Sporting Kansas City 4-0 Chivas USA: Match Analysis

A dominant Sporting Kansas City welcomed Chivas USA into the cauldron that is Sporting Park on Sunday night, steamrolling them into a commanding 4-0 victory. The performance saw SKC take a share of the top spot in the Eastern conference, along with a reminder that they're a ruthless team when on form. Chivas may feel that the red card for Dan Kennedy help flatter the score line, however SKC's dominance was in effect well before then.

Lineups:

Sporting Kansas City
 

 Sporting trotted out their usual attacking 4-3-3, complete with high pressing, recycled possession, and creative play. In the back, Seth Sinovic as usual is the selection at left back. Rookie Mechack Jerome started at right back. The towering pair of Ike Opara and Aurelien Colin may be the most aerially adept in the league. SKC's three man midfield often resembles that of Juventus', two hard working box-to-box midfielders flanking a calm, passing regista. Oriol Rosell fills what has often been dubbed the "Pirlo role" using his Barca bred passing skills to great effect. The front three started roughly with that shape seen in the graphic, however Graham Zusi is so influential he basically goes where he wants, often making Peterson switch flanks, or just causing an overload on one side. Designated player Claudio Bieler fills the striker role as expected.

Chivas USA:
 



Differing from the 3-5-1-1 they went with last week. Head Coach Chelis decided to switch up and go with a 3-4-3, which offers more help in wide positions than the 3-5-1-1, provided the wide forewords track back effectively. The back three this game consisted of Carlos Borja, Joaquin Velazquez, and Bobby Burling. In another shuffling of the deck from Chivas' last game, Chelis moved Burling out to right center back, given the Joaquin Velazquez the center back role that Steve Purdy had last week. Carlos Borja moved from center midfield into left center back, which Velazquez played last week. Chelis moved Mario de Luna into the midfield, he started at right center back last week. With the back line well and truly flipped around, Chelis continued the rotating, inserting Edgar Mejia into the starting center midfield role alongside de Luna. Jorge Villafana kept his place at left midfield, however Eric Avila was moved from center midfield to right midfield. The attacking trident at the top saw Jose Manuel Riviera, Julio Morales, and Tristan Bowen spread left-to-right across the field.

Goals: 

40th Minute Claudio Bieler (Graham Zusi) 1-0: The play started with Chivas in possession on the right flank in SKC's defensive zone. Eric Avila attempted to slip a pass in between Oriol Rosell and Seth Sinovic, Sinovic picked it out and Rosell carried it out of SKC's zone. Rosell played a quick ball to Graham Zusi, keeping the play on the same side. Zusi tried to switch the ball, on the ground, across the middle to Bieler, his pass was too long and picked off by Carlos Borja. Instead of hoofing it out of danger, Borja tried to pass it back to either Burling or Velazquez, the ball ended up splittling the two of them. Burling corralled the errant back pass just in time to steer it away from Jacob Peterson, however his touch fell into the path of the on charging Graham Zusi. Zusi picked his head up and found Bieler, who had pulled off the back of Borja, finding himself wide open on the right side. Bieler controlled the ball, danced around the keeper, and slotted home coolly. Burling could have dealt with the danger better, but it was ultimately Borja who but him in that precarious position. It was also Borja who failed to track the off ball movements of Bieler, allowing him to pull into the truck load of space vacated by the pressing Jacob Peterson. Eric Avila turnover caused the ruckus in the first place, but his mistake was subject to lightning quick counter attacking from SKC, so I'm less inclined to bash him for the play.

56th Minute Claudio Bieler 2-0: SKC's second goal began with under pressure Rosell passing out of pressure. No surprise there, Rosell often exudes a higher class in the midfield. His pass found left back Seth Sinovic. Sinovic then played Zusi, checking back to the ball. Zusi then turned and played a stunning no-look ball through the Chivas defense to Paulo Nagamura. Chivas goalkeeper Dan Kennedy had fully committed himself and fell prey to Nagamura's quick feet, giving up the penalty. Kennedy received a red card for his troubles, leaving reserve keeper Patrick McClain the task of saving the ensuing penalty. He couldn't, Beieler coolly sending him the wrong way, giving SKC an insurance goal as well as a man advantage. The came about because Burling and Veleazquez couldn't get their offside line together, allowing Nagamura to skip through. Nevertheless this is the type of goal where the majority of attention should be placed on Zusi, who played an outstanding through ball, further showing his seemingly limitless class.

65th Minute Graham Zusi (Josh Gardner, Paulo Nagamura) 3-0: The third goal always felt inevitable, with the man advantage aiding SKC's already high production attack. Oriol Rosell was afforded time in the back to pick an entry pass to Claudio Bieler, who had checked back 25 yards to find the ball. He turned and played Paulo Nagamura. Nagamura found life pretty easy, waltzing through the depleted defense, eventually finding Josh Garner wide open on the left side. Mario de Luna couldn't get out quick enough to challenge the cross, leaving Gardner time to pick a sumptuous ball across the middle to Zusi, who promptly first timed it past the keeper. Burling was in front of Zusi but couldn't reach the low cross, leaving Zusi unmarked to turn it home.

87th Minute C.J Sapong 4-0: The final goal to cap off the night began with Velazquez clearing an errant cross aimed to Sapong. The clearence was picked up by Sinovic and played to Rosell, he produced a lovely cross field ball to the open Mechack Jerome. Jerome, a mostly defensive fullback, played a perfect ball, splitting Carlos Alvarez and Velazquez to find Sapong, who volleyed home with aplomb. Fault for this one could really go to any of Alvarez, Velazquez, or Burling. They all failed to get anywhere near to Sapong, however at this point the game was pretty much over.

Topics of interest:

Sporting pressure causes problems: Chivas' wanted to employ their typical counter attacking style, however SKC's combative style and pressing gave them consistent problems. In last weeks game, Chivas passed with an  accuracy of 69%, completed 204 passes. Pretty poor numbers, but somewhat excusable considering their intent to counter off of San Jose. This Sunday's game saw much worse, a 59% passing accuracy while misplacing 122 passes. Combine that with Chivas' 1 shot during the entire game and you have a pretty abysmal performance, chalk this one up not only as a win not only for Sporting but also their pressing system.

3 beats 2 in the midfield: The first half was catastrophic for Chivas with Sporting's domination in possession. The midfield trifecta of Peterson, Nagamura, and Rosell single handedly bossed the game, fluidly feeding the front three. Often allowing Graham Zusi crucial space to work his creative abilities. Peterson, Nagamura, and Rosell completed 149 passes at an 85% clip, a ridiculous domination. It wasn't all pretty passing, the three collectively made 6 tackles and 7 interceptions, as well as winning plenty 50/50. SKC only allowed Chivas' midfield make 51 passes in the entire game, reducing the visiting side to long balls and hopeful 1-on-1 play on the wings.

3-4-3 still gives SKC advantage out wide: Chivas' formational change was intended to give them some extra help on the wings while adding some potency up top. All it ended up doing was taking away players from the center, allowing Chivas to be dominated in the center by SKC's midfielders. Sporting completed a whopping 178 passes in the wide areas, doubling Chivas' 78 passes. This dominance allowed them to try 19 crosses, landing 6 of them. Having an extra man in a wide position did nothing for Chivas, as Riviera and Bowen weren't too keen to track back and even up numbers.

 Chivas formation change: After recognizing the beating Chivas were taking in the midfield, head coach Chelis switched to a 3-5-2 formation. Mario De Luna shifted to right center back, Riviera went into the midfield, and the newly inserted Miller Bolanos went up top. Having three in the midfield helped Chivas out marginally, somewhat slowing the fluidity of SKC's rapid attacks, but the gap in class was too much to overcome on the day.

