Photo: Courtesy of Philadelphia Union

So that is what a tired team looks like.

While Jim Curtin made changes to rest the tired legs of Conor Casey, Sheanon Williams and Ethan White, he asked the equally tired legs of Maurice Edu, Vincent Nogueira, Sebastien Le Toux and Ray Gaddis to soldier on and cope with the Texas heat.

And cope they did not.

When all was said and done, the most telling stat may be the two shots on target the Union could muster. After looking to take the game to the Dynamo for the opening half hour, before fading badly down the stretch, the impotent offense’s failure to test Tally Hall was simply not good enough.

No support for Ribeiro

Making his MLS debut on Friday night, Pedro Ribeiro replaced Casey in the somewhat unfamiliar role of target striker. And while at times Ribeiro looked every bit a rookie, at no point did he look out of place at the MLS level. Unlike moments when Aaron Wheeler seemed to win the role of Casey’s replacement purely due to his physical stature, Ribeiro possesses the skill set to not only win balls in the air, but also to hold up play, bring in his fellow attackers, and combine coherently with his midfielders. All that is well and good when the Union are on the theoretical front foot, driving play forward and bringing Ribeiro into the attack, but against Houston, the debutante had to make due with little more than the scraps of hoofed clearances.

Behind him, two out of position midfielders, Nogueira and Brian Carroll, simply lacked the attacking prowess to bring the ball, and their teammates, forward. With France’s Ligue 1 now into its second week, it must be remembered that Nogueira has played a full calendar year of competitive soccer without a break. And while he has proved to be one of the best ever to don a Union jersey, he too must be rotated if he is to ward off injury and fatigue and have anything left in the tank for the stretch run.

Meet Brian Carroll: No. 8?

With Nogueira laboring high up the pitch, Curtin turned to an unlikely source to also move into a more advanced role, chasing play all over the pitch.

Unsurprisingly, moving Carroll out of his full time, defensive midfield role, didn’t work.

Carroll brings plenty of attributes to the field for the Union, but aggressive, attacking play, and broad defensive range, are not among them at this point in his career. Yet, with Amobi Okugo dutifully putting out fires in front of the backline and ensuring Houston stuck to their cross-heavy attack, Carroll set about trying to cover every inch of the pitch. Whether he was assisting Fabinho in closing down Boniek Garcia, or picking off passes in the offensive half, Carroll offered the workrate required of a box-to-box midfielder.

However, when it came to adding an attacking impetus, Carroll fell short. Whether it was one of the handful of errant forward passes Union fans can expect to see from their captain each match, or his generally conservative, slow passing game, the Union did very little to strike fear into the hearts of the Dynamo. Especially with both Luis Garrido and Ricardo Clark well positioned to stifle attacks through the middle of the pitch, the Union looked increasingly short of ideas as the match wore on.

Two many DMs

But when it finally came time for Curtin to bring on players to inspire his team to get a result, he remained conservative. Perhaps he was concerned about conceding a second goal, or perhaps he suddenly realized the level of exhaustion visible in both Nogueira and Le Toux, but with the match teetering in the balance, Curtin stuck to his defensive guns, swapping out 3 of his 4 attacking players, leaving both Okugo and Carroll to see out the match.

It is hard to know the thought process behind the decision, but after an opening half in which Houston seemed content to sit back and let the Union run themselves into the ground, Dominic Kinnear’s side tightened the screws after the break, upping the tempo and challenging the Union to match it. And once Will Bruin raced past Carlos Valdes to push home the opener, the Union suddenly had to chase a result of any kind. No longer was their defensive approach going to be enough, but with so many tired legs, Curtin could do little more than damage control, removing players whose race was well and truly run, rather than adjusting tactically to get the most out of his side.

Player Ratings

Andre Blake – 6

In his first MLS, Andre Blake had an adventure. While his sheer athleticism is a sight to behold, Blake’s decision-making, especially on balls in the air, left something to be desired. His eagerness to cheat off his line has the potential to leave him stranded in no mans land (see not only Gaddis’ own goal, but also Ethan White’s own goal against Crystal Palace), and as he matures he will have to learn to be more patient reading the play in front of him.

Ray Gaddis – 3

Even the pacy Gaddis can run thin on energy, which was clear for all to see on Friday night. And when pace and quickness are not on his side, Gaddis positional shortcomings are magnified. Sloppy on the ball, and wayward in his reading of play and tracking of runners, it was a match to forget and move beyond for a player who, until recently, was in a rich vein of form.

