Last weekend the Houston Dynamo wrapped up an important three match in eight day stretch with a disappointing 5-2 loss to Real Salt Lake. In the second half, the effort was there but the Dynamo had dug themselves too deep of a hole in the first half. Still, it was a reasonably successful stretch as the Dynamo took 6 of 9 possible points to push themselves back up the table and into 4th place.

Today marks the start of another critical stretch of matches. As expected, Brad Davis was called up to the provisional World Cup Squad this week and is out until at least June 2nd. He will miss today’s match against the Los Angeles Galaxy as well as the three other matches the Dynamo play between now and that date. If he makes the 23, he would miss additional matches.

The Dynamo’s other World Cup participant, Boniek Garcia, will fortunately play today. Honduras has allowed Garcia to participate in today’s match and join up with the Honduran national team afterwards. Given that Garcia is a definite member of Honduras’ 23 for the World Cup, he will miss at least five matches.

The World Cup stretch of matches for the Dynamo looks like this:

May 17th – Los Angeles Galaxy – Davis unavailable

May 21st – @ DC United – Davis & Garcia unavailable

May 25th – @ San Jose Earthquakes – Davis & Garcia unavailable

June 1st – @ Colorado Rapids – Davis & Garcia unavailable

June 6th – Sporting Kansas City – Garcia unavailable, Davis status for the 23 uncertain

June 29th – @ Montreal Impact – Garcia unavailable, Davis status for the 23 uncertain

July 4th – New York Red Bulls – Coincides with the World Cup quarterfinals

July 12th – @ Toronto FC – Coincides with the World Cup 3rd place game

In total, if Davis makes the 23 to go to Brazil, he will definitely miss the next six matches and could miss seven if the U.S. managed to reach the quarter-finals. The 3rd place match or the World Cup final seems a bit of a stretch, but that would take it to eight matches missed.

Honduras looks unlikely to get past the Group Stage, so Garcia is low risk to miss more than the five matches noted.

All-in-all this has to be a frightening prospect for Dynamo fans. The Dynamo have looked poor this season when Davis has not played. Taking their two primary play makers out of the mix is not a good look for the Dynamo. At one point, the presence of Andrew Driver and Tony Cascio on the roster made this less of an issue. Driver has been disappointing, however, and Cascio is out for the season.

Add to the mix the uncertain status of Ricardo Clark following his concussion and continued absence from the team, and a midfield that once looked the strength of the Dynamo squad becomes the Achilles’ heel.

This is a make or break stretch for the Dynamo and their task is not made any easier by the fact that four of the next six matches are away from home. The only side on the fixture list that looks to be as heavily impacted by call ups as the Dynamo is Sporting Kansas City. They have what is generally a deeper squad than the Dynamo, however.

Players will need to step up if the Dynamo are to do well over this stretch. While there are a number of different players who could shine, three players in particular are integral to any success the Dynamo have over the next two months:

Andrew Driver

Driver has been underwhelming this season, although his form has shown some improvement in recent matches. With no Davis or Garcia on hand, Driver needs to up his game. His service into the box will be key to generating opportunities for Will Bruin or Mark Sherrod.

It is likely that Driver will take over set pieces as well. The Dynamo will need set piece goals if they are to generate points over this stretch.

Giles Barnes

Barnes has been a consistent performer this season, if not a goal scorer. He is going to have to start finding the back of the net. The Dynamo need him to go on a goal scoring tear over the next month plus.

Barnes has been most dangerous this season getting down the sidelines and putting good service into the box. As with Driver, the Dynamo need Barnes to continue to provide quality service into the box in addition to goal scoring.

David Horst

Horst has been a commanding presence in the back line this season; that needs to continue. The Dynamo need more out of Horst, though; they need him to become more of a threat on set pieces.

A player the size of Horst should be getting on the end of balls into the box far more often than is currently the case. Similar sized defenders like Aurélien Collin, Chad Marshall and Bobby Boswell are constant threats to score off of set pieces. Horst has yet to show he can be that kind of a threat. That needs to change.

Point Target

If we ignore the matches that coincide with the quarterfinals and final, starting with today there are 18 World Cup period points on offer. Ideally the Dynamo take 9 of those 18 points. More than 9 points would position them favorably for the remainder of the season. 6 points could make things difficult. 4 of fewer might be an absolute disaster.

The gathering of points has to start today against the Galaxy. The Dynamo must take advantage of the presence of Garcia for the match and take all 3 points. From there, we will see what this team is made of starting on Wednesday night at DC United.

Click here for a preview of the Houston Dynamo vs. Los Angeles Galaxy match.

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