Red Card forces Chivas change: Adding to Chivas' misery on the day was the red card to Dan Kennedy early in the second half. This forced Chivas to further alter their shape, molding into a 4-4-1. The necessary goalkeeping sub required Riviera to come off, moving Bolanos to the wing, leaving Morales up top alone. The new formation forced Chivas to go with two in the midfield again, leading to the utter domination seen in the first.

SKC see out the game in style: Predictably, SKC simply increased their stranglehold on the game after Chivas went down to 10 men, scoring two more goals with plenty potential for more. Josh Gardner's introduction provided more or less the same width as Peterson did, except with more classic winger aspects. Staying wide, and whipping crosses in behind the defense, setting up Graham Zusi for a tap in in the 65th. C.J Sapong came on for Graham Zusi in the 65th, taking up a position wide on the right. Though raw, Sapong gave a great audition for inclusion over Peterson next match, constantly taking advantage of space in wide places. Feilhaber came on for Nagamura with Sporting in full cruise mode, Feilhaber isn't very defensively capable but at that point it didn't matter much.

Zusi looks like an MVP: One of the early season favorites for the MVP award, Graham Zusi is putting in some performances fitting of the award. A goal and an assist today, coupled with the pass that lead to the penalty, stakes his claim firmly as a early season front runner. In addition to the obvious box sheet contributions, Zusi was literally everywhere in Sporting's attack, linking up neatly with his midfielders and attacking partners. Easily the most influential attacking player in the league.

SKC can win without half of their starting back line: SKC played tonight's game without two of the league's best defenders in the league, Chance Myers and Matt Besler. However couldn't tell that from Sunday's game. Both Ike Opara and Mechack Jerome deputized fantastically, never allowing Chivas to catch them on the counter, as well as keeping clean possession in the back. Obviously Chivas isn't the greatest side, but they can threaten on their day, and SKC's patched up back line defended beautifully.

Time for Chivas to do away with three at the back: It's exciting to see a team in the league deviating from the normal four man defense, but Chivas just don't have the tools to run three at the back. De Luna, Velazquez and Burling showed some individual defending ability, but not the communication and distribution needed to run an effective back three. Chivas' wide players are talented, but aren't sufficient enough in both attacking and defending to manage an entire flank. SKC's 4-3-3 actually might work well with Chivas, provided a staple of three players in the midfield as well as the solidarity of a back four.

Player Ratings:

Sporting Kansas City:
Jimmy Nielsen: 6, Didn't have anything to do.
Mechack Jerome: 6.5, Deputized well for Chance Myers, very athletic player.
Ike Opara: 6.5, Partnered well with Colin to provide an aerially dominating pair.
Aurelin Colin: 6.5, Normal fantastic self.
Seth Sinovic: 7, Attacked tremdously, providing countless overloads on the left side. Usual solid defending as well.
Paulo Nagamura: 7.5, Box-to-Box abilities are exceptional, runs out of the midfield often confused the Chivas defense.
Joseph Peterson: 6.5, Not as clean in possession as his midfield mates, but does provide strength in the tackle along with boundless injury.
Oriol Rosell: 8.5, Beautiful distribution, started countless attacks.
Graham Zusi: 9, Brilliance explained above.
Claudio Bieler: 8.5, Shows his designated-player class on a weekly basis, two goals today.
Jacob Peterson: 6, Industrious, but lacked the technical quality of his partners in attack.
Benny Feilhaber: 6.5, Very creative, could be a difference maker to bring off the bench in tighter games.
C.J Sapong: 7.5, Came on in a very easy situation, up a man with the match in control, but still showed undeniable talent with his raw athleticism and polished finishing.
Josh Gardner: 7, Assist for Zusi was a beauty, provided consistent wide play.

Chivas USA
Dan Kennedy: 5, Tough game.
Bobby Burling: 4.5, Struggled mightily in the back against the imposing Sporting attack.
Joaquin Velazquez: 5, Marginally better than Burling.
Mario de Luna: 5, Looked better in the midfield than in defense.
Jorge Villafana: 4, Had limited effect on a Sporting dominated wing.
Eric Avila: 5.5, Showed some attacking flair, more so than anyone else, but it still wasn't much.
Edgar Meija: 5.5, Better of the midfielders, was still reduced to a limited defensive role.
Carlos Borja: 3.5, Day to forget, caught out multiple times in defense.
Jose Manuel Riviera: 4, Didn't get any service but also failed to effectively track back.
Miller Bolanos: 4, No effect after being subbed in.
Julio Morales: 4.5, Played striker, but I couldn't really notice him,
Tristan Bowen: 5, Didn't get the open space he thrives on, also failed to create any chances to shoot.

Taking statistical cues from hockey

Alongside my passion for the MLS, is my passion for the NHL. Too many, Hockey is a game of brute strength, a test amongst the most macho of men. A grueling exhibition, eliciting the most punishing hits and grotesque injuries. Basically, a game for the barbarians.

However its also a game for the fleet of foot, for the creative, and for the determined. Not to far from a certain sport called soccer. A goal in hockey, like soccer, often involves a team effort. All five men on the ice contributing towards a common product. Goals and assists are the statistical results of the goals scored, just like soccer. However these are tallied in a starkly different manner.

Soccer has always been statistically stingy, one of the last sports to adopt advanced statistics. Some attribute this to the sports heavy sense of nostalgia, a loving connection to a past that needless to say lacked any statistical nous. Baseball had a similiar situation in the 90's, an older fanbase that didn't see the need for stats they only saw as strange abbreviations, foreign algorithms as complicated as rocket launch codes. Nevertheless these Stats pressed on, developing further, ushering in a new age of fans connected through these same stats.

In soccer, this new stats era has begun to come about. Widely available sources online and on mobile make advanced statistics readily available. As a student of the newer soccer generation, I heartily welcome these numbers as a chance to deeper analyze the game, to further understand players and teams. Despite this, I do see the grandeur in evaluating with your eyes, taking in the beautiful game from a more aesthetic level, celebrating the individual players genius, all while getting less caught up in the cold hard numbers. As with most things in life a balance is the best way foreword.

Hockey doesn't have the prototypical generational gap seen in sports like baseball and soccer, but it also has seen newer stats come in vogue during the last couple of years. Obviously stats like zone entry percentage and halfboard efficiency have no place in soccer, but goals/assists certainly do.

Goals and assists are nothing new in soccer, in fact their quite old. The simple stats that are the foundation for the game. I still revel in this, even being in a generation that tends to move towards a more freshened stats realm. Goals and assists represent the simplicity that separates soccer from other sports, removed from the occasional statistical muck.

Hockey also represents this similiar simplicity, further showing the similarities between the two sports. Both involve smacking projectiles into a net without using your hands. However hockey is much more forgiving with its distribution of goals and assists. Own goals don't occur, with the closest opposing player awarded the goal. Assists are also distributed freely, and, more importanly, in pairs.

First lets start with own goals. In soccer, shots that are going wide and deflected in are given as an own goal for the defender that deflected the shot. Shots that carom off the post, off the goalie, and into the net are said to be the goalies own goal. These scenarios represent a unnessary striping of recognition from the attacking player. If they forced the error, why shouldn't they be credited with the goal? We should be awarding these players for their initiative, and attacking verve.

In a sport where players are so often compared on their goal outputs, shouldn't we give credit to instances where they are the reason another goal is on the board? Take this weekends game between Chelsea and Manchester United, Juan Mata scored a goal in the late stages of the game to secure a win for Chelsea, that goal was quickly ruled as an own goal, with an unknown party determining that the shot was going off target before it deflected in. While this had no affect on the euphoria in the capital of London, it did strip Mata of statistical credit for his clutch shot that, while a tad fortunate, gifted his team the three points. Even more unfair was that Oscar didn't get credit for his first time pass to set up Mata, a piece of skill that wasn't lucky in the least, and deserved numerical recognition.

