Houston Dynamo player ratings at Seattle Sounders
(image via Houston Dynamo FC)
Yet another trip to Seattle ended in failure for the Dynamo. Let’s take a look at how everyone performed.
Starters
Steve Clark-6
There wasn’t much Steve could have done to achieve a better result in this game. He didn’t have a lot of difficult shots came his way and the goal Seattle scored was not savable.
Franco Escobar-4
An off night for Franco as he was poor on both sides of the ball, with nothing much going for him going forward. On the goal Seattle scored, he was left in the dust by a great Seattle move.
Erik Sviatchenko-8
Erik was incredible in this game and a massive reason it was only 1-0. He made multiple game saving plays to keep the Dynamo in this one. There was not a whole lot he could’ve done for the goal, the ball unfortunately went through his legs, not really his fault.
Ethan Bartlow-8
Back in the starting lineup, Ethan looked really solid alongside Sviatchenko. His play on the ball out of the back was excellent and he defended a difficult side very well.
Micael-5
It’s hard to grade Micael as the red card could easily be seen as harsh. He should have known better not to make that play on a yellow card, but it was a bit harsh. Before the yellow card, he was a candidate for man of the match.
Luis Caicedo-8
Caicedo did incredibly well to shut down a great Seattle midfield for a lot of phases of this game. He was able to cut out passes when it mattered and put out many fires. His passing was calm and accurate. Once again, a great fill in when the Dynamo are missing a key midfield player.
Artur-4
Like Caicedo he was excellent for a lot of phases of this game. His passing was not quite as good as Caicedo was and he was beaten a few too many times by Albert Rusnak, especially on the goal. Not quite sure who he was marking there.
Amine Bassi-3
Another game where he was forced to be the man going forward for the Dynamo and he did not deliver. It seems that whenever Herrera and Artur are not playing at their best, Bassi struggles to pick up the load in the midfield. He was often invisible in this game and failed to make a big impact when he got the ball in good areas.
Corey Baird-5
Not a ton of time on the ball for Corey, but when he had it he was the best player going forward for the Dynamo. There were two separate moments where he picked up the ball and ran at the defense to play a great ball for Aliyu and both times Aliyu wasn’t quite there to receive the pass.
Nelson Quinones-3
Nelson really struggled to get into this game as he only had 17 touches. He failed to take on any defenders and create chaos like we have grown used to seeing lately. It wasn’t the best night defensively for Nelson either.
Ibrahim Aliyu-2
Like Nelson, Aliyu was a ghost for most of this game. He struggled getting anything going against a center back making his first start of the season. Does he have a good excuse being that Bassi was poor, and Herrera didn’t play? Yes, but he still was underwhelming even with the bad situation.
Substitutes
Chase Gasper-6
Gasper came in after the red card and looked fairly solid. Nothing spectacular from him but also nothing too bad. He positioned himself nicely on the goal, but Artur failed to cover that space where the ball was played, so it may look like Gasper was at fault where he really wasn’t.
Brad Smith-5
Tough spot for Brad to come into this game down both a man and a goal. He did what he could and looked good on both sides. We could potentially see him get more minutes going forward with Micael missing the Kansas City game.
Ivan Franco and Thor Ulfarsson-N/A
Both only played for a few minutes. Not enough to give them a fair rating.
Head Coach
Ben Olsen-7
Ben set up his team to absorb pressure and move quick on the counter attack. This setup was the best way to beat Seattle and it was working quite well for 60 minutes. A few better moments from Bassi and this game could’ve been 1-0 before the red card. Unfortunately for Ben, another silly individual mistake cost the team.
