Galaxy vs. Houston Dynamo Conference Final Preview

By: NathanHJ | November 12th, 2009

dogs-fighting

This match promises to be a dogfight. The season series between the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo featured exactly one goal and a lot of physical defending. If that sounds a lot like what Chivas and the Galaxy went through for the bulk of their five games this season, its not coincidence.

The Dynamo
As the former San Jose Earthquakes, the Dynamo don’t have a lot of friendly feelings for the Galaxy and their stingy defense is predicated on the same kind of manhandling that Gregg Berhalter and Omar Gonzalez specialize in dishing out and that the Galaxy faced in Paulo Nagamura and Marcelo Saragosa.

But whereas Chivas faced the Galaxy with the intensity that only an inter-stadium rivalry can produce and used that to elevate their play, the Dynamo have better talent that plays better together across the board than Chivas was able to field this year. That’s what’s going to make this game just as difficult as any in the SuperClasico.

The Dynamo feature a core of veteran players that are used to excelling at the highest levels and winning trophies. Pat Onstand, Brian Mullan, Brad Davis, Bobby Boswell, Ricardo Clark, and Brian Ching have spent years together and all were part of the Dynamo’s MLS Cup winning teams in ~~2007 and 2008~~ 2006 and 2007 (yes, yes I know the Crew won it last year – it was a fun game that I saw in person. Clearly huffing paint and writing blog posts are not simpatico operations.). Relative newcomers like Stuart Holden, Geoff Cameron, and Andrew Hainault have added youth, speed, and skill in defense and midfield and they are backed up by veterans like Wade Barrett, Craig Waibel, and Eddie Robinson, though these last three have faced serious injury troubles all year long. A long season including Champions League play has spread experience deep within the team’s ranks and it recently augmented its relatively weak attack with designated player Luis Angel Landin, while including speedster Dominic Oduro up top with Ching.

Like the Galaxy, the Dynamo make their living from their starting midfield of Mullan, Davis, Clark and Stuart Holden, which is probably the best all-around unit in MLS. Every one of them can defend, every one is technically sound, and every one can get into the offense with ease.

Backed by a solid, if relatively inexperienced defensive four (Andrew Hauinault and Mike Chabala are in their first year of regular first-team action) that is itself back-stopped by the ageless Pat Onstad, the midfield likes to run a possession game with quick passes that uses forward Brian Ching’s excellent physical hold-up game to launch quick strikes from the flanks or create slashing runs into the 18. Oduro’s speed gives the team a dimension it has lacked for some time, though his decision-making and finishing aren’t the strongest.

The Galaxy
Here’s what we know. This team let in exactly half the number of goals it did in 2008. It defends as a unit. It refuses to lose (1-1-11 in its first 13 games). It has a backline of rookie stamina and veteran wiles. It features a pair of world-class midfielders in Landon Donovan and David Beckham. It has a mix of players that understand what it takes to play and win as a team and it is wonderfully devoid of ego problems. On paper there is no way this team beats the Dynamo. But we play this game on grass.

The Galaxy’s success this year has come from skillfully exploiting the immense talent of its two superstars and making sure everyone else plays his role to perfection. And playing professional-level defense. Players with veteran wiles and offensive savvy like Chris Klein and Eddie Lewis have been excellent support for the Landon-Becks connection and having real defensive disruptors like Dema Kovalenko and Stefani Miglioranzi has provided the kinds of defensive cover that was lacking last year.

The only place where inconsistency has reigned has been with the strike corps, where Edson Buddle can’t seem to get untracked and Mike Magee can’t find his groove.

Houston will want to play a possession game that allows it to build-up to attacks and exploit the disruptive speed of Oduro. It has excellent flank play with Davis, Holden, Hainault and Chabala all able to create dangerous situations. Ching’s target forward back-to-goal skills make the team the complete package.

The Galaxy will also look to control possession, using the passing acumen of Beckham to combing with the vision and uncanny runs of Donovan to wreak havoc in the Dynamo defensive third. They will also depend upon their backline to neutralize Oduro by frustrating him into making poor decisions and wear down Ching with physical play.

By positions:

Keeper: Donovan Ricketts vs. Pat Onstad
Pat’s got a decade on Ricketts, but other than that they are evenly matched. Both are big keeper who use uniformly good positioning and the occasional wonder save to keep their teams out of danger. Onstad had 10 clean sheets and so did Ricketts. This is a push.

Defense: ~~Chabala~~ Barrett (Chabala suspended for yellow card accumulation) – Boswell – Cameron – Hainault vs. Dunivant – Berhalter – Gonzalez – Franklin
The Dynamo is younger and less experienced and has had to make up for lots of defensive injuries all season long. But the youngsters have held their own and Geoff Cameron is having a career year while Boswell has been as steady as he ever was at DC United. On the other hand the Galaxy have the 2008 and 2009 Rookies of the Year starting in the back and underrated left back Todd Dunivant all organized by Gregg Berhalter. But the Galaxy is slower in back that Houston. Slight advantage to Houston.

Midfield: Davis – Clark – Mullan – Holden vs. Donovan – Kovalenko – Beckham – Klein/Birchall
I give the advantage to Houston for their completeness, but the intangibles of Donovan and Beckham playing at the top of their games will, I think, neutralize this strength. Kovalenko’s aggression could cause Ricardo Clark’s temper to fray, which would bad news for Houston. If Dunivant and Franklin can contain Holden and Davis, then the Galaxy wins in the middle.

Forwards: Ching – Oduro vs. Buddle – Magee
Ching is the only consistant performer in this foursome. He’s going to be a handful. If Oduro can make his speed count, then he could burn the Galaxy back four, but his finishing is poor and he makes bad decisions with regularity. If Buddle was on form and Magee’s creativity shows up, then the Galaxy strikers would have the edge, but Buddle hasn’t made it work since his injury against AC Milan and Magee’s magic takes too many nights off. This one’s a push as well.

The big advantage the Galaxy has is playing at home at the Home Depot Center. The wide field will help neutralize the Dynamo’s passing game, honed in the narrow confines of Robertson Stadium, and the home crowd will give the team a psychological edge. The unrelenting team-oriented defense from the Galaxy should contain some of the explosiveness of the Houston midfield and the unpredictability of Landon Donovan and David Beckham will give the Galaxy an advantage going forward that could cause lots of trouble for the Houston backline.

If the Galaxy strikers could be relied upon to score, I’d say Galaxy 2-0. But I don’t think so. So I’m going with Galaxy 1-0.

What about you all? Who needs to step up? Who needs to perform? Who do you want to see starting? What is your prediction for the final score?

What others are saying:
MLSNet Preview
Dylan Butler with the MLSNet Dynamo perspective
Larry Morgan at MLSNet with a Ching-Donovan angle
Larry Morgan with the Galaxy perspective
Dwain Capodice at MLSNet with another Dynamo perspective
Ives Galarcep at SBI.net says what I said, but shorter and more clearly. Sigh.
Andrew Hush at ESPN’s SoccerNet
Beau Dure at USA Today with playoff previews
Jeffrey Marcus at the NY Times’ Goal blog
Chris Duncan at the LA Daily News
Jeff Carlisle at ESPN SoccerNet
Bernardo Fallas at the Houston Chronicle
Phil Collin at the Daily Breeze
Ridge Mahoney at SoccerAmerica
The Telegraph (UK) on Beckham playing for the Galaxy over England