Playoff hopes hanging by a thread
Team in 10-game winless streak as season winds down
The Dynamo’s playoff hopes are slim to none, but that hasn’t stopped the team from maintaining the same message as they get set to return to the pitch for the first time since Sept. 1.
“Offensively, when we have the ball we have to try to produce and be dangerous and solid to try to create possibilities up front and hopefully finish those opportunities,” Dynamo coach Wilmer Cabrera said. “It’s going to be important for us to measure how we are at this moment.”
In this moment, Houston (713-7; 28 points) still rides a 10-game winless streak as the 10th-place team in the Western Conference.
While five of their last seven games are against opponents situated ahead of them in the conference standings, the Dynamo would still need those teams to lose the majority of their remaining schedules — an unlikely circumstance that would open the sixth and final playoff spot and help clear the climb toward that spot before the regular season ends in late October.
“We try to work physically and mentally to fix our deficiencies and our mistakes to try to close these seven games that we have in front of us,” Cabrera said. “Mathe-
matically, (we’re) trying to get the most points possible because we are in bad need.”
Returning home after a two-game road trip should help — they play Portland (12-7-8; 44 points) on Saturday. But Houston has been far from automatic at BBVA Compass Stadium in 2018, losing three of their last five there.
“They have a lot of good attacking players but I think we’re just going to focus on ourselves,” keeper Joe Willis said. “We’ve had a little time between games now to think about where we’re at in the league and what we need to do going forward so I think we’re in the right state of mind right now.”
Forward Alberth Elis was recently nominated as a candidate to be on a custom cover of FIFA 19. He echoes Willis’ confidence although he thinks a win would improve the team’s.
“We know that we are on a negative streak,” he said. “Hopefully, we can turn things around in this game. We’ve worked hard, and we are ready to go out there and get the win, which is what we need. A victory will bring our confidence level back up.
“We know that they are a strong team. We are aware of their capabilities, but we are focused on what we can do.”
A win might also be a boon to the team’s overall momentum heading into the Sept. 26 U.S. Open Cup final against Philadelphia. Still, that’s a long way for a team that needs a lot of help to qualify for the postseason.
“You’re always thinking about it in the back of your mind. Right now the Portland game is first and that’s what our focus is on but obviously playing in a Cup game at the end of the month is part of your plans but we’re trying to take it one game at a time,” Willis said. “I think we have a lot of excitement about our future prospects and going into the final stretch of the season you’re going to see a different team from what you’ve seen in the early part of the summer.”