Dynamo Earn a Second Chance: Playoffs Offer Chance to Reverse Season's Setbacks

By Bernardo Fallas, Houston Chronicle

Oct. 25--With the regular season drawing to a close, the Dynamo can look back at their latest run in MLS and label it one of success and growth but also one of disappointment and frustrations that have lingered after their traditional slow start.

"It's been a grind," midfielder Brad Davis said Friday.

The Dynamo hope today's key finale against Chivas USA in Carson, Calif., is anything but that. More like a glimpse of things in the playoffs.

Not that they care much about finishing on a strong note or are, at this late stage, worried about gaining momentum. For the Dynamo, the match comes down to securing a favorable seed and home-field advantage for the Western Conference semifinal series.

Besides, the Dynamo are not waiting until the playoffs for a fresh start. This much the Dynamo have pledged: The clean slate begins today.

"Everyone's taken a deep breath," Davis said.

That a change in attitude was needed has been evident for the better part of the past two months, when, fueled by a lack of results and carrying the weight of expectations from players and fans, the team has been consumed by disappointment.

Wednesday's loss at Isidro Metapan, one that eliminated them from CONCACAF Champions League play, was the limit for the Dynamo.

Loss serves as catalyst

"We were all getting to that point where we were very frustrated," Davis said. "Us losing that game to Metapan finally had the pot boil over. We had a good meeting afterward, and we said some good things."

The Dynamo have only four wins over the past 14 league matches -- good for 12 of 42 possible points -- since going on an 11-game unbeaten streak that shot them to the top of the standings.

That's unacceptable for a team of the Dynamo's caliber. Then again, the team winning back-to-back titles in its first two years in Houston has left it susceptible to what coach Dominic Kinnear labeled unrealistic expectations.

"(Fans) expect us to win every game probably 2 or 3-0, and if we don't, then there's a major crisis going on," Kinnear said. "MLS is a very hard league, and it's hard to be on top for a long period of time."

The Dynamo have had their struggles. Injuries, call-ups and a number of personnel moves yielded inconsistency or improvisation in the lineup. That affected the on-field chemistry and form of the team.

Performance suffered, dragging down with it not only results but confidence. Frustration set in, made obvious by a rash of red cards that has interrupted efforts to bring normalcy to the lineup.

And yet, as irregular as the Dynamo have been, they entered the weekend in a three-way tie with the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas for the Western lead.

Defense a positive

Not only that, but, having clinched a playoff berth for a fourth consecutive year, the Dynamo again will finish the season as one of the best defending teams in MLS.

Lineup shuffling has allowed players such as Stuart Holden, Geoff Cameron, Andrew Hainault and Mike Chabala to grow professionally and secure starting spots.

But whatever the positives, they have been overshadowed by the team's struggles -- porous defense early in the season, a midfield that has lacked creativity and poor finishing.

But today, the frustrations are out the window.

"We have a very small window to do some great things here," Kinnear said. "We have to make sure we do that."

bernardo.fallas@chron.com

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