The Houston Dynamo finally get their chance to run out their new-look squad against someone other than themselves as they arrived in McAllen, Texas for preseason games against UTRGV and the RGV FC Toros.
Seeing the team in game action serves several purposes for head coach Wilmer Cabrera, first among them is the chance for the players to break up the monotony of practice.
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“We need to go and try to release our legs. We have to shake our legs and the best way to do that is just trying to play free,” Cabrera said. “Try to give the players some freedom to start running with the ball, let them have fun playing because they have been working really hard.”
The games aren’t just a training exercise, though, as it allows Cabrera and his staff a look at how different lineups work together in game scenarios. The Dynamo head coach said that a balance has to be struck between experimenting and building cohesiveness among units.
“We have to mix it up, we have to see different combinations, we have to give them a little bit of stability. We have to be sure we get to know each other. We get to know the players and we expose them in all aspects.”
Then there are the trialists, many of them called up from last year’s RGV FC squad, who are fighting to stick around Dynamo camp this spring in the hopes of an MLS contract. A round of cuts are expected to made before the team goes to Tucson, making these games all the more important for them.
Cabrera said that those players will play with the Dynamo and not with RGV, as he’s already seen what they can do in a Toros shirt: “If they want to make the move, they need to make the move with the orange jersey on. That’s their responsibility and that’s the test for them.”
“We need to start making decisions with the roster, because we cannot have this amount of players; we have to move players,” Cabrera said. “Everyone that has been invited is because they have quality, they have the talent and have proved themselves within the team. Who is ready and who is not ready after preseason and during the games.”