Along with own-goals, secondary assists should be heavily considered for inclusion. In a sport where build up play is so celebrated, why do we insist on not giving credit for the pass before the assist? Midfield maestros like Xavi and Luka Modric thrive on making the pass before the assist. A seemingly simple but all to important event that leads to the goal. The MLS has talents like Shalrie Joseph, Osvaldo Alonso, and Kyle Beckerman that all serve crucial roles in goals that often don't show up in the box score.

I understand there's a certain romance with being an unsung hero, a catalyst who's name doesn't show up in the stats sheet, but we as fans and analysts need these landmarks. When looking back years later on players careers, landmarkes as simple as assists could help as starting points when assessing a players impact on a game. Statistics like assists weren't needed to prove the brilliance of legends like Garrincha, but wouldn't it be neat to known just how many he set up with his mesmerizing dribbling. How about how many secondary assists Carlos Alberto had, or just how many times Franz Beckenbauer had a direct imprint on his teams goals? I sure would like to know.

These changes wouldn't really fit into the advanced stats revolution currently underway, they're too simple for that. What they would represent is an immediate change recognizable for all generations of fans, an easy statistical improvement meant to more clearly illustrate the brilliance of those midfield registas, and back line distributors.   

Houston Dynamo 1-1 Colorado Rapids: Match Analysis

The Colorado Rapids rolled into Houston on Sunday afternoon looking to disrupt the Dynamo's 35 game home unbeaten streak. They couldn't do that, playing out a draw at the BBVA, but did manage to snatch a useful road point for a team languishing in the depths of the Western conference. A draw was always going to be the most fair result in a game that saw both teams experience periods of success.

Lineups:

Houston Dynamo (4-4-2 Diamond): The Dynamo went with a 4-4-2 Diamond formation instead of a 4-4-2 with a flat center mid pairing, a change initiated because of Boniek Garcia's incorporation into the middle. Starting with the back line, Corey Ashe has become one the more consistent fixtures in the league at left back. In the middle Eric Brunner steps in for Jermaine Taylor at center back, partnered with the veteran Bobby Boswell. Young Akron product Kofi Sarkodie slides in at right back. In the center midfield, Ricardo Clark played an anchor role, with Oscar Boniek Garcia filling a more free creative role. A diamond midfield would imply Garcia playing directly infront of Clark, however with Giles Barnes often dropping into that attacking midfield space, Boniek Garcia was often pushed back to a more even position with Clark, with only his tendencies distinguishing him as a more attacking player. The aforementioned Barnes filled that "off striker" role, with Will Bruin becoming the more traditional target foreword. Tally Hall, as always, filled the goal keeping position.

Colorado Rapids (4-4-2): The Rapids played the same formation as the Dynamo except with a flat center midfield pairing. In the back line, academy graduate Shane O'Neill partnered captain Drew Moor in center defense. Young Chris Klute was given the look at left back, while the versatile Brian Mullan played at right back. Hendry Thomas and Dillion Powers formed a interesting partnership in the center midfield, Thomas' holding capabilities mixing with Powers' box-to-box dynamism. On the wings former Portland Timber Danny Mwanga held down the left while Jamie Smith roamed the right. Up top, Kemani Hill played the same role Giles Barnes did for the Dynamo, floating off the other striker in order to create for others. Atiba Harris played in front of Hill, but not as a traditional target man, he more or less used his athleticism to run into the flanks and pick up the ball moving towards the goal.


Goals: 

46th Minute Drew Moor (Dillion Powers) 1-0: Right before the end of the first half the Rapids struck on a corner. A goal was that classic type that makes the managers change their halftime talks, with the Oscar Pareja's taking on a more positive tone. Up until that point the game had been relatively even, making a goal scored on a set piece especially tough to take for the Dynamo. The goal started, obviously, with a corner kick of the left side. Rookie Dillion Powers took responsibility for providing the corner, as he prepared, eventual goal scorer Drew Moor was being marked by Giles Barnes, a generally responsible defender. Moor began his move by breaking off the back shoulder of Barnes, Barnes had this covered well initially. Danny Mwanga, engaged with his own marker, began to circle back around to the front to the front post. Mwanga then, unintentionally I believe, set a massive screen on the helpless Clark, laying him out on the ground. A now free Moor had a free run at the in-flight ball. Bobby Boswell, who had been marking Atiba Harris, had begun zonally marking space at the back post. Nevertheless Boswell was slow to recognize the hard charging Moor, and when he did was no match for Moor's elevation. Moor then promptly powered the ball into the net, putting the Rapids ahead just before halftime. As for who's at fault I can't assign to much blame, Clark was unlucky to get screened and Boswell wasn't marking Moor in the first place.

65th Minute Giles Barnes 1-1: The game fell largely into the same patterns of he first half, with the Rapids failing to grab any noticeable boost from their late first half goal. The tying goal came from some classic route one soccer. Tally Hall blasted the ball up field from a goal kick, Will Bruin didn't actually win the aerial duel but he disrupted Shane O'Neill enough to prevent a powerful clearing header. The rebound from the aerial duel fell to Giles Barnes, who beat Nathan Sturgis in a 50/50, allowing him to stride unimpeded towards the goal. As Barnes ran towards goal, center back Drew Moor back peddled, clearly trying to stop Giles Barnes from skipping past him and going clean through on goal. However Moor allowed Barnes too much space, allowing him to blast a shot into the top corner from outside the box. Barnes had a phenomenal strike, that's a given, but Moor should never have allowed him that much space. The balance between stepping off and diving in is always tough to find, but closing down even slightly would have prevented Barnes from getting his shot off. Partial fault should also be given to Sturgis, who was weak in the 50/50.

Topics of Interest:

Teams very even early:
Both teams had plenty of chances early in a pretty even affair. The Dynamo were winning the battle in the midfield with their technically fluent pair of Boniek Garcia and Clark, the Rapids Hendry Thomas and Dillion Powers were industrious, but lacking the quality to possess around the Dynamo. Canceling that advantage out was the Rapids advantage in wide areas. Danny Mwanga and Jamie Smith had plenty of the ball in wide areas, with that possession extending to their fullback partners Chris Klute and Brian Mullan. Danny Mwanga in particular was having a nice day on the wing.

Rapids lack of efficiency in wide positions:
Despite this advantage in possession in wide regions, the Rapids failed to translate it into anything meaningful. Jamie Smith's crossing in particular struggling, going 1/6 on the day. Danny Mwanga on the other side failed to cross in general, often choosing simpler passes over crosses  although may have proved to be a better decision given Smith's troubles on the other flank.

Davis' drifting causes problems for the midfield:
Often times when Brad Davis feels he isn't seeing enough of the ball he drifts inside. This happened plenty in the first half, causing an imbalance in the midfield and keeping the Dynamo from getting into a rhythm.  Davis is a player of immense quality, so his roaming shouldn't necessarily be discouraged, but if it happens to much it takes away from his ability in wide positions. Furthermore, Davis proves to be more efficient when he combines with his left back Corey Ashe, the two of them creating problems opens up space in the center, where the likes of Giles Barnes and Boniek Garcia can create problems. Striker Will Bruin is also a rather effective option aerially, meaning he could conceivably thrive off Davis' elite crossing skills. Davis' positioning largely dictates the rest of the offense.

Rapids fail to capitalize on goal:
The Rapids late first half goal could have led to a increased grip on the game in the second, but alas it didn't happen. The Dynamo's offense became more.........dynamic (too easy). Brad Davis moved into a wider position and showed his fantastic skills there (30/34 passing, 3/5 crossing), opening up space for Garcia and Barnes to create chances. Bruin's proficiency as a target man should also not be overlooked, making four key passes from his post at the top of the formation.

