In the first part of our 2009 MLS Cup Final preview, the Real Salt Lake and Los Angeles Galaxy
players were assessed and compared, with a slight advantage being measured for the Galaxy. In this
continuation of our analysis, attention is paid to the coaches and intangibles for both clubs.
Houston has plenty of guys worth protecting here. (Getty Images)
Today we move another day closer to the 2009 expansion draft. Now we turn our focus to the
Houston Dynamo.
The Dynamo are a tough team to figure out due to the number of quality players that are both
young and old.
Protected Available Exempt Corey Ashe Wade Barrett Danny Cruz Bobby Boswell Mike Chabala Geoff
Cameron Ryan Cochrane Brian Ching Tyler Deric Ricardo Clark Tally Hall Brad Davis John Michael
Hayden Andrew Hainault Richard Mulrooney Stuart Holden Dominic Oduro Luis Angel Landin Pat Onstad
Brian Mullan Abe Thompson Eddie Robinson Erik Ustruck Craig Waibel Cam Weaver
Either way they stand to lose a good player this year.
 __________________________________________Photo by ISIphotos.com
There aren't many players in MLS more versatile than Geoff Cameron, and this year, there were no
defenders who were better.
When Houston's defense reached a critical moment of transition, Dynamo head coach Dom Kinnear
turned to Cameron to help anchor the back-line early in the season and all Cameron did was respond
with dominant form few could have expected from the 2008 Rookie of the Year candidate.
 __________________________________________Photo by ISIphotos.com
There aren't many players in MLS more versatile than Geoff Cameron, and this year, there were no
defenders who were better.
When Houston's defense reached a critical moment of transition, Dynamo head coach Dom Kinnear
turned to Cameron to help anchor the back-line early in the season and all Cameron did was respond
with dominant form few could have expected from the 2008 Rookie of the Year candidate.
Eric Avila has made 16 subs without a start. Needs four more in the final five games to break
the record, or three to tie.
The worst Supporters Shield winners in MLS history were the 2004 Columbus Crew at 1.633 PPG.
Somebody will need to finish with 50 points to surpass them.
The CONCACAF Champions League continued on Wednesday with three more group stage matches. The
Columbus Crew visited faced Saprissa, Pachuca hosted the Houston Dynamo, and Pumas traveled to W
Connection. It's about halfway through the group stage with the Columbus Crew the only MLS team in
position to advance to the quarterfinals.
The San Jose Earthquakes traded defender Ryan Cochrane to Houston on Friday in exchange for an
international roster slot. Cochrane has played in 21 games for the Earthquakes since they picked
him up in the expansion draft from Houston. He had 84 appearances as a member of the Dynamo and the
original MLS version of the Earthquakes. Click to continue reading...
This man is running back to the Houston Dynamo, tout de suite! From the San Jose Earthquakes Front Office, the team announced today that the team has acquired an
international slot from the Houston Dynamo in exchange for defender Ryan Cochrane. Cochrane appeared in 21 games and scored two goals the past two seasons with the Earthquakes after
coming to the team in the 2007 Major League Soccer Expansion Draft. Click to continue reading...
The Dynamo shook up their back line Friday, sending young center back Julius James to D.C. United
and acquiring Ryan Cochrane back from the San Jose Earthquakes in separate trades, coach Dominic
Kinnear confirmed today. The Western-leading Dynamo received a...
This morning Steven Goff broke the news that Houston Dynamo Defender, Julius James, was traded to
DC United for a draft pick. James was initially picked up by the Dynamo in last Fall's trade that
sent midfielder Dwayne DeRosario to Toronto. James has good raw talent, but seems to have had
trouble adjusting into the Dynamo defense. Click to continue reading...
Looks like we have a trade in the works according to Steve Goff. DC United has traded for
Trinidad and Tobago defender Julius James from Houston. No official word on compensation yet for
James but more than likely a draft pick will be sent Houston's way.
James as we all remember was apart of the Dwayne De Rosario deal back in January with Toronto
FC.
The San Jose Earthquakes played their first home game since rejoining the league as an expansion
club. A crowd of 20,000 at McAfee Coliseum saw the Quakes lose to the Chicago Fire 1-0 on a 19th
minute goal by Chad Barrett. [ASN, April 10, 2008].
One year and one day later, the two clubs met again in the Bay area, this time at Buck Shaw
Stadium.
Five ties -- two scoreless, one 3-3. Only two decisive games, including Seattle's first loss. Kasey
Keller is still unscored-upon, but he departed early for the Sounders after handling the ball
outside the box. Lots of red cards. Home teams first Toronto 1, Dallas 1: Dwayne De Rosario showed off his underrated heading skills on
a long throw-in from Adrian Serioux to give Toronto the lead. Click to continue reading...
Los Angeles Galaxy owner Phil Anschutz has apparently seen enough and is threatening to make
extreme changes within the organization if the club does not get back on track right away. Anschutz, often referred to as the Godfather of Major League Soccer, reportedly sent AEG
right-hand-man Tim Leiweke to the club's locker room before last weekend's game to communicate his
frustration with the club's lack of recent success. Click to continue reading...
