Monday, May 4, 2009

Dynamo/Rev highlights and thoughts



In case you missed it, Dynamo win strong.

Certain things I noticed about the game, other than how nice it was to see the Orange produce a 2-0 smackdown of the Revs on plastic grass:

<>I think the Revs' best chance came in the second half after Andrew Hainault mistimed a challenge along the Revs' right flank. It turned into a near miss, but might have energized New England if they had converted. No one's perfect, but the carrot-topped Canadian almost screwed the pooch there.

<>Best goal that wasn't: Brian Mullan's jinking, back and forth run through the right side of the box, deking two guys out of their shorts before centering to Kamara, whose wormburner was snagged by Matt Reis. Wow. Mullan looked positively Messi-like there. If he had any finishing touch at all, he would be even more of a beast than he is.

<>Wow, this is what happens I guess when you're missing six starters. That was the worst performance I have ever seen from New England. Looking at Stevie Nicol's face after the game, I think the postgame meeting was probably a tad heated over there.

<>Matt Reis letting a weak ball from distance through his legs like that? I still can hardly believe that happened. Look closely at it because you'll probably never see him do that again.

<>On the same play, Stuart Holden was quoted in the Chron today thusly:

“I’ve been holding back a little bit, looking to pass too much so I took a couple of shots today and got lucky,” Holden said.

Stuart, that is what all us out here watching have been saying all season. And you did indeed get very lucky. Look, I'm a team guy. You're a team guy. We're all team guys. But you've got a howitzer on the end of your leg there. Load the sucker up and fire!

<>Is it my imagination or does Kei Kamara get klobbered out there on a regular basis without a kall being made? The guy has a ton of athleticism and pace, and clearly the book on him is to chop him down. It would be nice to get just a little protection from time to time. In all sports, there are always guys that officials don't like and they let opposing teams give them the business more than others. Is Kei one of those guys? If this doesn't change, he is going to get hurt out there and miss time one of these days.

<>And about Kei, can he please start reading the offside trap a little more reliably? I'm am so tired of him getting caught out so frequently.

<>Ade, welcome to life on Dom's bench. Really, was there any reason why Dom waited so long to get Akinbiyi on the field? Honestly, sometimes I think Kinnear forgets he has a bench and there are subs to be made. Kamara was getting killed. Ching was getting hammered (no surprise there) and we were cruising 2-0. Why couldn't Ade have seen the field in the 70th minute or so? He looked good in the few seconds he was in the game, but he clearly is going to have a tough time adjusting to MLS refs. Join the club pal. Wait until you meet Abbey Okalaja. >shudder<

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