Battle of the playmakers:
Both the Dynamo and the Rapids employ floating creative players that work of their foreword partners. Rookie Kemani Hill showed heaps of promise in this role, completing 25/30 passes and making multiple key passes. He dropped back extraordinarily deep at times but he never appeared invasive towards his midfielders, an important positional skill for false nines. Barnes has been earmarked as a breakout player this year and so far he's been showing that promise. Barnes doesn't influence as much as Hill but that's down to Boniek Garcia's creative powers behind him, often taking more of the ball. Hill had Dillion Powers and Hendry Thomas/Nathan Sturgis behind him, who both don't demand as much of the ball as Garcia. Both players are key, but in different ways. Barnes is capable of moments of brilliance, but isn't as integral to the Dynamo's sytem. Hill has been a recent addition to the lineup, but was at times vital to the fluidity of the Rapids attack, linking Mwanga and Smith into the attack.

Player Ratings:

Houston Dynamo:
Tally Hall: 7.5, Fantastic performance kept the Rapids from snatching all the points, making three key saves.
Kofi Sarkodie: 7, Clutch interception off the line from a Mwanga shot highlighted an active game for the young fulback.
Bobby Boswell: 6.5, Solid aside from his part in the Rapids goal.
Eric Brunner: 6, Very shaky early, eventually grew into the game.
Corey Ashe: 6.5, Didn't get involved in the attack as much as I'm sure he'd like. Solid otherwise.
Ricardo Clark: 8, Tremedous game from Clark, started most attacks for Dynamo along with providing a great shield for the defense.
Oscar Boniek Garcia: 7, Consistently positive in the attack, remains one of the best foreigners in the MLS.
Brad Davis: 6, Had a performance deserving of a 7, but committed a daft foul late that resulted in a straight red, which will cost the Dynamo going foreword.
Andrew Driver: 7, Offers a different style than Boniek Garcia, more direct and industrious.
Giles Barnes: 8, Strike was a thing of beauty.
Will Bruin: 7, Ability to play off his teammates is very underrated.

Colorado Rapids: 
Clinton Irwin: 8, Impressive throughout, couldn't do anything with the ball.
Chris Klute: 7, Appears to be a very promising player in that role at left back. Positive going foreword and strong in the tackle, only thing that could use work is positioning.
Shane O'Neill: 7, Strong performance from the homegrown player, one to keep an eye on.
Drew Moor: 7.5 Partially at fault for Barnes' goal, but had a thumping header that allowed for the Rapids to earn a point.
Brian Mullan: 6.5, Decent in possession, could have gotten more balls into the box.
Hendry Thomas: 7, Looked solid in an enforcer role in the middle, shame he had to go off due to injury.
Dillon Powers: 5, A little flustered in the middle, still learning the tricks of the trade.
Danny Mwanga: 7, Dynamic as always, flashed some delicious dribbling skills.
Jamie Smith: 6.5, More or less the same as Mullan.
Kemani Hill: 8, Fantastic in my opinion, needs to be starting every game.
Atiba Harris: 6.5, Athletic and creates off of his hustle, could use more link up more with his teammates.

San Jose Earthquakes 2-2 Chivas USA: Match Analysis

I've been meaning to watch this peculiar Chivas USA team all season. The side, widely picked my many to be the worst in the western conference, has surprised many, showing some entertaining soccer and unusual tactics. This game, however, was dominated by the Earthquakes, with only a 10 minute period at the beginning of the 2nd half keeping them from claiming all three points.

Lineups:

Chivas USA (3-5-1): Chivas uses a three man backline, something that's a rarity in the mls, with traditional four man backlines almost always in vogue. Those three at the back were Joaquin Velazquez, Steve Purdy, and Mario de Luna. The lone wide men for Chivas were Jose Villafana and tristan Bowen (Left and right, respectively), as always with a three man back line their roles were particularly difficult, charged with protecting the wide areas without any direct help from fullbacks. In the middle Chivas had Marvin Iraheta Carlos Borja, and Eric Avila, Carlos Alvarez played right in front of them in the classic "No.10" role. MLS' official website listed Jose Correa as an attacking midfield partner for Alvarez, however Correa clearly played as a lone striker. Tristan Bowen, listed as a striker on the formation sheet, took on the right winger role.

San Jose Earthquakes (4-4-2): The Earthquakes played a more straight foreword formation than their fellow Californian club, opting for the classic 4-4-2. In the back, Victor Bernardez partnered with Nana Attakora to form a physically imposing tandem at center back. Fullbacks Justin Morrow (left) and Steven Beitashour (right) are both recent U.S National team callups. Center midfielders Sam Cronin and Rafael Baca were flanked by speedsters Shea Salinas and  Marvin Chavez. Up top Steven Lenhart and Chris Wondolowski rounded off the starting eleven.

Goals:

39th Minute Chris Wondolowski (Shea Salinas) 1-0: San Jose had been threatening Chivas' goal for practically the entire, making the opening goal inevitable. The Earthquakes won a free kick on the left side of the field in prime position for a service into the box. Shea Salinas, a superb crosser, stood over the ball and provide a high lofted ball to the swarm of bodies at the top of the box. At first the ball seemed innocuous  sailing over the first couple of Earthquakes targets in the box, however reigning MLS golden boot winner Chris Wondolowski proved his prowess by peeling off the backside of his defender. All that was left for Wondo to do was tap past keeper Dan Kennedy and wheel away in celebration. It was a show of poor marking from Mario de Luna to lose his high profile marker, understandably infuriating his goal keeper. 

47th Minute Mario De Luna 1-1: After a first half mainly dominated by the visiting Earthquakes, Chivas came out firing in the second. A free kick was won in a position similar to the one that led to the 'Quakes first goal, except on the other side of the field. Rookie Carlos Alvarez presided over the freekick and swung a arching cross to the back post, reaching the head of centerback Joaquin Velazquez. Velazquez attempted to nod the ball back across goal but his effort was cleared well by Victor Bernardez. The clearance was tracked down by Chivas winger Jorge Villafana on the left flank, quickly playing a one-two with Velazquez to get into a crossing position. At this point, centerback Mario De Luna had drifted in between a triplet of Earthquakes defenders, Bernardez in front, Cronin to his side, and Justin Morrow directly behind him. This is a perfect set up for the famed/infamous (delete according to preference) zonal marking system. Despite the coverage Villafana's excellent ball evaded the outstretched leg of Bernardez, Mario De Luna too stuck out a leg and came up missing, however Jon Busch's clearance effort came back off the kneecap of De Luna and trickled into the net. The goal was unfortunate more then anything, Villafana's cross combined with the fortunate bounce made the goal impossible to stop. For Chivas however, the goal served as a rallying point for a sustained period of pressure.

50th Minute Tristan Bowen (Jorge Villafana, Carlos Alvarez) 2-1: Chivas' next goal came a mere three minutes after their first, capitalizing on a still reeling Earthquakes side. The move started with Carlos Alvarez striding down the middle, showing off skills the Chivas side envisioned when bestowing their 2nd pick in the draft upon him. Alvarez's driving run had sucked play into the middle, opening up ample space on the left for Jorge Villafana to work with. Alvarez played Villafana a quality ball, leaving him to run directly at Beitashour, taking him on for pace to the byline. Villafana didn't create too much space, but did manage to drill a delectable cross between the sliding Beitashour's legs. At the time of the cross, Tristan Bowen was arriving late into the box, coming from his  position of right wing. His marker, Justin Morrow, was running in front of Bowen and allowed himself to get too sucked into the middle, which was well marked by Attakora and Bernardez. Further complicating matters was Alvarez sliding attempt at the ball as it cut across the box, seeing this, Morrow hesitated just long enough to give Bowen time to make a sumptuous first-time strike past Jon Busch. Beitashour can't be blamed for the goal, as he did decently enough covering Villafana on the wing. Morrow however, should have read the play more aptly and played closer to Bowen, a rare miscue from an otherwise tremendous left back.

