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So much has changed since the Crew defeated the two-time defending MLS champions 1-0 on April 26, 2008. The victory was their fourth in five games and a watershed moment for a club that had missed the playoffs the previous three seasons.
At the time the Crew could only dream of having the type of success that enveloped the Dynamo. While the Crew's first priority was just getting to the postseason, Houston was seeking an unprecedented third consecutive title.
Nearly 17 months later the Crew (10-4-9) play host to the Dynamo again but the Eastern Conference leaders' goals are different after winning the Supporters' Shield and the MLS Cup in 2008.
Simply put they want to be like Houston -- a club that competes for a championship every year.
"Not only the Crew, every team around the world is trying to do the same -- build a core and have it a long, long time," Crew coach Robert Warzycha said. "They manage the team and keep the players without a DP (designated player) and they are so good. For some of the teams the DP works and for some it doesn't. Houston has shown you can be very successful without him."
Continuity and consistency are the hallmark of the Houston organization (it was in San Jose prior to relocation in 2006). Ten players have spent at least five years with the Earthquakes/Dynamo including Wade Barrett (10 years), Richard Mulrooney and Eddie Robinson (nine) and Brian Ching, Brian Mullan and Pat Onstad (seven).
"The key for them is consistency not only in the players but the way the play," said Crew midfielder Danny O'Rourke, who spent his first MLS season with San Jose in 2005. "They always play a 4-4-2. Onstad's been in goal the whole time. He's a leader for them."
In contrast, only Duncan Oughton (nine), Frankie Hejduk (seven) and Chad Marshall (six) have spent half a decade or more with the Crew and 16 of the 23 players have joined since the beginning of the 2007 season.
"It starts with the guys they continue to keep there" in Houston, Crew midfielder Brian Carroll said. "They work hard -- Ching, Mullan, they keep the guys focused. They're good leaders. Their coach keeps getting guys who can do the job and work hard. They have the talent and they keep bringing guys in and developing them. The guys who maybe don't have a ton of talent they get the most out of and make sure they understand the plan.
"They've been winning championships the past five, six years or contending to win one. They're always a solid team no matter when you play or what the names are on the back. It's always a tough match."
Carroll knows it's not easy to stay in top. He was part of D.C.'s championship team in 2004 but United has not returned to the MLS Cup since. Last season D.C. missed the playoffs while he enjoyed winning another title in his first year with the Crew.
Los Angeles was the 2005 MLS Cup winner but has missed the playoffs the past three seasons and last year New York shocked Houston in the Western Conference Championship to reach its first MLS Cup before losing to the Crew. The Red Bulls have the worst record in the league this season and dismissed their coach last month.
Yet, the Dynamo (11-7-7) keep rolling. They lead the Crew by a point for the Supporters' Shield although they have played two more matches.
"They built a core when they were in San Jose before they moved to Houston," Warzycha said. "You're talking about Ching and Ricardo Clark, Mullan, Barrett, Robinson, Onstad. They're all still playing. That's the core of the team. They've found a way to play and found a way to share a life because that's basically what it is. You see the guys every day and you're driving together for a championship every year. They never get tired of each other. That's what you want."
Warzycha would like to emulate Houston in another way. When head coach Frank Yallop left the Earthquakes after winning the MLS Cup for the second time in three years in 2003, Kinnear was elevated from the top assistant position. He led the Earthquakes to the Supporters' Shield in 2005 -- their last in San Jose -- and MLS Cups the first two years in Houston.
The Crew promoted Warzycha to head coach this season following Sigi Schmid's departure. A loss at New York on Aug. 30 in the last outing was just its second in the past 19 games (10-2-7).
"We have a good continuity of guys, good leaders, players that are working hard and a good coaching staff," Carroll said. "A good amount of the players are back this year so we understand what it takes to do well, get in the playoffs and worry about the playoffs when they come around."
Houston presents a formidable challenge to the Crew's MLS record 20-game home unbeaten streak (14-0-6) plus two more wins in the playoffs since losing to San Jose on June 7, 2008.
The Crew will be at full strength with forward Guillermo Barros Schelotto expected to start after having two weeks to heal a strained hamstring that has bothered him throughout July and August. The Dynamo will field a strong side as well but Clark scored the only goal in the U.S. win at Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday and Houston teammates Ching and Stuart Holden also played while the Crew's Chad Marshall and Robbie Rogers did not see action for the U.S. squad.
No matter the outcome the Crew are building for the long run a la Houston although Warzycha admits with the salary cap and players possibly leaving for Europe there are no guarantees.
"We have young team. You're talking about Eddie Gaven, Rogers, (Emmanuel) Ekpo, Adam Moffat and even Chad Marshall. They're between 22 and 24 years old. They're getting there but they need one or two more years then they'll be very, very good," Warzycha said.
O'Rourke is one of the Crew players who endured the rough patches in 2006 and '07 before being rewarded with the club's first MLS title in November.
"I remember two, even three years ago when we didn't have a successful team but we wanted to keep the same core together and it paid dividends last year," he said.
He also admires the approach Houston has taken.
"They're a class organization from top to bottom," said O'Rourke. "Good coach. Good players. They practice short and sharp and get off the field like we do. I see a lot of similarities between the two teams and that's why we're both successful."
Source: web.mlsnet.comLet's watch who will be the winner...
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