In the Houston Dynamo's 2-0 loss to New England last week, a potential weakness of the club came to the forefront: the reliance on their big guns to get goals.
It's not that Houston didn't have chances, because there were plenty of scoring opportunities created against the Revolution, but without leading scorers Brian Ching and Dwayne De Rosario, who were both playing for their respective countries in World Cup qualifiers, the Orange saw their offense dry up.
Houston heads to Colorado to face the Rapids on Saturday at Dick's Sporting Goods Park looking to jumpstart their offense.
"Scoring is helpful. We actually did a video session after the game and showed the goals we gave up and also all the chances we created and we did create a few chances," said Houston head coach Dominic Kinnear. "Especially the one at the end of the half when (Brian Mullan) goes in and shoots it and it goes through (Matt) Reis's legs and past the post.
"We created a few good chances early on, so sometimes it goes great for us -- 3-1 against Toronto -- then the next week you can't score a goal. A goal would be helpful because obviously it raises confidence and increases your intensity and energy."
With Ching returning to the lineup on Saturday after scoring two goals for the United States in an 8-0 win against Barbados, the Dynamo hope to return to the form they had in the win against Toronto two weeks ago.
"Barbados isn't a great team. We did our job and put the game out of reach in that first game, and that pretty much was our goal," Ching said. "I watched the game here Thursday, and the guys created a number of opportunities, but they didn't put one in the back of the net, and the other team did that. I thought there was some good stuff going on, but there were a few mental lapses. Hopefully, we can correct that this weekend."
Ching's return is coming at a good time as the forward from Hawaii has been scoring at will lately. Along with his two goals against Barbados, Ching had netted four goals in the four games before his departure, including two against Toronto FC.
"His goal-scoring form as of late has been excellent," Kinnear said. "He was scoring goals before he left for the States, and then he scores a couple with them. I watched the game, and his work rate was good. Anytime you can add a player like that to your team, it gives a big boost."
The Dynamo will also have defender Wade Barrett back after he missed the last four games with a left adductor strain. De Rosario and goalkeeper Pat Onstad, who are playing for Canada Friday night in a World Cup qualifier, might also be back, but Kinnear said he will take a wait and see approach on them.
With the Western Conference very tight heading into the weekend, with Los Angeles leading the Dynamo and Chivas by three points and Colorado just two points back of the Orange, a win could help create some separation in the standings.
"Anytime you are on top of teams in the standings, and you can increase that lead, it's a great opportunity," Kinnear said. "We like being on top of teams. Hopefully, if you can create a gap, that's what you are hoping to do. You want to stay on top, and if the chances come, you take them to hopefully pull away. The next two games -- Colorado this week and not to look ahead, but Dallas next week -- we have two Western Conference teams that are below us but right behind us, so these points are really important."
Kinnear said Houston has forgotten about the 2-0 loss to New England, and now the team has turned their attention to Colorado. Houston owns a 2-1 win against the Rapids already this season, on May 10 at Robertson Stadium, and hope to return to its winning ways.
"Doesn't take much (to get you motivated) when you look at how tight the West is and where we are in the standings," Ching said. "It's pretty tight, and we haven't had the season we wanted to. We come back and we are focused on getting things right, putting the ball in the back of the net and getting three points."
Jeremy Rakes is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