76th Minute Cordell Cato (Shea Salinas, Nana Attakora) 2-2: Once Chivas' hot start to the second cooled off, the 'Quakes went on the front foot in search of an equalizer  After some maddeningly close chances, the 'Quakes finally converted through their young rookie Cordell Cato. The move started up the field on the left side, centerback Nana Attakora was allowed to stride into Chivas' half after fighting off a challenge from the back tracking Jose Correa. Free to pick a pass, Attakora spotted the run of winger Salinas, who was breaking in behind Mario de Luna. Attakora lifted a perfect pass into the stride of Salinas, who promptly walloped a cross across goal to the sprinting Cato, who had left his marker Carlos Borja in the dust after a burst of speed. Cato slammed the ball home, vindicating the Earthquakes relentless attacking. While Borja did lose Cato, Joaquin Velazquez was painfully slow in recognizing the danger of the cross, seemingly content to just let it glide across the box untouched. This momentary lapse in concentration was Chivas' undoing.

Talking Points:

Quakes dominate first half:
The Earthquakes came out of the gates firing, taking all the space Chivas were allowing them and then some. Just within the first fifteen minutes, both Steven Lenhart and Chris Wondolowski had fashioned multiple chances between themselves. Part of this was designed, Chivas were always looking to sit back and counter, however when they did get the ball they tried to slow it down and pass the ball about, leading to chances like the won Marvin Chavez created for Wondolowski in the 34th. With the Earthquakes handily dominating possession, its surprising they didn't grab more then one goal in the first half.

Chivas with 10 minutes of excellence:
Whatever first year head coach Chelis told his troops during halftime worked excellently within the 10 minutes following the intermission. Within that time Chivas scored two goals and morphed the game from a potential rout into a increasingly likely three points. The main difference was that Chivas began to actually follow its own game plan, the midfield was no longer slow and ponderous, instead lively and looking to play the ball into Alvarez's feet and move up the field. Eventually, Chivas fell to a mixture of complacency and fear of the Earthquakes attack, crawling back into their defensive cocoon, inviting pressure upon themselves. However, these ten minutes could serve as a template for successful Chivas soccer, laying back and attacking with vigor, not a weird hybrid between possession and counter attacking.

Earthquakes close out strong:
Once Chivas' mini-renascence was over, the Earthquakes reverted to their commanding first half style of pinning Chivas back and creating chances in abundance. A mixture of misfortune and sloppy finishing kept the 'Quakes from turning one point into three. However their consistent domination serves as notice to their potential as rivals to the Galaxy for the crown in the west.

'Quakes look to play wide:
Throughout the match the emphasis for the Earthquakes offense was to get the ball wide and exploit Chivas' somewhat narrow formation. They did this to great effect, registering 134 passes in wide positions. This, combined with their 31 attempted crosses, shows a clear ambition in getting the ball wide. Both Marvin Chavez and Shea Salinas were highly effective in this regard, with the latter picking up two assists on the day. Both of San Jose's well known attacking fullbacks Steven Beitshour and Justin Morrow received a large amount of touches on the day, with Morrow even picking up more completed passes than his wing counterpart Shea Salinas, albeit in much more reserved positions  Unsurprisingly. given their playing styles, Beitashour was the more cavalier of the two. But their involvement shows how often the 'Quakes rely on their wing attackers.

Chivas' sluggish midfield:
Chivas' center midfield triplet of Carlos Borja, Marvin Iraheta, and Eric Avila were supposed to provide a fluent link from defense into the creativity of Carlos Alvarez, needless to say this didn't happen. Between the three of them, they only made 67 passes, a number made even more unflattering given that San Jose's midfield combo of Baca and Cronin's made 76 passes. It's also not just the 67 passes, that number could have been conceivably been ok if those passes had been attacking and positive, however many of those 67 passes were forced backwards or to the side. If Chivas are to be successful going foreword they'll need more attacking verve from their center midfielders. 

Wondo and Lenhart's interplay:
Coupled with bountiful wide play, San Jose's attack also thrives on passing combinations in and around the opposing teams's box. This, unsurprisingly, is carried out by Wondolowski and whoever his strike partner is, on Saturday it happened to be Lenhart and then later Adam Jahn. Between the three of them (Wondolowski, Lenhart, and Jahn) they made 57 successful passes.......57! Those passes were coupled with  11 layoffs and 6 key passes, an astonishing amount of production from the strikers. With Wondo often dropping deep to receive the ball (Something he did very little of last year), Lenhart often provided a effective target man, acting as a wall for passes whenever the play came near him. Effective play like this allows San Jose's strikers the flexibility of fashioning chances between themselves or with the midfield, this type of versatility is vital to their offensive production.

Jorge Villafana sparkles in attack:
The winner of the MLS' sueno competition showed off plenty of Latino flair on the sidelines of the Home Depot Center on Saturday night. Charged with the challenging task of facing Steven Beitashour, Villafana stood up tall, often providing the only creative outlet during long spells of Earthquakes dominance. Even though Shea Salinas may have stolen the show a bit with his performance, Villafana was equally as important to his side, attaining one official assist while creating the rebound for the De Luna goal. Going foreword, Chivas should continue to make Villafana a focal point of their attack along with Carlos Alvarez. His production could massively help the development of Correa and Bowen, both raw talents who could use some nice service.

Player Ratings:

San Jose Earthquakes:

Jon Busch: 5, Could have done better on Chivas' first goal, punched right into de Luna.
Steven Beitashour: 5.5, Fine in attack, but often struggled to contain Villafana.
Victor Bernardez: 6, Generally commanding performance from the big guy.
Nana Attakora: 7, Sumptuous pass for the second goal oozed class. defended well too.
Justin Morrow: 5, Got into attack decently, but come have done better to prevent the second goal.
Sam Cronin: 4, Poor on a night where the attack did well, failed to make many incisive passes.
Rafael Baca: 7.5, Ridicoulously underrated player, makes countless smart touches and interchanges.
Shea Salinas: 9, Man of the match for me, dynamic wing play key during the entire match.
Marvin Chavez: 7, First game back yielded positive results, tired early but that's too be expected.
Steven Lenhart: 7, The league's best agitator was in form tonight, with the ball and with his verbal jousting, appeared to really get under the skin of de Luna.
Chris Wondolowski: 8, Goal was well taken, also made countless positive touches around the box.
Adam Jahn: 6.5, Did a good job fitting seamlessly into the attack after coming on, nearly scored as well.
Cordell Cato: 7, Only had four touches on the night and one was a goal, very efficient Mr. Cato.......very efficient.

Chivas USA: 

Dan Kennedy: 7.5, His saves kept San Jose from turning this into three points.
Mario De Luna: 5.5, Pretty lackluster defensively, made up for it with the goal.
Joaquin Velazquez: 5, Had a large part in San Jose's second goal.
Steve Purdy: 6, Decent night, good to see him back on the field.
Jorge Villafana: 8, Best player in a Chivas shirt, performance discussed above.
Marvin Iraheta: 4, Similiar game to Cronin.
Carlos Borja: 5, A little cleaner than Iraheta, still didn't do much.
Eric Avila: 5.5, Certainly more lively than his counterparts in the center midfield, not very efficient though going foreword.
Tristan Bowen: 6.5, Came alive in the second after a very poor first, needs to use his powerful stride more from the wing position.
Carlos Alvarez: 6, Grew into the game as it progressed, looks to be very talented.
Jose Correa: 4.5, Not a terrible performance per day, but could never really get into the game. 
Marco Delgado: 5, Only 17, good to see him get on the field and make a couple touches.
Jose Manuel Rivera: 5, Same boat as Delgado, came on for Alvarez and didn't see much of the ball.
Josue Soto: 3, Literally did not make a successful pass in his 25 minutes on the field.

