Houston keeper Joe Willis on Sounders, Dynamo’s game-plan
Ahead of Tuesday’s MLS Western Conference final first leg between Seattle and Houston, Dynamo keeper Joe Willis spoke to FanSided.
Related Story: MLS Playoffs preview: Houston Dynamo vs. Seattle Sounders
The Houston Dynamo are underdogs in the Western Conference Finals against the Seattle Sounders, but this is MLS, and if we’ve learned one thing, it’s that anything can happen.
The Dynamo have depth, they can run fast and score, and they can play defense. Those three basic elements make up an MLS Cup playoff winner. On paper, they should lose to the defending champs, but they probably should have lost to Portland in the conference semis too.
Goalkeeper Joe Willis — thrust into the starting job after starter Tyler Deric was suspended late in the season — knows this, and he knows what it’s like to backstop an underdog in the MLS Playoffs. I spoke to Willis the phone about how he and the team prepared for their two-leg series against the Sounders, what they are expecting from their opponent and how they can pull off the unexpected. Here’s what he had to say.
When and how did you learn that you’d be taking over the starting goalkeeper job?
JW: Pretty quickly, probably three or four days before the first Portland game, Wilmer brought me in and told me I would be playing, so as a professional athlete, especially one when you’ve been riding the bench for a little while, to get that opportunity, to get that call, is really exciting, and you try and make the most of every opportunity.
What does it mean for the Dynamo to advance so far in the postseason after all the turnover last offseason?
It’s huge. I think, especially after the last couple years where we’ve struggled, we’ve had a lot of turnover in the offseason, and I think it’s a testament to the front office and their commitment to build a successful team. I think throughout the season we were feeling out ourselves and trying to figure out who were were as a team; as the year went on, we continued being successful, and at a certain point during the season, we came together as a team and realized that we have a real shot at it.
I think a lot of other teams around the league and people around the league wrote us off, and didn’t think we could make it this far, and we’ve used that as a bit of a chip on our shoulder, and it’s really helped us get this far.
What are you expecting to see from the Sounders, and what have you seen as you’ve prepared for the games?
They’re a good team. Defensively, offensively, they’re a complete team. They have a lot of players who can hurt you. They obviously have dynamic players like Dempsey and Lodeiro, but they also have fast wing-backs who get forward and like to serve the ball in, and they have big guys that can hurt you on set pieces, like (Will) Bruin and (Chad) Marshall and (Roman) Torres.
They’re going to be dangerous in many facets of the game, so we’ll have to be prepared for that. That being said, we’re looking to get after them, it’s a home game for us and we know how important it is to pick up a few goals at home before going on the road and playing in a tough place like Seattle.
It’s going to be a tough game for sure, but we have a lot of confidence in ourselves and what we’re doing as a team.
How do you prepare for a guy like Lodeiro?
We try to do what we’ve been doing defensively, and that is just be compact and stay organized, and to make it difficult to beat us through the middle. If they’re going to beat us, it’s going to be from the wing serving balls in.
We’re not going to give them anything easy, and we’re going to make them play wide.
Do you think facing Lodeiro will be similar to defending Diego Valeri against the Timbers?
Yeah, I think it’s a similar situation. They have their similarities, but they also have their differences. (Lodeiro) is a skillful No. 10 who will like to operate in the midfield and connect all the players around them, so if we can keep it tight in the midfield, force them wide and block crosses, I think we can have some success.
What weaknesses will you look to exploit in the Sounders?
I think any team playing against us, because of our speed, it can be viewed as their weakness. We have players who like to get forward fast, and some might call it counter-attacking but it’s been a huge asset to us this year and it’s worked really well for us. We know what we’re capable of and how to accomplish it.
Getting after teams quickly has been one of our main keys to success.
How will your game-plan differ in leg one versus in leg two?
Going into leg one, it’s at home, and the game-plan potentially is to get after them and score as many goals as possible.
Next: The best under-20 player on every MLS team
How have you been able to deal with all the injuries on your backline?
As a team, especially defensively, we know what we want to do. It doesn’t matter who’s playing, we know how we want to defend, from the first guy down to the 27th guy on our roster, everyone is on the same page. I think we have a lot of depth also, I think the guys who are coming in are very capable players, and the addition of guys like Philippe Senderos has been monumental to our success.
As a goalkeeper, how do you prepare for different teams, and how does it differ against various teams?
Watching a lot of video. Watching the way certain teams attack. Watching the players you’re playing against and where they like to soot from, where they like to position themselves, all sorts of things.
Things are pretty similar week-to-week. It’s just a matter of watching video and looking at the certain little tendencies of each player.
All-State is donating two youth soccer nets to Toronto, Houston, Seattle and Columbus for every save made by an MLS goalkeeper in this year’s playoffs.