FRISCO, Texas -- Houston Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear says that his team is ready to go, and that the MLS Cup Final against the New England Revolution on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC Sports) can't come fast enough.
"It's always a long week with a game on Sunday," Kinnear said. "Our guys are fit and we're in our routine ... we just wish the game could come faster."
The main question facing Houston this week has been how to deal with the absence of defensive midfielder Ricardo Clark, who is suspended for the MLS Cup after receiving his second yellow card of the playoffs in last week's Western Conference Championship against the Colorado Rapids. The answer seems to be that Adrian Serioux will take Clark's spot in the midfield, moving Eddie Robinson and Ryan Cochrane into the center of the Dynamo defense.
When asked if he would need to adjust his game to account for Clark's absence, attacking midfielder Dwayne De Rosario said, "It's tough to have a player of (Clark's) caliber out for the championship ... (but) I'm not going to alter my game, I have to be mindful of more that just defense"
De Rosario also said he was comfortable playing with Serioux taking Clark's position in the midfield.
"Adrian and I have played together, and we played against each other in youth soccer," De Rosario said the fellow Canadian. "He understands how I play and I understand how he plays, so we just have to work together."
Houston's offense is predicated on bringing the ball wide and then providing service to forwards in the box, so Kinnear will once again depend on midfielders Brian Mullan and Brad Davis to be catalysts for the Houston offense. Mullan and Davis had a combined three assists in the Western Conference Championship against Colorado.
Kinnear also says that set pieces will be important to Dynamo's success, as Houston's attack has a size advantage over New England's defensive players. Davis will also be important in this aspect of the match, as he is usually the player nominated to provide service on Houston's set pieces.
Turning the attention to how he plans to deal with the New England attack, Kinnear plans to focus on limiting New England's space in the Houston half.
"We need to limit service to (Taylor) Twellman and (Pat) Noonan," Kinnear said. "We have to make sure we limit the space we give them on defense."
With Revolution midfielder Clint Dempsey's status for the match in doubt due to injury, Kinnear says that he has been preparing as if Dempsey will play. Forward Brian Ching thinks that if Dempsey plays, he will be the most dangerous Revolution player on the field.
"Any time (Dempsey) steps on the field, he's a threat," Ching said. "He proved that in the World Cup and he proved it in the regular season. He's someone we'll definitely have to pay attention to when he's on the field."
Kinnear is also concerned about the Revolution's physicality in the midfield, especially holding midfielder Shalrie Joseph. He said that his players will need to focus on moving the ball quickly in order to negate Joseph's solid tackling in the center of the park.
New England is expected to play in a 3-5-2 formation, but there has been speculation that Revolution coach Steve Nicol might shift to a 4-4-2 in order to limit the space for Davis and Mullan on the wings. Kinnear says that he wouldn't be surprised if that happens, adding that the Revolution "have players that can play effectively in any lineup."
Ching says the time for strategy and worrying was earlier in the week, and now the only thing left is to play the game.
"I just want to go out there and try to enjoy it, try to not put too much pressure on myself." Ching said. "I want to relax and enjoy myself, because that's when I play my best."
Lucas Ogden-Davis is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
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