It would be easy to chalk the Houston Dynamo’s 4-1 loss to FC Dallas up as a result of circumstance. After all, the Dynamo went down a man and, against a very good Dallas team, were not able to catch up.
While the club has put the result behind them, the note in the Dynamo camp is that it's a game the team can learn from—especially concerning the response in the time following David Horst’s red card, where the score ballooned form 1-1 to the final tally.
“We should’ve done better. Those 10 minutes were not good enough,” said goalkeeper Tally Hall. “Definitely frustrating, even though I’m optimistic about what we have and the talent we have on the team and the way we’re able to play. We move on from what was a disaster … and know we have one game this weekend that we’ve got to win.”
Moving on means figuring out what went wrong and working out the kinks.
Handling those sudden changes are something that the Dynamo work on often. Responding when the ball turns over or to plays that do not go their way; it is all a part of the philosophy and culture that the club tries to create.
“I don’t say we use the frustration, we use the foundations of our team that we know what makes us successful and that’s working together and working for each other,” Hall said. “[Head coach Dominic Kinnear] always says you’ve got to create your own luck and moving forward we want to create our own luck and that’s going to lead to goals and lead to wins.”
If the lopsided loss can serve as a reminder of what happens when the club is caught unprepared, it will serve that purpose going forward. If not, the club could receive the same lesson soon as they prepare for three consecutive road games.
“After watching film I thought we played some really good stuff,” said forward Will Bruin. “We just need to not hurt ourselves and that’s stuff we’ve been stressing. I don’t think there are many teams that can play with us when we put the ball down and play.
“We’re not dwelling on it. We’re learning from mistakes and moving on to the next game.”
As the club looks to turn things around and learn they are hoping to have the services of captain Brad Davis for the first of those three road games at the New England Revolution. Davis left Saturday’s loss after turning his ankle when Je-Vaughn Watson stepped on the US international’s right foot.
“He’s a bit day-to-day,” Kinnear said. “We’re trying to get him ready for the weekend, so we’ll see how it goes.”
Darrell Lovell covers the Houston Dynamo for MLSsoccer.com.