Maurice Edu – 5

Edu’s impressive week finally came to a conclusion, with 45 All Star minutes (and ~6000 miles in air travel) to go with 300 minutes for the Union. Those staggering numbers might shed some light onto why Edu could neither chase Giles Barnes into the corner on Houston’s opener or communicate a switch in marking to Gaddis. What it does not explain is why a clearly exhausted Edu was not given any time off this week. Curtin can count himself very fortunate that not just Edu, but the rest of his team, came through the week unscathed by injury.

Carlos Valdes – 5

His plate full with the runs of Will Bruin and Barnes, Valdes will have to raise his hand in apology for failing to stay goal side of the former when he ran passed him to score Houston’s opener. Was otherwise solid in defense, an impressive feat considering the need to offer plenty of cover for Fabinho, while also working with a nervy, young goalkeeper.

Fabinho – 4

It is not a good sign when a coach feels the need to bring a midfielder to the assistance of a fullback on every defensive sequence. On Saturday, Curtin felt compelled to do just that, sending his captain over to assist Fabinho on each of Houston’s attacking moves. And while the gaffe prone fullback didn’t have any proper howlers against the Dynamo, he looked very much like a backup, just trying not to be overwhelmed.

Amobi Okugo – 6

Bossed the middle of the field as a pure defensive midfielder, breaking up play and distributing with a quickness and sharpness that was lacking elsewhere on Friday night. Got forward well, smartly picking his spots to advance, though he was rarely spotted by Carroll or Nogueira. Might want to take a touch late in the game rather than going for glory on the half-volley, as it was never likely to come off.

Brian Carroll – 4

Asked to cover a tremendous amount of ground, Carroll gave everything he had in the tank, but struggled to be much more than an advanced defensive midfielder. Did well to pick off three passes just over the halfway line, but when given the opportunity to break forward, his incisive, direct passing game was lacking, as he predictably looked unsuited to be deployed higher up the pitch.

Sebastien Le Toux – 3

After taking a painful knock again Montreal, Le Toux failed to go the distance against either Dallas or Houston. And while his toughness and effort are appreciated by the fans, his ability to effect either game was drastically diminished in both. Managed one of the Union’s two shots on target, but looked out of sorts and was guilty of some badly misjudged passes. Loses a point for the shameful dive that got DaMarcus Beasley booked.

Vincent Nogueira – 3

Out of position and out of gas, Nogueira was off the pace for most of 72 minutes. Badly in need of a rest, Nogueira lacked his typical sharpness as he was not only sloppy with his passing, but was also uncharacteristically caught in possession.

Danny Cruz – 5

As usual, gave maximum effort bombing up the left flank, but with so little service coming out of the Union midfield, Cruz was always going to be isolated.

Pedro Ribeiro – 5

As mentioned above, he did as much as he could with the service he got. Unfortunately, the was painfully little, especially in the second half. He has the goods to make an impact in MLS and if Cristian Maidana continues to be hamstrung, literally, Ribeiro should be deployed in this more natural attacking midfield position. If he does remain up top, Ribeiro needs to get a lot meaner, and fast.

Substitutions

Andrew Wenger – 5

After such a positive showing in Dallas, Wenger’s frustrating form returned in Houston. Continues to make positive, direct runs, but lacks both the vision and execution to make the final pass or shot, when required.

Fred – 6

Added much-needed energy as he sped up play for the floundering Union. Picked out Wenger for the Union’s best chance of the night.

Conor Casey – 3

Despite having more than 15 minutes to affect the result, Casey had no appreciable impact on the match. Even with his team attacking Houston and chasing the game, Casey failed to make runs into dangerous areas and took no part in the attempted comeback.

Geiger Counter

Baldomero Toledo – 4

Loses a point and wins a chicken for behaving like one and not sending off David Horst. Otherwise, he didn’t have too many tough decisions during a match in which Houston bullied their guests, and both Toledo and the Union, allowed it.

Preferred starting XI for Sunday’s match vs San Jose Earthquakes

4-2-3-1

MacMath; Williams, Edu, Valdes, Gaddis; Okugo, Nogueira; Le Toux, Maidana, Wenger; Ribeiro

At this juncture in his career, it makes sense to rest Casey for one more game against a Western Conference foe, making sure he’s as fresh as possible to battle it out in the East.