Houston Dynamo: 3 Takeaways from the loss to the Revs
The Houston Dynamo’s offense-minded 4-3-3 game plan hit a mysterious wall in Saturday afternoon’s game that simple statistical analysis won’t solve.
It wasn’t the result the Dynamo were expecting, as the New England Revolution continued their climb back up the Eastern Conference. The puzzle begins as the team overcame midfield passing problems April 8 when facing the New England Revolution’s midfield diamond 4-2-2 scheme.
That’s because the Rev’s diamond frequently disappeared when attacked, dropping back to form a wall in the Dynamo’s offensive side of the field. Once there, Houston got off only five shots for the entire game. Even worse only one shot, by M Ricardo Clark, was on target.
Here are the three key things they take from this result that can solve this road issue for Houston.
1) More help for the D
GK Tyler Deric found himself alone too long during the game. The opponent only had four shots on goal, but during the two scores, Deric was countering problems near the front of his area, leaving an empty net. He and the backs could use more help from the midfield.
2) Prepare the attack
Should the team face another fallback defense scheme as they met at Gillette Stadium, they’ll have to overcome it without getting into card trouble. Saturday, they won only 11 tackles vs. the Revs’ 22. A study of the Revs’ scheme will give the team a leg up on stepping up the next offensive-field battle.
Should they encounter another offensive-field stonewall by an opponent, effective tackling will create those open opportunities toward the net they needed.
3) Don’t let up on the passing
According to the Dynamo, the team attempted 204 passes in the first half. That’s the most this season. That effort allowed them to enter the locker room at halftime tied. They also won the possession battle for the first time this season, 54.3% to 45.7%.
"Team postgame release on possession: “It marked the first time this season that the Dynamo had more than 50 percent of possession in a half. The previous high was 43.4 percent in the first half last week vs. New York Red Bulls.”"
With the positive takeaways from this loss and understanding the MLS season is a marathon, not a single footrace, the team and supporters can emerge from this road disappointment, but not overly frustrated. They can study how the team should improve and get their first road victory of the season. Stonewall or no stonewall.