Cabrera: “We need to be more aggressive” on the road

Dynamo defender A.J. DeLaGarza settles the ball down while a D.C. United players looks on. (Courtesy of Houston Dynamo)

HOUSTON – The Houston Dynamo’s lack of points on the road over the past two-and-a-half seasons has been talked about and written about to death — and with good reason.

In the two-and-a-half seasons that Dynamo head coach Wilmer Cabrera and Dynamo vice president and general manager Matt Jordan have been running the show, the Orange have a road record of 4-24-12 to date.

Of a possible 126 points over the two-and-a-half seasons worth of road games, the Dynamo have only managed to nab 24 points.

It begs the question, is winning on the road more mental, or do tactics come into play?

For Cabrera, it’s both. He adds that when his side plays home games, it takes more risks. From the goalkeeper, all the way to the forwards.

“When you go away, you say, ‘ok, let’s be more solid.’ You take fewer risks because you know the other team is going to do it. So you have to be more conscious about it,” Cabrera said.

“But, we need to be more aggressive. We need to have more determination to win battles. To win individual [battles]. To tackle the ball. To win the one-v-ones. Because it’s going to come. If we are better prepared to do that, we are going to battle better and then we have to be able to, when we have chances, to take the risks and to put the ball away.”

Cabrera admitted that it’s easier said than done, and looking at the team’s road record, the former Colombian international player is spot on.

As the road losses continue to pile on, it’s not just the team’s record that is affected, but the team’s mentality.

“You see we’ve been in a huge drought for the last three years and I think after a while it gets in your head. Mentally, you just prepare wrong. You don’t believe in what you do,” A.J. DeLaGarza said.

“And obviously, you see we’re, not a totally different team at home, but we’re very different. And that’s a mental thing. Nothing else. We try to go with the same tactics [on the road]. Maybe you try to defend a little bit more on the road. But yeah, for me it’s a mental thing. And, we have to do better.”

But preparing mentally is easier said than done. A team can’t practice on their mentality like they do tactics, or set pieces. So how does a team improve it’s mentality when their horrid road record rears its head.

“You just have to focus and prepare days in advance. And kind of picture yourself doing the things you have been taught. And have done throughout the week. And when you get to the game, don’t shy away from those,” DeLaGarza said.

“We have to be a little bit more brave and have a bit more personality, I think. Cause guys get scared of the ball or we don’t create enough chances. And we leak goals in the back.”

Darwin Ceren concurs with his teammate and adds that the teams need to stick together to regain its confidence.

“I looked at the standings and a lot of teams have one, two, three, wins on the road. So, it’s not easy with the travel and everything but we’re not going to make excuses, everyone does it. And we just have to better at it,” DeLaGarza said.

“We have two huge tests this week, so everyone has to be ready and mentally prepare for a battle.”