El Paso Locomotive FC 1-3 Birmingham Legion FC
Southwest University Park; El Paso, Texas
Saturday, June 1, 2024
El Paso Locomotive FC Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera
On the loss:
“What we’ve been doing on the field is not even close to what we need to do. I was expecting an aggressive team and I saw the total opposite. We are too nice and when you’re too nice, [Birmingham] came to our home and took whatever they wanted to take. They went through us too easy, and we weren’t given a good matchup in terms of fighting, tackling, defending what is ours, which is our field, our home. So today, I was very disappointed about that because when you play at home, you don’t give up that easy. They scored three but it could have been seven if not for the goalkeeper. It’s a lot of work to do. It’s my responsibility now but that was a tough welcome, tough wake-up [call]. I know what’s going on and now I need to work on that.”
On what the teams need to do better:
“”What we need most at this moment is the fight, dedication, courage to compete for every ball. We didn’t commit the fouls and we let them get right past us and we did nothing about it. It is a shame because we were too nice and did not have that desire to fight. That is the reason why we haven’t won six games at home. We are letting opponents come to our house and steal points… and we aren’t doing anything about it. We need to react. I didn’t think this would happen tonight but thankfully, it happened and I like that. Why? It’s a wake-up call. At home, we need to fight.”
On making changes to the starting lineup:
“Tonight was a call to attention for everyone because here, no one’s spot is guaranteed. When one is in last place, not winning and getting beat like that, one has to find solutions because if the problems aren’t being solved with the ones playing, we have those on the bench and if they’re not on the bench, then we need to find another solution. That is my responsibility. I just got here and I need to find that. I need to fully diagnose this team and know them more, but be sure that we can help them and demand more. I will not hide the truth from them. Why? The truth is there and one cannot lie to oneself. For some reason, we cannot win at home and we need to be conscious of that.”
On the quick turnaround:
“”Luckily, we return on Wednesday. We’ll train on Sunday, Monday, travel on Tuesday then train again. We need to train, to work, be aware and tighten ourselves up. I’m glad we return to action on Wednesday because it is hard to think about the idea of having to wait a whole week to return to action. On Wednesday, hopefully we can get this thorn out of our side because truthfully, this is hurtful.”
El Paso Locomotive FC Forward Justin Dhillon
On Wilmer’s passion and honesty in coaching:
“Wilmer is extremely experienced in all levels of this country. He’s played in World Cups and he’s got immense passion. You can see it in every single session, every single game. At halftime, he wants more from us. At training, he wants more from us. After the game, you can just feel that there’s more that’s desired for each and every one of us. He will get more and more out of us every single week. Obviously, he just came, it’s still fresh and new. He brings his ideas but again, he’s a very well-respected coach and has tons of experience. I think all of us are very grateful to be working with someone like that.”
On his individual performance:
“Previously, I had been struggling to get service but I don’t think that was the question tonight. I had multiple opportunities tonight and I am still replaying that one from Nick, a great ball across. Even the header, maybe top of the 18, I can direct it better towards the corner. Those are things I’m going to take with me tonight and think what I could do better, but I think the crosses, the service was there for me to be the player I need to be. I hope that we can continue to build off of that. As a collective, create more chances for everyone because when we can create more chances in front of goal, everyone starts getting more confident. Goals come, results come so I think that again, it’s a process but it’s trending in the way we want it to.”
On facing his former side:
“”It’s a Copa Tejas game, a bit of a rivalry match. I know personally, I want to perform in front of all those great fans that have done a wonderful job of supporting me all these years but now I’m wearing these colors, so I want to be able to represent our club with a championship mindset and play for this city I’m currently in. It’s a quick turnaround, but I know I’m personally excited. The whole group after this performance wants to show more than what we gave tonight. That’s kind of the blessing of this sport, when you don’t do everything you wanted to do on a night, having the opportunity to [fix things] a couple days later is important.”