The Houston Dynamo won't have to play against Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez when they take on the LA Galaxy in Group F play on Thursday (8 pm ET | FS1, TUDN in the US; TSN, TVA Sports in Canada), as the star Mexican international will miss the rest of the MLS is Back Tournament with a calf injury.
While neutrals will be without one of the tournament's most accomplished and captivating players, Houston head coach Tab Ramos is not exactly complaining about Hernandez's absence. It does, however, alter how he'll approach the match tactically with more attention on the Galaxy's other most dangerous attacking threat: Cristian Pavon.
"I mean it does change a little bit because Pavon is a little bit more central," Ramos said. "That's what forces you to change, because with Chicharito in the middle then you know you have Pavon leaning on one side and he's very dangerous wide. If he is to play more towards the middle then we have to prepare for them a little bit different, and that's what changes.
"Obviously not having Chicharito is always something from our end we welcome because he's a player that doesn't need many opportunities to score. He's been a great player for a long time and him not being on the field certainly is better for us."
The Dynamo will be taking on a wounded opponent after the Galaxy's 6-2 shellacking at the hands of LAFC on Saturday. Asked about Galaxy coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto's postgame comments that his team may have given up after the first hour of that match and whether he agreed with that assessment, Ramos didn't take the bait, noting that the Galaxy were very much in that game until it got away from them late, and that there's still plenty of talent on the roster sans Hernandez.
"I can only focus like every coach on the strengths of the other team and then on some weaknesses on some certain matchups we may have," Ramos said. "I think the Galaxy is a good team. I think the fact that they were able to put LAFC on the ropes for the first 50-60 minutes of the game, I think it says a lot for who they are, sort of like what we did with LAFC. I think we're pretty well matched up, we have a lot of respect for them, and I'm only focused on trying to get the win."