Columbus Crew 3-0 D.C United: Match Analysis

The Columbus Crew hammered D.C United 3-0 on Saturday night to further extend United's miserable season. The game was a weird one (Heck, it even got delayed by a scoreboard fire), United played an even match, even having the upper hand during several spells. Alas, daft mistakes and lack of organization at the back left them firmly entrenched at the foot of the table.

Lineups:

Columbus Crew (4-4-1-1): The Crew trotted out in a 4-4-1-1 that naturally formed a 4-2-3-1 at times. Starting at left was Agustin Viana, although he was forced off through injury in the 20th minute, with Tyson Wahl replacing him. Pairing in the center of defense was Glauber and Chad Marshall. Josh Williams got another start at right back. The defensively-inclined pairing of Tony Tchani and Danny O'Rourke was given the start in the center midfield. Tricky Eddie Gaven and speedster Dominic Oduro got looks on the left and right respectively. Federico Higuain starting behind Jairo Arrieta, with the offense once again centered around Higuain's ability to create for others, especially given the lack of creativity behind him.

D.C United (4-4-2): United started off as a 4-4-2 but often mirrored Columbus' 4-4-1-1 with De Rosario dropping deep to impact the game. The solid fullback pairing of Daniel Woolard and Chris Korb flanked the mercurial centerback pairing of Dejan Jakovic and Brandon McDonald. Raphael Augusto and Perry Kitchen in the center midfield gave United more distribution than the normal pairing of Marcelo Saragosa and Perry Kitchen, but perhaps also lost some defense.On the flanks diminutive left midfielder Marcos Sanchez and impressive right midfielder Kyle Porter rounded off the midfield. Up top the maddeningly inconsistent but occasionally brilliant Lionard Pajoy partnered with former MLS MVP Dwayne De Rosario.

Goals:

14th Minute, Dominic Oduro (Jairo Arrieta, Eddie Gaven) 1-0: The beginning of Brandon McDonald's tough night roughly begins here. After a aerial duel between Tony Tchani and Raphael Augusto goes without anyone touching the ball, it bounces it Brandon McDonald, who instinctively heads it back towards his goalie Bill Hamid. The decision to attempt a headed back pass was sketchy in itself, and this sketchiness was confirmed when his header went approximately nowhere, leaving Jairo Arrieta with a clear path to drive to goal. Nevertheless McDonald scrambled back and blocked Arrieta's shot well. Despite the excellent block the danger wasn't cleared, the rebounding ball fell into a perfect crossing position for left winger Eddie Gaven. As Gaven prepared to cross, McDonald attempted to slide the marking responsibilities of Arrieta to midfielder Perry Kitchen, who didn't oblige quickly enough leaving Arrieta in between McDonald and Kitchen at the left edge of the six yard box to collect Gaven's waist high cross. Instead of shooting, Arrieta took on McDonald who went to ground hoping to effectively slide tackle it away from Arrieta. Arrieta took advantage of this and skipped effortlessly past McDonald, leaving the burly defender on the group in a heap. At this point, Arrieta found himself on the endline unmarked, instead of foolishly going for goal he slid a pass across the six leaving a streaking Dominic Oduro, who had beaten his slower marker Daniel Woolard, the simple task of sliding home into an open net (Bill Hamid was taken out of the play on the pass). Blame for the goal largely lies of the shoulders of McDonalds, obviously for the poor initial header but also for mistakenly passing off the marking responsibilities of Arrieta to Perry Kitchen, who should have been marking someone closer to the top of the box. Also, McDonald went to ground in a misguided attempt at making a highlight-reel slide tackle in the box, when containing Arrieta would have been the better option. The blame isn't all on McDonald though, Woolard was beaten fair and square by the acceleration and speed of Oduro. Woolard, who's a consistently above-average defender, wasn't beaten by much, but ultimately should have kept goal side of Oduro.

26th Minute, Josh Williams (Federico Higuain) 2-0: The second goal for the Crew will also have to go down as Brandon McDonald's fault. The Crew won a corner on the left side that was taken by their set piece specialist Federico Higuain. McDonald on the play was entrusted with marking right back Josh Williams, who has proven to be a bit of a goal threat on set pieces. The play from hereon is pretty simple, Higuain swung a quality ball onto the six yard box and Williams volleyed it home. McDonald was screened slightly by Tyson Wahl but ultimately all Josh Williams did was peel off after a bit of a physical tussle, poor marking to say the least. Bill Hamid did get a paw to the shot but it would be harsh to say he should have kept it out.

45th Minute, Federico Higuain 3-0: The third goal of the half and the won that sealed United's loss was the fault of...you guessed it, Brandon McDonald. The goal starts with Jairo Arrieta finding the ball in the left channel by the corner flag, with McDonald marshaling him well. Arrieta picks his head up and plays a smart 15 yard lateral ball to Eddie Gaven, who's streaking in front of Kyle Porter towards the byline. Gaven takes a good touch, but instead of whipping it across goal, he backheels it to Arrieta, who's following in behind him after playing the pass. McDonald went to sleep and failed to follow the run of Arrieta, who had dragged him out of position in the first place. The striker took a touch, and before he could take another was bumbled into by McDonald, causing a clear penalty, and giving McDonald a yellow card. Higuain stepped up and rifled a beautiful penalty into the top left corner, sending Hamid the wrong way.

Topics of interest:

McDonald's Shocker:
I cannot stress enough how much of a shocker McDonald had tonight, its been a while since I've seen a centerback directly responsible for all three goals scored against his team. Ben Olsen's decision to remove him from the game at halftime wasn't simply justified because of the yellow card, but also because of his putrid performance. All that said, this doesn't mean that McDonald is a garbage centerback, he can be physically dominating at times, but it does fall in line with United's leaky defense this year.

Columbus' steel in the midfield: 
Saturday's game was by far the best I've ever seen Danny O'Rourke play, a sentiment shared by the Crew broadcasters. O'Rouke was uncharacteristically clean in the midfield, completing 22 of his 26 passes, all while providing the defensive bite he's known for. O'Rourke's six interceptions were the most on the field, accompanied by a perfect 3/3 on his tackles. His partner Tony Tchani also played well, making simple passes (34 of them) and providing solid marking on De Rosario whenever he ventured into midfield. If Columbus can continue to get the best out of these guys in the middle, meaning limiting their offensive inefficiency and maximizing their defensive efficiency, then they could be looking at a rise up the table.

Higuain's star performance:
Even more vital to Columbus' playoff aspirations than O'Rourke and Tchani is Federico Higuain. The Argentinian is essential to the fluidity and movement in the Crew's attack. Players like Jairo Arrieta and Dominic Oduro generally don't create themselves, as evidenced by their 20 combined passes in the game. They thrive on Higuain, his job is to find them in advanced positions or on the counter attack, where Oduro can use his speed and Arrieta can use his finishing ability. Higuain completed 30 passes, and while he may not need to have a goal and assist every week, he'll have to have that kind of passing output to sufficiently control his teams attack.

