Getty Images Man of the Match: He’s been occupying this space a lot of late, but again Dax McCarty deserved the honor. I’ll discuss this more, below, but the reason Markus Holgersson and Tyler Ruthven went relatively untested until the match’s final 10 minutes was the protect they got from their new ball-winner.
Packaged for takeaway:
- It wasn’t the best of matches, but it did provide further evidence that New York has figured something out. Whereas we have previously hypothesized Houston as a bit of a litmus test, New York passed, providing the Dynamo with few real opportunities to take the game. Dom Kinnear starting Macoumba Kandji with Cam Weaver didn’t exactly hurt Red Bulls’ prospects for a clean sheet.
- Brad Davis did have two good, late chances, but let’s face it: He’s not the man you plan on being your goal scorer. Of course, when a player of his skill and experience is given chances, you expect some to go in. Tonight, they didn’t, though Houston has to ask how those chances can fall for Will Bruin (brought on in the second half) instead of Davis. Even the night’s best chance (a Davis cross for Calen Carr) fell to a man you don’t think of as your source for goals. Houston never got their strikers involved.
- As for New York’s attack, it wasn’t much beter until they changed things up and brought on Juan Agudelo in the second half. Their first goal was a gift from Corey Ashe, whose terrible back pass for Tally Hall was intercepted by Kenny Cooper, who forced it home. The play was nearly repeated late in the second half, with Jermaine Taylor playing a poor ball back to Hall.
- While New York’s defense continues to post impressive results, McCarty’s role can not be overstated. Particularly in the first half, when New York was having trouble controlling the game, McCarty made sure Houston wasn’t getting any clear chances to pick apart the makeshift unit.
- It begs the question: What does New York do with Rafa Marquez? Ostensibly Hans Backe’s first choice defensive midfielder, Marquez is back from his three-game ban, sitting this one out with a reported ankle problem. While pushing McCarty back into a higher role is the easy choice, if might not be the right one for the defense. Can Marquez possibly pair with Markus Holgersson? It could work, with McCarty protecting them until Teemu Tainio is healthy.
- There’s a question of a different kind elsewhere in New York’s midfield, with Mehdi Ballouchy providing more mehs in the first half. Agedulo eventually came on, switching New York from 4-4-1-1-ish to more 4-4-2 (with Cooper in a withdrawn role). The team was more dangerous.
- At the end of last season, Geoff Cameron was touted as a potential U.S. Men’s National Team contributor in central defense. This year, he hasn’t looked sharp. Tonight was more of the same. Was he bad? No, but he wasn’t as good as his partner, Bobby Boswell, and he didn’t look the part of an all-star – let alone national team-contenting – central defender.
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- orbmech - May 10, 2012 at 8:59 AM
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I know it’s polite to give the hosts when visiting, but next time how about some flowers or a nice bottle of Texas wine?
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- wesbadia - May 10, 2012 at 9:33 AM
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Didn’t get a chance to see the game, but I watched the highlights and did some perusing of the OPTA Chalkboard over on the MLS site. A few things that stuck out to me:
1) The total number of corner kicks for both teams combined was six. SIX. The real confusing thing is that NY only had a single one. I’m not sure exactly why this was so low. Maybe all the missed shots on the part of Houston (resulting in goal kicks), and the severe lack of quality chances by NY (which didn’t put them in position to draw any corners)? Which leads me to my next thought…
2) Apart from the errant back pass by Ashe that led to Cooper’s goal, the only real scoring opportunities NY had were the two well-taken shots from Agudelo in the second half, both of which Hall saved with relative ease. This is concerning considering that Cooper seemed to have a rather good game for the most part. His work rate was quality as evidence by his goal. It’s concerning for me because without Henry in the lineup, it’s apparent that NY has a severe lack of creative scoring chances. This proves to me that Henry is the engine that drives the RB attack. Cooper is there to simply play off of Henry’s skill and mop up the loose balls. And the attacking mids are solely there for support or to maintain possession.
3) McCarty NEEDS to remain as a staple in the d-mid spot. I’m convinced his role there is the key as to why they have been getting shutouts lately, especially with a so-called makeshift backline. The return of Marquez is a tough one for Backe, but if it were me, I’d continue to sit him until McCarty either reaches the end of his streak (if that occurs) or an injury calls for the absolute need for Marquez. If this trend continues through the summer, a summer transfer of Marquez might be a smart thing for NY.
4) Houston continues to prove that they do NOT have the defensive talent that everyone was claiming they had to start the season. Two horrid back passes, lackluster one-on-one defending and marking, and a lack of possession-starting ability… all leads me to again say that Houston’s back four are average at best, and extremely subpar at worst. Most of their defensive contributions came from either blocked shots or clearances. Tackles won was rather low, especially in and around the box. Most of the tackles were on the flanks or towards the center of the pitch. Cameron seemed to disappear most of the time, and any contribution by Boswell (which arguably wasn’t much) was mitigated by horrible play by the outside backs.
5) The midfield battle was obviously key to this game. With Solli again on the left wing, and Ballouchy moving to a more free-role attacking mid, the linkup on the offense for NY was much more creative and free flowing than in previous games. I liked what they did against LA over the weekend. And the stalling abilities of Solli and Lindpere helped clog the center of the pitch and tie up any type of possession Houston could muster. Moffat and Davis were the apparent cogs in the midfield for Houston, while Camargo and Carr sort of fell off the map for much of the game. If either side’s midfield had stumbled more than they did, this game could’ve opened up much more than it had in the waning 15 minutes or so of the game.
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- wesbadia - May 10, 2012 at 9:37 AM
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One other thing: the exclusion of Ching and Bruin from the lineup HAD to have been planned. Dom wanting to start both of these guys for their stadium opener most likely factored into his choices for the lineup last night. I don’t blame him, but it seems like he might’ve been a bit too focused on the new stadium and the weekend festivities than on the game at hand. I don’t want to say he chose to throw away three points, but it didn’t seem like Houston had the desire to gut out a win or tie. It seemed to me that they were all just looking forward to not being on the road anymore and to come home and finally play at the new stadium.
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