The Caig Diet

A quick look at last night's MLS action:
(1) Don't Be Fooled. Yes, DC United won last night against the best Mexico team of the last decade, pushing their record against Mexican teams to 5-0-4 at home. But DC only scored after Pachuca stopped caring. It's a pattern we've seen again and again-- MLS teams might get on the board when the Mexican teams let up a bit, but don't read anything more into those goals. Sure, there are upsets. Chivas definitely didn't want to lose to United in last year's Copa Sudamericana (especially not after having played nearly half the match with a man advantage). But at the end of the day, DC United could have all of the possession they wanted, but they weren't able to make Pachuca pay until it no longer mattered. Last night was an awful performance, perhaps further hindered by the ref, but United's got no one else to blame for their ponderous, disjointed attack.

Instead of the quicker attack that we saw in Mexico, DC United played slowly. Gallardo wasn't able to make as much use of his ability to distribute quickly. And Emilio hadn't put his shooting boots on when DC's string-pullers did get him the ball. And for a team with a real free kick threat in Gallardo, it was disappointing to see Burch waste a decent free kick late in the game. But it was just one of many.

(2) Don't Be Fooled, part two. Despite a 3-0 scoreline and some fairly negative commentating from Brian Dunseth on Fox Soccer Channel, Houston put together a decent first half of soccer against Saprissa. Houston's passing is incisive just outside the box (especially when compared to United's more intricate midfield play) but they did, as Dunseth pointed out, lack the final pass. However, while Dunsenth attributed this to the field, Houston suffered the same problem in its home match last week. I'm not sure quite what it is-- Houston is putting together some great, truly great sequences, but hasn't been putting them away enough.

But what really caught my eye was Tony Caig's poor play. His distribution was distractingly bad. It's tough to fault a goalkeeper for a deflection, but it looked to me like Caig got down fast enough. He simply didn't make the play. Caig's a great example of why "being on the books of Newcastle [or insert big European team here]" doesn't matter. Big teams make mistakes too. Probably more often than their successes, if youth rosters are any indication. But Caig has been terrible, a few reflex saves notwithstanding. I wonder how much longer he has a job with the Dynamo?

Then the Houston we saw in the second half was a shadow of its first half self. The game was over from the 46th minute, despite what the scoreline said.

3. Don't Be Fooled by last week. I didn't see the KC-Revs match, but it confirmed something for me: yes, the Revs are fine despite their shortmanned shellacking by the Fire last week and, in fact, are going to be a good team. Can their young Gambians (who each contributed a goal) keep it up? I think the odds are going up rapidly. And if they do, when the Revs get Twellman and Ralston back, coach Nichol is either going to have a headache or the best team in the league.

I don't really have any opinion on KC but dropping three at home isn't good. I found it interesting that new signing Trujillo didn't even enter the match.

Pretty Futbol and Efficiency-- Bizarro World Edition

In a reversal of roles of sorts, an American team danced with the ball, moved effortlessly around the field and put on a dazzling attacking display, yet failed to score a goal.

The Houston Dynamo couldn't find a way to take advantage of their possession last night against Costa Rican champion Saprissa. Houston looked good. At the end of the 0-0 draw, I thought that Houston must have had nearly 20 shots. A look at the box score this morning confirmed it: Houston had 17 shots.

Part of the problem was that few of them were on goal: only 4 of 17. But not every dangerous opportunity that Houston created ended in a shot on goal (especially Ching's late header just over the bar), so the bigger problem is that none of them went in.

There was a lot to like about how the Dynamo played: DeRosario looked dangerous. New striker Franco Caraccio looked decent. In fact, about the only Houston player who looked bad was newcomer Geoff Cameron. It turns out that playing for the University of Rhode Island is not good preparation for playing the Costa Rican champions. He wasted a couple of possessions for Houston late in the game, when they most needed to press. It wasn't really Cameron's fault: he's a young player fresh out of the completely different college game. Houston's lost a little attacking depth this year and injuries to Stuart Holden and Brad Davis made it even more apparent. But Houston needed a late game changer, and it didn't have one.

The real question is how surprised we should be by all of this. Houston can be fairly said to be unlucky that at least one of its close calls didn't go in, but Saprissa, despite conceding possession entirely to Houston, had a couple of equally dangerous chances (Saprissa actually put more shots on frame-- 7 to Houston's 4).

But the simple fact is that MLS teams aren't better than Costa Rican teams yet. MLS teams have struggled mightily, compiling a record of three wins, three ties and six losses against Tico teams. Series victories against Costa Rican clubs in the Champions Cup are uncommon, although Houston beat Costa Rica's Puntarenas last year. Simply put, MLS teams are still underdogs. And when Houston goes to Costa Rica, it's fair to say they'll be heavy underdogs. That's why it was a real shame that Houston, for all their pretty futbol, just couldn't get the goals last night.