It was easiest the biggest win in the history of the NEW San Jose Earthquakes.
When Ryan Cochrane scored the last-minute winner to give San Jose a 3-2 triumph against
hated rivals Los Angeles Galaxy, the team celebrated like it was releasing weeks and months of
frustration, which is what it did.
Maybe it was fitting that Ryan Cochrane, a player Alexi Lalas helped draft with the original San
Jose Earthquakes four years ago, scored San Jose's game-winning goal on Sunday. Better yet, maybe
it was more fitting to see Frank Yallop celebrate a victory over the manager he was dumped for, a
manager whose job is in jeopardy.
July 28th: Toronto FC 1 - Real Salt Lake 2 RSL - Jamison Olave 1 (Chris Wingert) 63' TFC - Amado Guevara 3 (unassisted) 84' RSL - Robbie Findley 5 (unassisted) 87' August 2nd: Chivas USA 0 - Chicago Fire 1 CHI - Patrick Nyarko 1 (Chris Rolfe) 16' Kansas City Wizards 0 - D. Click to continue reading...
Last week, the New York Red Bulls let two points slip away in injury time vs. LA at home. Sunday
afternoon, New York will have a golden opportunity to escape last place in the East when they play
the West's bottom-feeder, San Jose (3-9-5), at Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara (3p, MSG+). The last time out, the New York offense was invigorated by the addition of midfielder Jorge Rojas,
who assisted on both Red Bull goals in 2-2 draw with the Galaxy. Click to continue reading...
Bobby Boswell had a stunning start to his MLS career. He went undrafted but immediately won a
place in D.C. United's starting lineup, which was short on defenders after losing Ryan Nelsen to
England. The next year, he was the MLS defender of the year. The next year, he was in and out of
the lineup at D.
The 2008 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup begins tomorrow for MLS teams. Eight qualifiers will take on
eight lower league clubs in what is always one of the single most exciting days of the season. Last
year was not the greatest year for MLS in the tournament, as only 3/8 teams advanced. One of those
3, the Rapids, then lost 5-0 in the quarterfinals to Seattle. Click to continue reading...
A list of all penalties can be found on the league stats page (scroll to the bottom). However, on
that page they don't list who earned and conceded the penalties like they used to a few years back.
I've always missed that, so by looking through match reports I keep track of it myself. With only 23 penalties given so far this season, there's not too much to notice on these lists. Click to continue reading...
Starting Galaxy lineup: Steve Cronin, Chris Klein, Sean Franklin, Abel Xavier, Mike Randolph, David
Beckham, Alvaro Pires, Josh Tudela, Ante Jazic, Ely Allen, Edson Buddle, Starting Earthquakes lineup: Joe Cannon, Adam Smarte, Ryan Cochrane, Jason Hernandez, Eric Denton,
Ronnie O'Brien, Ned Grabavoy, Kelly Gray Ramiro Corales, John Cunliffe, Ryan Johnson. Click to continue reading...
Houston Dynamo Record (W-L-T): 15-8-7; 43 GF, 23 GA Source Material: Schedule/match reports; roster
Overview This one is pretty uncomplicated. Houston had a straight-up kick-ass 2007. It's not
just that they won MLS Cup (more on this later), but how well they carried themselves through a duo
of international tournaments, the CONCACAF Champions Cup and the inaugural Superliga. Click to continue reading...
I've been out of town and away from the computer for the holiday weekend so I missed the
expansion draft. San Jose was able to draft 10 players while I was gone. I don't have much else
to say (or the energy) so I'll leave you with the list:
Ryan Cochrane (Houston Dynamo)
Clarence Goodson (FC Dallas)
Ned Gravaboy (Columbus Crew)
James Riley (New England Revolution)
Joe Vide (New York Red Bulls)
Ivan Guerrero (Chicago Fire)
Brain Carroll (DC United)
Jason Hernandez (Chivas USA)
Gavin Glinton (LA Galaxy)
Chris Pozniak (Toronto FC)
No one picked up from Kansas City Wizards, Real Salt Lake or Colorado Rapids.
Well, MLSnet.com finally posted the list of players Frank Yallop picked up for the New Model San
Jose Earthquakes in today's expansion draft (and thanks to all the good people out there who
forwarded the list while I was blab, blab, blabbing away in another post). Here's that list: 1.
Ryan Cochrane (Houston Dynamo) 2. Click to continue reading...
A man misses a thing or two when his eyes are looking elsewhere. While I know that, tomorrow, Major
League Soccer (MLS) will hold the expansion draft that will begin building the New Model San Jose
Earthquakes (NMSJE, from here forward), I've been too busy to poke around to see who MLS's 13
current [...] Click to continue reading...
(UPDATE: Blue Blooded Journo is plugging away at match-up previews of his own. Do check out his
latest on Shalrie Joseph (and others) v. Dwayne DeRosario (and others).) Ever start a project only
to realize you've built in some redundancy? It only occurs to me now as I'm sitting down to write
this, how [...] Click to continue reading...
