Barrett aspires to new version of old team
Wade Barrett has been preparing for this moment for six years, ever since he hung up his oft-used cleats in favor of a coaching shirt.
Several times during his last few weeks in coaching limbo, he said he has a clear plan for how he wants to lead the Dynamo this season. Beginning this week, the newly promoted interim coach plans to guide the club in a similar direction as Dominic Kinnear, the head coach for the organization’s first nine seasons.
Under Kinnear, the Dynamo developed a reputation for being tough, gritty and a pain in the side of every opponent. That approach led to two MLS Cup titles and two more appearances in the MLS Cup final.
“Number one, I want us to be difficult to play against,” said Barrett, who was hired by Kinnear as an assistant in 2010. “I don’t want anyone to misinterpret. I don’t want the team to go back to what we were when we won championships. I want us to be a newer, better version.
“I do think one thing that helped define some of the most successful years of the team was that we were always difficult to play against. No matter the good things we did going forward, the teams knew that playing us they were in for a full 95-plus minutes of hard work.”
Dynamo vice president and general manager Matt Jordan and several players have praised Barrett’s hard work on and off the field. They said Barrett’s attention to detail and specificity in game-planning and the mutual respect between the coaching staff and players were vital in how the club played in its last two games.
Barrett was the interim coach without having the official tag when he guided the team to draws in road games against Vancouver and FC Dallas, both of which occupy spots above the red line in the Western Conference.
Under former coach Owen Coyle, the Dynamo were 0-6 in road games this season. Barrett guided the team to consecutive positive road results for the first time since September 2014.
“We’re going to get back to what made the Dynamo a hard team to play against. That’s hard mentality, good work rate, getting in on tackles — kind of bluecollar work,” forward Will Bruin said. “We maybe got away from that a little bit. Wade is going to instill that back in the group.”
As an original Dynamo player and captain in 138 of his 140 appearances over four seasons, Barrett has been there for all of the biggest moments. That includes the incident in 2007 when Ricardo Clark kicked FC Dallas’ Carlos Ruiz.
Barrett hustled to try to hold Clark back from going after Ruiz again. At one point, Barrett ran at Clark’s chest and then tried to wrap his arms around Clark’s waist to hold him back.
Reminded of that Wednesday, Clark was not surprised.
“He’s always been that guy who is overseeing everything,” Clark said. “When he sees the team is not concentrated, not doing as well as we should or not living up to our standard, then he is always the one who is stepping in and getting us together and getting our concentration back and making sure we’re back to how we need to be.”