylor is ball-watching, then slips as he turns to put in a challenge, and for the fourth goal Kofi Sarkodie is left on his own to deal with Castillo who is in acres of space. Kofi then precedes to let him in closer and closer toward goal, until Castillo says “thank you very much” and toe pokes a precise finish between Sarkodie and Deric, finding the far corner.
Captain Brad Davis wasn’t interested in crying over spilled milk though. He sent messages out to rouse the Dynamo and their fans.
“We need to go get on top of teams” said the captain, and asserted that Houston needs “a little bit of attitude, a little bit of grit, [to]play with a chip on our shoulder — play pissed off.”
The captain ended the press conference by saying that the fact San Jose comes so soon is even better because Dom Kinnear will be returning to BBVA Compass Stadium for the first time since leaving Houston this offseason and barked:
“We cant sit around and feel sorry for ourselves. We have to wake up tomorrow, get back to work, we have to hold our hands up and try to get better. We have to get ready to play on Tuesday and win a damn game.”
The Dynamo clearly feel that the last two games are anomalies. The last two games do not indicate what the Dynamo have in terms of quality, and they do not indicate the kind of performances that fans have expected from the Houston side.
Fans blaming the 4-4-2 for the goals need to step back and break down where the goals have come from over the last two games: Individual mistakes, and poor defensive positioning.
Follow Scott Nicholls on twitter: @scottnicholls