Battle of the playmakers:
Going into the clash one of the main highlights was the battle between star playmakers Federico Higuain and Dwayne De Rosario. Both play the same creator position, with De-Ro starting from a slightly higher up the pitch, but once the game gets in a rhythm they both drop back to get touches on the ball. Despite these similarities they are different players, Higuain doesn't drop as deep as De-Ro, often shading to the left of the attack to find the ball and provide passes. De-Ro stays more central and makes more passes, most likely due to D.C United's greater emphasis on possession and control of the game. Both attacks rely on them an equally large amount, and both are capable of the spectacular. Today, De-Ro had more passes, but Higuain had a more telling influence on the game.

D.C United's positive play
A 3-0 scoreline generally indicates a dominating performance, but this wasn't the case, at least not in a complete sense. United's shots found the woodwork twice and Perry Kitchen's headed goal was wrongly disallowed for offside. United's bright attacking play was highlighted in the statistics as well, with the team from the nation's capital completing 149 more passes than the boys from Columbus. United also had twice the number of shots on target, just finding themselves a bit unlucky and lacking the ruthlessness Columbus had.

Player Ratings:

D.C United
Bill Hamid: 5, Wasn't at fault really for any of the goal, nevertheless I can't give too high a score whenever a keeper does let three by him.
Daniel Woolard: 6, Kept Oduro quiet except for one instance, which unfortunately resulted in a goal.
Brandon McDonald: 2, Discussed above.
Dejan Jakovic: 6.5, Also not at fault for the goals and generally played pretty solidly.
Chris Korb: 6.5, Honestly think he's one of the best young fullbacks in the league, very solid defensively and puts in very good crosses, which is the recipe for a quality fullback.
Perry Kitchen: 6, Think he has the potential to be a really dynamic box-to-box midfielder, just needs to get a little cleaner on his passes.
Raphael Augusto: 6.5, United should really look into signing him permenently, looks to have that classic Brazilian technique combined with decent positioning. His physicality is also a real asset.
Marcos Sanchez: 4, Spritely player, might need some time to get used to the league. Didn't do to much good or bad and missed his only opportunity on goal.
Dwayne De Rosario: 7, Beginning to show his MVP form from 2 seasons ago, creating some really nice chances and generally had a positive influence to DC's attack.
Kyle Porter: 7.5, Big fan of Porter, has a big frame combined with quickness to beat players consistently off the dribble. Played a glorious ball to Pajoy for a clear chance and also was unlucky not to have a goal of hus own.
Lionard Pajoy: 7, As opposed to Porter I'm not the biggest fan of Pajoy, but he was pretty good. His job in the starting eleven is to play as a target man and apply pressure to the opposing back four, both of which he did effectively.
Marcelo Saragosa: 5.5, Didn't providetoo  much when he came on, played some simple passes and broke up a couple of attacks.
Ethan White: 6.5, Didn't feature at all last year after showing plenty of promise two seasons ago so it's nice to see him back on an MLS pitch. Did well clearing chances and keeping the Columbus attack from adding more goals.
Rafael: 5, Would love to see him get more starts at striker, but to be fair Pajoy is probably doing enough to hold onto that position for now.

Columbus Crew: 
Andy Gruenebaum: 6, Similiar to Hamid he didn't make any signature saves, but he did get a clean sheet so I'll give him a bonus for that.
Agustin Viana: 5, Went of injured pretty early in the game.
Chad Marshall: 7, Typical solid performance from Marshall, consistently one of the better centerbacks in the league.
Glauber: 6.5, A little shakier than Marshall in terms of playing out of the back and one-on-one defending, but he did a solid job overall.
Josh Williams: 7.5, Always a bonus when a fullback goes and gets a goal, shut down Sanchez on the defensive side as well.
Tyson Wahl: 4.5, Passed well but would have been at fault for the Kitchen goal if it had standed, was also cooked by Porter all game.
Danny O'Rourke: 8, Discussed above
Tony Tchani: 7, A little less swagering than O'Rourke but played his part in the midfield very well.
Dominic Oduro: 6, Didn't do that much in the game besides the goal.
Konrad Warzycha: 5, Always nice when the coaches son gets on the field, didn't due much in his short cameo.
Jairo Arrieta: 8, Assists and a penalty won for the little man consititutes a great day at the office.
Federico Higuain: 8.5, Goal and an assist combined with excellent attacking play makes him my man of the match.

Sorry about the recent lack of content, been busy with school, but I'll try to post more soon.

Match Analysis: Houston Dynamo Vs. D.C United

Houston Dynamo-D.C United was arguably the most anticipated match of MLS' opening weekend. The two sides had met in last year's eastern conference final to a controversial two leg series. Going into the game the odds were against D.C United with their leader Dwayne De Rosario suspended for two games due to a preseason head butt on the Union's Danny Cruz. Houston were at full strength and looking to take advantage of their superb home field advantage.

Lineups
D.C United (4-2-3-1) went with the steady Daniel Woolard at left back, technically skilled Dejan Jakovic at left center back, and vocal leader Brandon McDonald at right center back. Young right back and owner of the lowest socks in the MLS Chris Korb completed the back four. Ben Olsen replicated his midfield choices at the end of last season, going with the defensively inclined pairing of Akron product and Brazilian journeyman Marcelo Saragosa. Chris Pontius and Nick DeLeon started at the left and right wing positions respectively, and John Thorrington was made to adapt to the unfamiliar position of advanced playmaker. Lionard Pajoy completed the lineup up top, giving United some hustle and determination to lead and line.

Houston Dynamo (4-2-2-2) had the always speedy Corey Ashe do his normal shift at left back, and went with the large center back pairing of Jermaine Taylor and Bobby Boswell. Promising right back Kofi Sarkodie rounds out a back four that Houston will hope to keep consistently starting in most games. MLSSoccer.com lists Brad Davis and Oscar Boniek Garcia as center midfielders in a narrow 4-1-2-1-2, but I didn't personally see it this way. Adam Moffat and Ricardo Clark played more or less as a pairing in the midfield with Ricardo Clark roaming slightly more. Davis and Boniek Garcia played as left and right wingers that often tucked in facilitate possession, but not to the point where they abandoned their fullbacks, with both Davis and Boniek Garcia combining well with Ashe and Sarkodie. Up top Will Bruin assumed his customary role as an Edin Dzeko-type back to goal foreword. Giles Barnes floated more often and dropped deep and into the left and right channels to receive the ball.

Recap

From the onset of the game the Dynamo were in control, with midfield pairing Adam Moffat and Ricardo Clark outperforming the duo of Perry Kitchen and Marcelo Saragosa. Brad Davis and Oscar Boniek Garcia often checked insided to help retain the ball and keep pressure on the United goal. Davis had a chance to strike on goal through a free kick early but hit it right at United goalkeeper Bill Hamid. Shortly thereafter Adam Moffat, who's known for his long shot ability, ran onto a loose ball and took a volley off the bounce, the shot went wide left. Perhaps Moffat should have done better but it was a tough shot to pull off. Houston continued to pile on the pressure and eventually got Daniel Woolard on a yellow card due to Boniek Garcia's intelligent counter-attacking play. Living life on the counter attack, D.C United finally fashioned a chance due to some high pressing (a rarity throughout the match), forcing a turnover which resulted in a Chris Pontius chance bouncing just wide. Next was the defining moment of the first half, several one touch passes slice opened the United defense and sent Ricardo Clark through on goal. Chris Korb hustled all the back and committed a foul on the edge of the penalty area, a clear red card. However, world's worst referee Baldomero Toledo managed to agitate both sidelines by signaling a penalty while only giving a yellow card, truly baffling. Brad Davis stepped up and uncharacteristically telegraphed his penalty to Bill Hamid, who still did well to get down and save. United may have thought that the saved penalty would represent a swing in momentum, alas this was incorrect, as the Dynamo preceded to march down and nearly score twice off a corner, with only a Chris Korb block off the line and a miraculous Hamid save keeping the score at zeros. Starting the second half the play was markedly even, with the first chance even falling to United. Perry Kitchen received the ball in a deep position on the left wing, and sent a deep searching ball to the back post, Nick DeLeon headed the ball down to Chris Pontius, who couldn't keep the ball down on the header. Chris Pontius represented far and away the most dangerous attack player for United. Houston's dominance shortly thereafter, seeing most of the ball for the rest of the game. Nevertheless United's defense was well structured and scrappy, resulting in the Dynamo's break through happening late in the 78th minute. The goal itself was unfortunate, with James Riley headed it into his own net, he had let his marker get in front of him and was scrambling to get anything on the ball. Houston's second goal iced the game and was well constructed. The Dynamo's Warren Creavalle received the ball on the wing, bulling his way to the end line his sent a pass back across goal to Ricardo Clark, who slammed the ball past a helpless Bill Hamid. 2-0 Dynamo, and that's how it ended.

