Davis: Kinnear switches it up in final

Coach moves beyond his comfort zone against Dynamo

By Steve Davis / Special to MLSnet.com

Joseph Ngwenya (#33) celebrates scoring the equalizer against the New England Revolution. (Getty Images/Mitchell Layton)

So abandoning his trusted alignment isn't something Kinnear does willy-nilly. Moving beyond his comfort zone takes something special, perhaps a trying circumstance. Something like, say, trailing 1-0 in a championship final.

Dynamo have a mini-dynasty going, thanks largely to a couple of brilliant moments Sunday from a special player, Dwayne De Rosario, who partnered a huge assist with the biggest goal he's scored since the 2001 MLS Cup.

But the Dynamo rally was also about a telling, tactical switch orchestrated by Kinnear, who had seen his team play OK in the first half at brisk RFK Stadium.

But just OK. Not great. Not special.

He saw flank midfielders Brian Mullan and Brad Davis nearly get into dangerous spots. And he saw forwards Nate Jaqua and Joseph Ngwenya latching onto entry balls and almost connecting with DeRosario on the midfielder's signature late charges into the attacking third. Almost.

But "OK" and "almost" doesn't win championships. That's not how the club claimed titles in 2001, 2003 and 2006. It certainly doesn't win secure the MLS Cup Trophy against a team as hungry as New England, a side with three appearances in Major League Soccer's crowning contest but no champagne-popping wins yet.

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Kinnear knew his team needed a change. His halftime speech was nothing fiery, he conceded. Houston wasn't looking for the restart button, just for a little edge, maybe a wee bit more spice on the slice.

"We just needed to play a little better," Kinnear said. "I think the field was a little slow, and that was slowing us down just a little. The ball was getting stuck on our feet some. I told the guys if we all pick up our play about 5-10 percent, I think we'll be OK."

Dynamo had slightly more possession before intermission, but hadn't done enough with it. New England, meanwhile, made Dynamo pay for a moment of defensive inattention.

Revs midfielder Shalrie Joseph saw Steve Ralston spring free along the right. Meanwhile, Taylor Twellman was pinpointing the only little square foot of free space where a trio of Dynamo defenders couldn't reach him. Unbothered by a defensive challenge, Twellman powered a header past goalkeeper Pat Onstad. The Revs veteran forward had taken one quick step backward while Eddie Robinson took a step forward, creating the needed separation.

(Yes, Houston's marking could have been better. But give Twellman credit. He is among the league's best at staying just off the defender's shoulder, hanging out until the precise moment when he takes that one or two quick, killer steps.)

The Revs would create a couple of more opportunities -- and would later lament the lost chances -- but they were hardly clobbering Dynamo. Richard Mulrooney was winning balls and tackling hard, making Ralston work and making his teammates feel better about the absence of suspended Ricardo Clark. Mullan and Davis, even if they weren't particularly dangerous on the attack in the first hour, all but neutralized Khano Smith and Wells Thompson, New England's wide players.

Near the 60th minute, Kinnear made the significant tactical adjustment.

Ironically, he pulled the same levers of adjustment against the same side in last year's final. But then it was about keeping New England in check, and it may have taken some bite out of the game. With both teams matched up evenly across the field -- the Revs always play a 3-5-2 -- caution prevailed and boldness suffered. The match was a stalemate and the teams needed penalty kicks to decide it.

But pushing the button because you're down a goal? That pretzel is twisted in a completely different way.

"Obviously, we had to chase the game a little bit, get after a goal," Kinnear said.

So he moved left back Wade Barrett forward and pulled Davis into the middle. The adjustment was all about getting De Rosario forward a bit more. That would presumably give Ngwenya and Jaqua a little quicker support as they held the entry passes and held off the feisty Revolution defenders. Fullback Avery John was especially effective, taking advantage of the fact that Alex Prus, typically more lenient than some MLS referees, had been assigned to the middle for the match.

De Rosario was also working hard on the defensive end. The adjustment was also meant to get De Rosario a little closer to Joseph when the Revs had the ball, to shut off the Revolution's most effective weapon in distribution.

Soon after the switch De Rosario collected an errant cross and charged boldly into the penalty area from the left, supplying a ball that turned the match. Ngwenya made a mess of the pass at first but pounced on the loose ball before Revs goalkeeper Matt Reis could scramble into a better spot.

"That's a determination goal," De Rosario said of his teammate. "He fell down, got back up, was kicking and kicking until it went in."

With the game level, Kinnear wanted to fall back into his favored 4-4-2. The Dynamo players helped him resist temptation, urging for audacity over caution.

"The guys had the mentality to keep on attacking even after we got the equalizer," Kinnear said. "I give full them full credit."

Ngwenya was also varying his runs by then, finding spaces in the corners instead of always checking back into midfield. Around the 74th minute Ngwenya dug a ball out of the corner (and, importantly, making Michael Parkhurst move away from goal) to start the game-winning sequence.

The silver adidas ball -- destined to remain in Houston another year -- circled back around before Davis spotted De Rosario near the penalty spot. "De Ro" outleaped Heaps, a former basketball player at Duke, for the game-winner. De Rosario also provided the MLS Cup game-winner in 2001, his rookie campaign.

"He was able to get a quick jump on the ball," Heaps said. "I've seen some pretty good goals in some pretty big games, but that was a pretty good one."

Davis wasn't having his best night, although he did get better after moving inside. Still, Kinnear said he never considered removing Davis. Not for a moment.

"Because you never know when that guy can produce some magic to get you a big goal," the Dynamo manager said.

Steve Davis is a freelance writer who has covered Major League Soccer since its inception. Steve can be reached at BigTexSoccer@yahoo.com. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.