“It is critical to manage your roster,” said the experienced coach, now 57. “You try to do your best, because you want to go far in the U.S. Open Cup. It’s so important to have a balanced roster, you know that the players won’t drop the level and continue to get results.”
This week will be especially challenging for the Locomotive. New Mexico United pay a visit to Southwest University Park in their biggest rivalry match of the season, The Derby del Camino Real, on the weekend (a rematch of the U.S. Open Cup Third Round game played last month and won by the Locos). The next weekend, El Paso go on the road to face FC Tulsa. Finding the right roster to beat an MLS (Division I) side on Wednesday in Cup play might be a big ask, but Cabrera brings a wealth of experience, including hoisting the Open Cup trophy in 2018 while coaching Houston Dynamo.
Deep Enough?
Cabrera knows how to win the Open Cup, but the question remains if his Locomotive has a deep enough roster to get it done. Austin FC will be ready for the USL Championship (Division II) visitors, but Cabrera is confident that his players will be fired up.
“It’s going to be more challenging, more difficult, but it will also be a great motivation. We get to prove what level we are against an MLS team.” The outstanding wide man Memo Diaz, formerly of Oakland Roots, mirrored his coach’s sentiments when asked about the challenge. “We all dream to play at the highest level and for some this is the closest we’ll get.”
Regardless of the result against a stacked MLS side like Austin FC, El Paso Locomotive are just in the first, tentative steps of a massive rebuild. Cabrera has orchestrated a huge reshuffling of the roster and added a pile of new cards to his deck. Now he’s in the process of finding the right order to play them.
That might not mean a U.S. Open Cup trophy is the next stop, but the Locomotive are on the right track and chugging right along.
Dan Vaughn is a veteran soccer journalist and the founder and editor of Protagonist Soccer. Follow him at@TheDanVaughn on X/Twitter.