Houston's Wide Attack

Dom Kinnear fielded Brad Davis and Oscar Boniek-Garcia as his wingers for this one. Their role in the formation was crucial, tasked with providing width but also tucking inside to create and overflow and maintain possession. Their influence in the midfield is illustrated by Davis and Boniek-Garcia completed 21 more passes than their midfield counterparts of Adam Moffat and Ricardo Clark. Even more impressive was Brad Davis' ability to maintain a presence on the wing, firing off 11 crosses in the match. Boniek Garcia only attempted one cross, but his game to begin with doesn't involved much crossing. Houston's domination of the wings shows just how much they dominated United and had them on the back foot, completing163 passing to United's 95 in just the wide areas. This is made even more impressive when Davis' and Boniek Garcia's roaming is taken into account.

United fail to mount a consistent attack

John Thorrington's deployment as an attack midfielder was forced by Dwayne De Rosario's suspension, predictably he struggled, failing to make an imprint on the game. This isn't all down to Thorrington mind, Saragosa and Kitchen lost control of the midfield early, both Pajoy and Thorrington cut lonely figures throughout the match. Impressively, Thorrington stayed true to his position and resisted the urge to retreat back to find the ball. However, this actually hurt United today, who could have used more bodies in the center of midfield to try and combat Houston's impressive passing triangles. All in all Thorrington completed 17 passes, not a desirable number for a player charged with providing a creative spark in the attack.

Formation change late

Late in the second half Olsen moved to bring on Panamanian Marcos Sanchez to replace John Thorrington at the number 10 role. Being more of a natural fit for that role, Sanchez added more to the game than Thorrington, with United looking better and more fluid in the attack. After the own goal United moved into a 4-1-3-2 with Pontius moving up top, clearly trying to chase the game. However Houston's second goal ended any hope of that.

Battle in the midfield

One of the defining aspects of the game was the battle between the tandems of Moffat-Clark and Kitchen-Saragosa. Moffat and Clark were able to completely control the center of the park with the aid of Davis and Garcia from the wings (as stated above). Moffat on his own completed more passes than Kitchen and Saragosa put together, with Saragosa only managing a measly 9. This set the tone for Houston's relative domination. United's inability to create chances and hold possesion without the suspended De Rosario or the departed Branko Boskovic was exposed badly.

Player Ratings

D.C United 

Hamid: 8.5, United's big goalie turned in a tremendous display, saving a penalty and acrobatically stopped a close range shot on a goal line scramble. Hamid also didn't have a fault in the two goals he conceded.
Woolard: 5, Sole contribution to the game was basically his foul on Boniek Garcia, may have trouble beating out James Riley for future matches.
McDonald: 4, Had trouble all night with careless balls out of the back and poor positioning.
Jakovic: 6.5, Saw great strides last year in terms of consistency and was generally good tonight. Provides a more steady passing touch out of the back than the mercurial McDonald.
Korb: 5.5, Solid defensively but provided no quality possession or attacking drive.
Kitchen: 5.5, Energetic display but didn't do much in the way of defensive disruption or tempo controlling. He and Saragosa will need to be better in possession against United's next opponent, Real Salt Lake.
Saragosa: 3.5, Invisible performance, 9 passes simply doesn't cut it from a position where most of the play should be going though. Also didn't provide much bite defensively.
Pontius: 6, Pontius was essentially United's lone potent attacker throughout the night. A dangerous free kick and a shot that bounced agonizingly wide highlight his efforts on the night.
Thorrington: 5, Played out of position so I won't be too hard on him, he simply couldn't get his boot on the ball enough times to make an impact. I would suggest a move back to center midfield to partner with Kitchen.
DeLeon: 5, Quite night from the youngster, impressive technique when he did get the ball, but that's too be expected.
Pajoy: 5, Had some decent hold up play, but United failed to get numbers up to play off him.
Riley: 4.5, His own goal docks his score naturally, but Riley also provided far more attacking burst than Woolard without loosing any defensive. He would seem to be the deserved choice to start against Real Salt Lake in the next match.
Sanchez: 6.5, the young Panamanian was unknown quantity going into the season, but asserted himself wellin this first game. Playing the attacking midfield role Sanchez provided more technical quality and possession than John Thorrington. He should be considered for a start while DeRo is still suspended.
Porter: 5.5, Canadian prospect Kyle Porter looked decent enough in his first match for the black and red. Looks like a promising player, and is apparently already getting looks for his national team.

Houston Dynamo

Tally Hall: 5, Not really tested.
Corey Ashe: 6, Got up the flank well and combined nicely with Brad Davis,
Bobby Boswell: 6, Reletively easy night for both centerbacks with really only Pontius testing them.
Jermaine Taylor: 6, Same reasoning as Boswell.
Kofi Sarkodie: 5.5, Akron alumni Sarkodie wasn't as good as Ashe but got up when needed too and wasn't burned on defense.
Adam Moffat: 7, Solid performance as the engine of the attack. Saw lots of the ball and helped recycle possession.
Ricardo Clark: 8, Perhaps the man of the match, had a dynamic game from the midfield and took his goal very well.
Brad Davis: 5, Didn't give his usual best on set pieces but did contribute well to keeping possession in the midfield.
Boniek Garcia: 5.5, Caused problems early with Daniel Woolard and gave a scrappy effort on defense. His two way gave is a main reason why he's so adored by the fans in Houston.
Will Bruin: 5.5, The big center foreword kept a low profile throughout the match, successfully marked out of the game by Jakovic and McDonald. However, he created space for Barnes and Clark to move into.
Giles Barnes: 8, Rivals Clark for MOTM. Gave a lively performance constantly agitating the United back line and creating for others. Dynamo fans could be instore for an exciting season if his play stays consistent.
Warren Creavalle: 7.5, One of my favorite young players in the league did a remarkable job seeing the game out. Keeping the ball effectively and capping off the game with a tremendous assist to Ricardo Clark for the second goal.

My next match analysis will be from New York's thrilling 3-3 draw with Portland, expect several goal analysis between now and then.

Goal Analysis: F.C Dallas Vs. Colorado Rapids

If I'm not doing a quick thoughts or a full analysis on a match I'll be doing a goal analysis. A goal analysis post will simply be a breakdown on a goal scoring play, assigning blame and credit to the various parties involved.

1. Jackson vs. Colorado

Fitting that my first goal analysis post involves a goal that requires little to no analysis, well at least I'll recap what happened. Playmaking extrodinaire David Ferreira attempted to loft the ball over the defense for centerback-midfielder-striker do it all handyman Jackson. The pass was initially too long with first year goalkeeper Stewart Ceus coming out to claim the ball, a terrible misjudgement left the ball bouncing over the keeper's head. All that was left for the speedy Jackson to do was run on to the ball and get his first goal of the year, securing Dallas three points in the process. There's your analysis, I guess.