Ahead of Saturday night's match at Sporting Park, we spoke with Houston Dynamo broadcaster Glenn Davis to get his thoughts on the match.
JK: Owen Coyle is in his first year as an MLS head coach. How would you say he and his staff have adjusted to the League?
GD: That’s always the consideration when a foreign coach comes in to MLS because so many of them have not been successful dating back to 1996. I think he came into the League with an open mind, knowing that he had to learn and make sure he used the resources around him. I think he’s done an excellent job. He’s improved the competition in the team, positionally. He has revived some players who have seemed lost this year. At this point they will need to go on a run to make the playoffs, but there has been a lot of change here and he has grown with it beautifully.
JK: Since many of the players on the team were here under former head coach Dominic Kinnear, do you think players are still trying to earn their spot under Coyle?
GD: No doubt about it. Owen did not inherit the best team. It was a team that had major struggles last year. Coaches definitely have their preferences and he has done an excellent job of managing the roster from top to bottom. He keeps everyone interested and gives everyone a possibility. He told me on the radio show that the works harder dealing with the back end of his roster than with his starters. There has been a lot of flexibility with the roster. Case-in-point, Lionel Miranda playing in the last game and getting a start against LA. He had an excellent game, producing a goal at the end and he had not played for a while. I think from a man-management perspective, and making this team his own, along with new GM Matt Jordan, he’s subtly moving team anthe team forward.
JK: How has Cubo Torres adjusted with his new team and what the club's hope for him?
GD: It’s a fascinating signing for Houston because of the possibility he brings, not only on the field but off it. It’s been difficult to penetrate the hard-core fans from Mexico and Central America and that’s one of the big goals for this organization in such an international city. So what he does off the field will be almost as interesting as what he does on the field, but that only works if he produces on the field. He’s a finisher. He doesn’t need a lot of chances to score a goal, but in the limited minutes that he played against LA - and he’s not 100% sharp yet - the one thing that really impressed me was his movement and his play without the ball. He’s very wise and mature for a 21-year-old. He knows how to create passing angles for himself and knows how to be subtle and position himself between two defenders to the point that the defenders think the other guy is truly marking the man.
JK: Torres joins a star-studded attack along with Will Bruin and Giles Barnes. Do you think they can play together?
GD: Owen Coyle came out after the LA game and drew his line in the sand. He said it’s all about getting these three players on the field together. I think it’s great because they are all different and unique in his own way. Will Bruin, by the way, is having an excellent year. He’s got nine goals. His motivation seems at a higher level now because there is competition. He was benched earlier this year. I see a different young man. I see a hungry young man. I see a more passionate and emotional striker. Giles Barnes is truly a penetrator and a guy that can get behind defenses and be a threat. He puts a little fear in opponents as someone who can make spectacular plays like he did in the Gold Cup with his free kick against the United States. And then there is Cubo Torres. They are three very unique and different players. But I think if those three guys are on the field, they can continue to put a very appealing, entertaining style on the field which is ultimately the goal of Owen Coyle.
JK: Do you think Houston players have a chip on their shoulder following the Open Cup loss to Sporting KC?
GD: My gut feeling is from the Sporting KC game, there is a chip on their shoulder. They thought they played very well that night and think even though the two teams have moved to the Western Conference, there is a great rivalry because of the number of times these teams have played since 2011. They are real rivals. So I think there is a chip on their shoulder. They have a real opportunity to platform off the LA game because consistency has been a real problem for the team. They haven’t gone on a run this year. They can whip off a couple wins in a row which could alter their position in the table dramatically. That’s what has to happen if they want to make the playoffs. And you absolutely want to make the playoffs when only 33% of the teams don’t. I hate to say this is the most important match of the year because they are all important, but this is a real big one based on what they just did to LA.
JK: What makes the Sporting KC / Houston Dynamo rivalry so special?
GD: I just think it’s the makeup of the players. It’s the intensity of [Sporting KC Manager] Peter Vermes, who I have known and played against in the late 1980s. I think it's the intensity and the professionalism of Sporting KC: the stadium, the atmosphere and the fans. Familiarity breads contempt and can bring out the beast in the belly. I like when teams dislike each other and players don’t like each other in a competitive way. That’s the mixture and ingredients that are needed for competitive games and that’s sitting there for both of these teams.
JK: Has Sporting KC's success in 2015 surprised you at all this year?
GD: No, it doesn’t surprise me. The Dynamo are clearly in a rebuild and certainly Sporting KC has had to navigate play through major personnel changes over the years, so it could be a little surprising, but when you look at the makeup of the players it doesn’t surprise me. Just look at Benny Feilhaber. He is one of the great stories in the League right now the way he is putting his team on his shoulders. The signing of [Krisztian] Nemeth and Peter’s ability to get results from different lineups and using young players in fantastic. There is a clear attitude from the outside that I see from that team that makes them extremely difficult to play against. So, for me, it’s not as surprise with Peter Vermes in charge.
JK: What are your expectations for Saturday’s matc?
GD: I think it all depends on the lineup Owen puts out. People think Cubo Torres might play. Personally, I don’t think he will start but it all depends where Owen thinks his fitness level is after this week. There are players coming back from the Gold Cup, and then again you got a great performance from 11 players against the LA Galaxy so do you change that? I don’t know. I don’t think the Dynamo are known as a team that’s going to sit back and defend. If that’s your plan against Sporting Kansas City, at their home, it’s difficult to allow a team to come at you like that for 90 minutes. So I think it’s a blend of both. There is no doubt they are going to defend deeper at times, but they are going to go after Sporting KC at opportune moments. If they can recognize those moments, and with Giles Barnes coming back into the lineup, he is a legitimate threat with teams pressing forward on the counter attack. I think it will be a little bit of a give-and-take when it comes to that.
