Cabrera tailors offensive style to personnel
Absent an attacking forward as target, pressure and counterattacks stressed
The Dynamo are cautiously optimistic that last weekend’s season-opening victory over reigning MLS Cup champion Seattle Sounders FC was a sign of success to come.
But the method they used to achieve those three points was anything but cautious.
Their high-flying, heavypressing style grabbed the attention of fans around the league. Many were startled because their most recent Dynamo memory is last year’s defend-at-all-costs approach.
The Dynamo last weekend essentially conceded the possession statistics coveted by so many soccer purists. Instead, first-year coach Wilmer Cabrera instructed his players to attack and suffocate Seattle’s back line. After the game, Cabrera sat stoically behind a microphone and said nothing is going to change.
“This is going be us,” said Cabrera, who will lead his team against Columbus Crew SC at BBVA Compass Stadium on Saturday night. “We’re not a team that is going to be based on possession because we don’t have those types of players. We have attackers, guys who are dynamic. We have midfielders who work hard. This is going to be the Houston Dynamo.”
That was not the plan when the offseason began.
The Dynamo front office said the No. 1 focus was to sign a player who could bring life to the attack.
As the offseason wore on, it became clear the Dynamo would not find a player like that they could afford. In October, they hired Cabrera, who general manager Matt Jordan said can coach with any formation.
Form follows function
Had Jordan acquired a central attacking midfielder capable of making killer passes in the attacking third, the Dynamo might line up in a 4-2-3-1.
Instead, Cabrera is committed to a 4-3-3 that stresses gaining possession in the midfield and sending it wide to Romell Quioto or Alberth Elis to use their speed to create chances.
Jordan said the club has not given up on finding a true attacking forward but also that not signing such a player should not prevent the team from winning.
“No team is built on one player,” Jordan said. “There are so many moving parts to an MLS roster. For us, the most important thing is the team. It is one game of 34. We know we have a lot of hard work ahead of us.”
It was not just fans and the media who were caught off-guard by the Dynamo. Seattle coach Brian Schmetzer seemed stunned, too, like his team in the first half. The Dynamo took 15 shots before halftime — the most in the opening 45 minutes in club history. Last season, the Dynamo had 10 or more in a half six times.
Seattle settled down in the second half and dominated possession while limiting the Dynamo to two shots. But the damage had been done, and the Dynamo held on for a 2-1 victory.
“That’s how they set their team up,” Schmetzer said. “It’s a counterattacking team. We’ll see how that plays out the rest of the year. It’s a dangerous game he’s playing. When it works, nights like tonight, then yeah, congratulations to Wilmer. But it’s a bit risky at times.”
If anybody knows it’s risky, it’s Cabrera. He is not trying to deliver a message the Dynamo are perfect or that they will be successful with this approach through all 34 regular-season games.
Risky business at times
But he also knows he must win games with what he has. If he had a team of methodical, possessionstyle players, he would instruct his team to build the attack from the back.
Without those players, he has chosen a direct approach that most of the time
will depend on winning balls in dangerous areas. There might be times the Dynamo slow the tempo, but for the most part, they are going to fly with a yearning for the goal.
“You cannot have everything in life,” Cabrera said. “It is like having the blanket from the airplane. Do you cover your feet or do you cover your head? You cannot cover both. That’s us.
“This is going to be us working hard. This is going to be us believing in what we do. This is going to be us facing every team with good mentality and good intensity, thinking that we are going to play the Dynamo’s way.”