The Houston Dynamo will play their penultimate preseason game tonight in Tucson, Arizona, a matchup with the New England Revolution (6:30 p.m. CT; HoustonDynamo.com/live) that will serve as a preview of the season opener between the clubs on March 6 at BBVA Compass Stadium (TICKETS).
After a goalless draw with the Colorado Rapids on Saturday, the Dynamo will look to take better care of their chances against the Revs tonight. Both head coaches face the dilemma of building cohesion in their starting lineup while not offering an easy scouting report for the opposition to use over the next 10 days.
“I think [tonight] is a strange one, because I think both ourselves and New England, with the fact that we start the season against each other, won’t be wanting to give too much away in terms of preparation,” Dynamo head coach Owen Coyle told HoustonDynamo.com on Tuesday. “So I think you will see a mixture of young and old, and people that might reckon are starters, so we will mix it up. But again, the important thing is getting that match sharpness in terms of the speed of movement, the speed of passing and everything; building partnerships where we can.”
Those partnerships could include flank players gaining more familiarity with each other. Left back DaMarcus Bealsey could partner with left winger Giles Barnes on the field tonight. A similar situation could play out on the right side as well.
Center back could be more complicated, after four players—Raul Rodriguez, David Horst, Agus Garcia and Sebastien Ibeagha—shared the 90 minutes on Saturday with three different tandems during the course of the game. Similarly in central midfield, it could be difficult to split a midfield trio into partnerships.
Nonetheless, Coyle will find a way to increase match fitness while improving understanding within the team. The Dynamo manager expects counterpart Jay Heaps to approach the game with similar tactics.
“I think we will be the same as them,” Coyle said. “I think when we look [tonight], we may not be looking to play the team that will start on March 6, so there will be variations within that, but again it is still a preseason game, and it’s important to continue that progress. Whatever happens in terms of the result [tonight], that means nothing. I remember last year, we went and we beat Orlando in South Carolina, and then we played them in the second game of the season [and lost] after we beat Columbus in the first game.”
Indeed, the Dynamo beat Orlando City 3-0 in Charleston in the final preseason game, a week before the 2015 opener and two weeks before Orlando City visited Houston. The lineup for the preseason game included 10 of the same starters that took the field against Orlando two weeks later.
“The real game will be March 6 when it all counts, but [tonight], again is about continuing that development, getting ready for the season, getting the lads to feel good about themselves, whoever is asked to play in whatever area. But again, it affords us another opportunity in a nice venue to continue on the road to March 6.”
