HOUSTON -- The time for picking up points with a full roster is ticking away for the Houston Dynamo.
After the team played what was their best match of the season in a June 8, 3-1 win against Toronto FC, the Dynamo are winless. They are mired in a three-game rut of mediocrity that has the team is puzzled over a recent lack of consistency.
They were missing several starters in a 2-0 loss to New England on June 12. They simply could not convert anything in a scoreless draw at Colorado on June 21, and last Thursday at home, they let a 1-0 lead slip away in the second half of a 1-1 draw with FC Dallas.
One defensive gaffe cost the team two points in the standings and a shot at tying the LA Galaxy atop the Western Conference standings.
And things are not going to get easier for the two-time defending MLS Cup champions. They have no league matches scheduled at home in July, and they are going to lose starters to World Cup qualifying (and the attendant friendlies) and the U.S. Olympic team during the stretch run of the season.
That's not exactly the peachiest outlook for a team that expects much more of itself.
"And it is just going to get crazier," said Craig Waibel when asked about the upcoming schedule. "Just wait four more weeks. It is not even close right now to what it is going to be."
The Dynamo begin that madness with a trip to Charleston, S.C. for a U.S. Open Cup match Tuesday -- a rematch of a 1-0 loss to Charleston a year ago. If the Dynamo advance this time, they will face a quarterfinal match in the competition the following Tuesday. Then, on July 12, the Dynamo begin play in this year's SuperLiga, which will see them play three games in a week's span.
Waibel thinks the Dynamo, a team that keeps itself near the top of the standings with good defense and clutch scoring, has not responded well to improved play by the opposition.
"If you just go back and watch every team that has played us, it's their best game, it's their biggest game," Waibel said. "I don't think we have done a great job handling that kind of pressure, but at the same time, we only have four losses.
"I am hesitant to go too far into it, but I will say, without insulting any other team, or having it sound like I am taking shots at other teams, that I think this team is disappointed being in second place," he continued. "That right there tells you the character and the expectations that we have set for ourselves.
"We are not content with where we are at. Now, that is not to take a shot at anyone else, but I think that gives you an idea of how we picture ourselves."
Last week's game against FC Dallas, a team Houston tied in each of the teams' three meetings this season, almost certainly summed up the Dynamo's 2008 frustrations. Despite a ton of chances, the Orange scored just once -- then gave up a goal on a defensive mistake and as a result failed to move up in the standings.
The Dynamo have scored just one goal or less in nine of their 15 games this season and have won just once in that situation. And the team's defense is putting too much pressure on an underachieving offense that is going to thin out when international games come calling.
Both sides of the ball deserve criticism, but head coach Dominic Kinnear, after a light practice in Houston this weekend, was not ready to dish out the blame.
"I don't really like to throw out criticisms," said Kinnear. "I think we would like to say that we said Thursday night whatever we had to say. And I think our frustration was definitely the reason for our words.
"Every day, I think you can improve in every area. And the one thing that I think we need to work on most is just being consistent day in and day out. I think if we can do that, we are going to be in better shape."
Kinnear is referring to comments by both Brian Ching and several other veterans recently calling out the defense and mistakes made at critical times.
To be fair, Ching also criticized himself for a sub-par game. But the frustrations are perhaps starting to come to the forefront.
Happy or not, winning is still the why the team shows up and Kinnear has a good reason why that is not happening more often.
"Why are we losing games? We are making mistakes and we aren't punishing teams for theirs," Kinnear said. "We have seven ties, and we have come out with more points that we have lost, but that is the reality of our situation. But it's important for us to start winning games."
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