Here’s the Houston Dynamo to-do list for this offseason:
Hire a head coach
After taking care of the first point just a week after the close of the regular season with the addition of Wilmer Cabrera, now the attention turns to filling out his squad for the 2017 campaign and beyond as the club looks to turn around a streak of three seasons without postseason play.
Luckily for vice president/general manager Matt Jordan, he already has a clear understanding of the type of players and style of play that Cabrera is working towards after building him a roster from scratch for the Rio Grande Valley FC Toros last offseason alongside assistant GM Nick Kowba. Cabrera took that team to a second place finish in the USL Western Conference with the best goal difference (+23).
“[Jordan] created the possibilities and the tools, not only him but also with Nick Kowba, his assistant, they were working hard to get all of the players that I was looking for,” Cabrera said at his introductory press conference. “They understood my concepts and I noticed that they were in line with my vision. So it was easy for us. The results were easy because I had the players that I wanted and for me—if I had the players that I wanted to work on the field, that’s more comfortable.”
The collaborative spirit will be key during the rest of the offseason as the technical staff works to evaluate players within the squad and outside, identifying those that can fit within a new system to turn around the fortunes of the Dynamo.
“It’s important to have a coach and general manager and assistant general manager who are on the same page as they go out and try to rebuild the team,” Dynamo president Chris Canetti said. “One of the things that I’ve seen and witnessed from this group is that they do see the game in the same way. They do have the same principles and values and plan.”
Both Canetti and Jordan praised Cabrera’s “clear methodology” and approach to the game, which they saw up close for the past year as he headed up RGV FC. Cabrera described his preferred playing style as possession-oriented “with a purpose.”
“What is the purpose? You need to find the goal, we need to attack,” he said. “Not everything has to be, ‘Let’s tell everyone to go attack and be possession oriented,’ because if you don’t have balance, then you are going to suffer. You need to have balance … if you want to attack well, you have to defend well.”
The Dynamo have some flexibility to make moves this offseason. Giles Barnes and his hit to the salary cap were traded away to Vancouver Whitecaps FC in July, three players (Yair Arboleda, Keyner Brown, José Escalante) are on loans with options for the Dynamo to buy, DaMarcus Beasley’s Designated Player contract has expired and is up for renegotiation. Additionally, the team will know the status of DP striker Erick “Cubo” Torres—who played under Cabrera at Chivas USA in 2014—at the end of his loan with Cruz Azul. The Liga MX side will have the option to buy Torres at the end of his loan period, opening up a DP slot for the Dynamo, else the Mexican forward will return to Houston for preseason in 2017.
“The most important thing right now is getting our group together and having a very detailed evaluation of the roster,” Jordan told media. “That’s going to dictate our steps moving into the offseason, it’ll be a step-by-step process. I think it’s fair to say there won’t be much downtime this offseason.”
