Compelling Soccer

I caught two thirds of the Houston v. Pachuca battle yesterday. It might have been the best effort I've seen from an MLS side thus far, ranking up there with the Sounders' game against Chivas USA. And wouldn't you know it, like the Sounders game, Houston failed to register a goal. This was an even worse result for the Dynamo though, as they fell 1-0 to Pachuca, putting them in a dangerous spot heading into their final game of the CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage. They can still advance, but the road becomes more difficult.

Considering how thoroughly Houston was dominated in their first game in Mexico, this would constitute a moral victory. But moral victories aren't for teams that have supposedly three of the best players US soccer has to offer and are at home.

Of interest in this one was the fact that it had the potential to feature four members of the US national team. Stuart Holden, Ricardo Clark and Compelling Soccer whipping boy Brian Ching did get the start for Houston while Jose Francisco Torres rode the pine to start the game for Pachuca. For the Houston players, any chance to display their skills against non MLS competition is worth a look from fans of the US team. For Torres, going up against Holden head to head could provide a good barometer for two players who are fighting for playing time against one another on the US squad.

We'll start with Brian Ching, who had a typical Brian Ching performance. What is a "typical Ching performance" you ask? Here's the checklist:

-He wanders around the attacking third.

-Tries to win headers, of which he manages very few despite his size.

-Announcers say his teammates need to look for him in the box since he's a real target striker. Somehow, his teammates never seem to find him against good non MLS competition.

-Announcers credit his ability to draw fouls.

-He draws a few fouls.

-He commits more fouls.

-He blows at least one gift wrapped opportunity.

-He gets taken off the field and the announcers laud his hard working performance.

Ching's failure in this game was more than just finishing, though there was some of that as well. What was really disheartening was that he seemed to rarely find himself in a position to finish. He appeared to be getting in the way more than he was contributing. For example, Dominic Oduro managed to get himself in position multiple times for goal chances with his head. He came up short each time. That's another problem for sure, but the point was he was getting into position where his teammates could find him. Ching didn't from what I saw. He was just there. He'd make his BS touch outside the box, lay if back off to someone, and then disappear again. Just a poor performance for him, which isn't a surprise given that Pachuca is better than your average MLS squad.

-I didn't notice much of Ricardo Clark, except when he suffered from a poor touch in the second half on a Houston attacking opportunity. Houston was strong in possession and for that Clark has to get some of the credit, though it felt like they were more successful attacking on the wings. Corey Ashe's arrival at half time seemed to do a lot to make Houston more threatening, but they were unable to cash in. Clark I'd say was middling yesterday and far less active than Stuart Holden.

Speaking of Holden, watching him always makes me see why people are high on him. He's very active, tracking back into defense and then pushing up onto the attacking third. Since the US men's team have two midfielders who are averse to the defensive half of the field (I'm looking at you Landon and Clint) seeing someone who ranges all over the field can be nice. The skill is there for Holden, but how much skill is the question. There's something lacking in his game; I'm not sure if it's vision or precision. People love his crossing ability, but it's no greater than a lot of other players out there. He can whip in one or two good ones, but often has plenty of mediocre and bad ones. Again, that isn't a knock. It's more of an attempt to dispel why people insist he should be given a larger role.

Fox Soccer Channel's Chris Sullivan seemed like he wanted to pleasure Jose Francisco Torres, actually talking about him being in the game when he wasn't. Eventually Torres did enter the fray and the compliments rained down even more than before. But they were very much deserved. Torres was a game changer in the midfield, effectively becoming the best player on either side. He made Pachuca more threatening, picking out players for runs and launching them with excellent through balls. Even though Pachuca didn't add another to their tally, Torres could hardly be blamed for that while he could be credited for relieving some of the pressure they were under. Sullivan mentioned he hoped Bob Bradley was watching. I hope he was too; of the four US national team members in that game, Torres was by far the best one even if Stuart Holden ran around a lot more.

Torres relates back to my criticism of Holden. Torres didn't whip in crosses. He didn't need to. He was able to spring players with excellent through balls and precision passing. Holden seems to lack that ability, at least from what I've seen. Again, I'm not sure if it's vision; an inability to find the player about to make a run, or precision, that he can't make the pass to the player because he's not accurate on his through ball. Because of that, of the two, Torres is a better player and should warrant playing time over Holden right now. Hopefully that's reflected in the US team's future.