HOUSTON, Texas -- When Houston square off against CD Aguila on Saturday night in the Charities Cup, there may be some unfamiliar faces in the Dynamo lineup.
Houston have brought in midfielders Anthony Obodai, Juan Manuel Quevedo and Kendall Waston for trials and will use Saturday’s match against Aguila as an evaluation.
“It means a lot [for them],” said head coach Dominic Kinnear. “When you play a big game like this, it’s important that they realize it’s a big test for them. They have to come out prepared and play well and…impress a lot of people.”
Roster-wise, it would seem that attacking central midfielder Quevedo might be the best fit right now. Obtaining a player to fill that role would allow Brad Davis to move back to the left side of midfield, where he looks much more comfortable.
Obodai is more of a defensive midfielder. He arrived early enough to play in last week’s friendly against the Laredo Heat in Corpus Christi, so Kinnear has already gotten a look at the Ghanaian in game conditions.
“He did OK in that game,” said Kinnear. “He’s been hit by the heat pretty severely. Last couple of days, he looks good on the ball, he’s strong in the tackle and makes good decisions.”
Waston is a young Costa Rican defender that likely wouldn’t have the salary demands that the more seasoned Obodai and Quevedo might bring. At practice, Watson played primarily as a central defender, though he seems to have some speed to go along with his imposing stature.
As history has indicated, Kinnear has repeatedly used the summer as an opportunity to try to tweak his roster, but bringing players in on trial has nothing to do with the team’s performance of late.
“If we can improve this team, we will try to do it any way we can,” said Kinnear. “It’s not just this week or this weekend, it’s every day. Is there urgency to make the team better? There is always urgency to make the team better.
“You bring [trialists] in for a reason and you are not going to [keep them on the bench],” noted Kinnear. “You are trying to improve your squad and, hopefully, some of these guys impress you enough to have further discussions down the line.”
Dwain Capodice is a contributor to MLSsoccer.com. Questions or Comments can be sent via email to dwaincapodice@gmail.com.
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