Latest loss further exposes Dynamo's porous defense

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Two days after the Dynamo conceded two more second-half goals, downtrodden coach Wilmer Cabrera conceded that his team has lots of work to do.

Eleven goals, three wins and the massive resurgence of Erick Torres partially covered up several issues for four games. None of those things showed up on Saturday when the visiting Dynamo lost, 2-0, to the New England Revolution.

The only positive statistic for Houston was that it had more possession than the hosts, though all that did was expose another problem. If the Dynamo are not forcing turnovers in bad areas, they have almost no means of creating dangerous attacking options.

For Cabrera, the biggest takeaway was the defense. The Dynamo have conceded nine goals – third worst in the 22-team MLS.

"Right now my concern is that we're giving up too many goals," Cabrera said Monday. "We're giving up goals every game. When you're giving up goals every game, that's wrong, and we need to work on that as a team."

It did not help on Saturday that two regular starters were out. Center back Leonardo (hamstring) missed his second consecutive game. Right back A.J. DeLaGarza (right calf strain) was injured late in the week.

Jalil Anibaba filled in for Leonardo for the second week in a row and usually has performed well. The biggest drop off came at right back, where Cabrera chose midfielder Boniek Garcia to take DeLaGarza's place.

Houston Dynamo players high-five fans during the half time of the MLS soccer game against the Columbus Crew at BBVA Compass Stadium Saturday, March 11, 2017, in Houston. The Dynamos defeated the Crew 3-1. ( Yi-Chin Lee / Houston Chronicle ) less Houston Dynamo players high-five fans during the half time of the MLS soccer game against the Columbus Crew at BBVA Compass Stadium Saturday, March 11, 2017, in Houston. The Dynamos defeated the Crew 3-1. ( ... more Photo: Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle Photo: Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 33 Caption Close Latest loss further exposes Dynamo's porous defense 1 / 33 Back to Gallery

Garcia, who has four career starts at right back, had some good moments but mostly struggled to keep up with New England's speedy and creative attacking players. Garcia was far from the only liability.

Dylan Remick, who Cabrera chose to start at left back over a healthy DaMarcus Beasley, said communication was a problem for the defense and that the back line was not as compact and unified as it should have been.

The second half was especially bad, with New England dominating in the early going much like Portland did early in the second half on March 18.

The Revolution broke through in the 52nd minute when Lee Nguyen needed only an outside-of-the-boot flick to deliver enough power for a through ball that beat center back Adolfo Machado and played in Kei Kamara.

Garcia took himself out of the play by standing still and raising his arm to plead for an offside. Machado was either extra slow or was loafing as he chased Kamara. Anibaba stepped up to Nguyen but was fooled by the quick pass and could not change his direction in time.

Remick sprinted toward the play but started from a bad spot after he had pinched in to try to impede Juan Agudelo before he passed to Nguyen.

Dynamo goalkeeper Tyler Deric came off his line to stop Kamara's first shot, but with only Remick legitimately chasing, Kamara had no trouble getting to the rebound first for an empty-net finish.

"The second half was one of those things where we got a little bit loose defensively in terms of our tactical shape," Remick said. "It comes from the way our game was played. As a team we needed to hold onto the ball better from the back to front and be able to help each other out.

"It wasn't an individual person. It was one of those things where you could feel it coming... In this particular game when we were more reactionary and looser those were the moments when New England took advantage."

Cabrera has said several times this year that one preseason was not enough time to get all the new parts working like a well-oiled machine. He has repeated that the process is ongoing. Expecting greatness so soon would be foolish.

Performances like the one against New England remind Cabrera that the Dynamo still have a long way to go.

"Even though we were a little bit more consistent in trying to progress more in certain aspects, like our possession, we then failed in what we were doing better, like attacking, creating, creating options on goal against the other team," Cabrera said. "We are still having inconsistencies. We still need to continue working and preparing ourselves better.

"We need to step up, especially when we're playing away, because we need to keep our focus and defensively we need to improve. We need to improve defensively, the whole team, starting with the guys playing up front."