As the season changes from spring to summer Toronto FC roll into Houston coming off something they hadn’t had in the league since the last weeks of winter: a win. And, shock of shocks, it’s actually the normally consistent Dynamo who are currently mired in a five-game winless streak that extends back to May 8th.
In fact, the last MLS team the Dynamo proved capable of beating was the same as Toronto: lowly DC United. Since then, their league record 36 game home unbeaten streak came to an end and, after having never lost at BBVA Compass stadium since it opened, they’ve actually gone down to defeat in their last two home games.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Even the US Open Cup provided little joy as Houston was bounced from the competition by Texan rivals FC Dallas in their only match against MLS competition.
Their most recent match saw them soundly defeated away to Conference leading Montreal in mid-week in a game that seemed to solidify the Impact’s position as the team to beat in the East in 2013.
It’s hardly panic stations on the Gulf coast of Texas but, for a club expected to be title challengers, the late spring dip in form is a concern as the Eastern Conference playoff race begins to coalesce into something meaningful.
The good news for Houston, beyond facing Toronto FC, is that Brad Davis will be available for selection again after a number of weeks away on U.S. national team duty. Davis had a somewhat bumpy international break, being singled out for criticism by American journalists on more than one occasion, but, in MLS, he’s still an elite player with an acknowledged ability to change the outcome of games. In his absence, the offense for Houston has dried up and they’ve only managed two goals during the course of their winless run.
The status of Houston’s other major internationalist, Honduran Oscar Boniek Garcia, remains somewhat in doubt. Garcia picked up a hamstring strain while away with his national side that rendered him doubtful for the Tuesday evening match against the USA. In the end he ended up making an appearance as a late second half substitute but, as a consequence, may now be unavailable for the Dynamo.
From Toronto’s perspective the possibility of a full return for Danny Koevermans is the major roster consideration confronting TFC head coach Ryan Nelsen. The talismanic Dutch striker made a cameo appearance three weeks ago at home to Philadelphia, his first match action in nearly a year, just in time to see the Reds concede a late equalizer to the Union, but was subsequently limited to the substitutes’ bench during TFC’s win in DC.
A player of Koevermans’ calibre (and pay grade) can only be protected for so long and, at some point, Nelsen will have to risk exposing him to the rigours of actual game action. Whether or not that’s right from the start or a second, longer substitute appearance is likely the question.
Notwithstanding considerations of Koevermans’ fitness and durability the other consideration for Nelsen will be messing with a formula that, after so many fits, nearlies, and false starts, finally managed to produce a win. Taken into consideration with the team’s solid performance against Philadelphia it’s possible that Nelsen has happened upon a group of starters he’s mostly happy with and might be disinclined to shuffle.
On the other hand, Doniel Henry is available again after serving his suspension for the red card he picked up against the Union and, prior to that enforced absence, had been preferred to Gale Agbossoumonde in central defence.
And, on the offensive side of the ball, it should not be ignored that, while Toronto may have scored two goals in a league game for the first time since early April, they only managed one shot on goal against a DC defense that is amongst the worst in the league. One goal was from a speculative “hoof ball” of the most agricultural variety, that somehow Robert Earnshaw managed to get on the end of, and the other an own goal. From open play Toronto is continuing to create very little.
That’s something that a (hopefully) fit and predatory Danny Koevermans could help with but who makes way for him – Silva, Earnshaw, or one of the midfielders? – is hard to predict and whether Nelsen’s willing to take the risk an open question.