Wilmer Cabrera joined Mike Petke on the MLS coaches’ unemployment line. (Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports)
For the second time in three nights, a Major League Soccer coach with Long Island ties has bitten the dust.
On Sunday night, Real Salt Lake fired Bohemia, N.Y. native Mike Petke.
On Tuesday night, former Long Island Rough Riders defender Wilmer Cabrera was shown the door.
Assistant coach Davy Arnaud will direct the team on an interim basis for the remainder of the season.
The Dynamo is currently 9-13-3 in league play and sit ninth in the Western Conference. After opening with the best start in club history, going 7-2-2, the team has stumbled to a 2-11-1 mark over its last 14 league matches and 3-12-2 in all competitions.
“We’d like to thank Wilmer for all of his hard work and dedication over the course of the last two and a half seasons with the Houston Dynamo, including last year’s U.S. Open Cup title. We wish him all the best moving forward,” Dynamo senior vice president and general manager Matt Jordan said. “At this time, we as a club believe the team will benefit from a fresh perspective as we enter the final third of our season and make a push to qualify for the playoffs.”
Cabrera, the third full-time head coach in club history, guided the Dynamo to a 32-39-22 record in regular-season play after taking charge prior to the 2017 season. He coached the team to the 2018 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup championship.
Arnaud has served as an assistant coach for the Dynamo the last three seasons since joining the club in 2017. He served as an assistant coach for D.C. United in 2016. The Nederland, Texas native holds a USSF A coaching license and has worked and played under some of the most successful coaches in MLS, including Bob Gansler and Peter Vermes in Kansas City, Jesse Marsch with Montreal and Ben Olsen at D.C.
Arnaud was one the most respected players in MLS throughout his 14-year career (2002-15), during which he won the 2004 Open Cup and reached the 2004 MLS Cup final with Kansas City. He also helped D.C. to the best record in the Eastern Conference in 2014. Arnaud is tied for 12th in league history with 316 career starts and ranks 13th with 28,462 minutes. The Texas native also made seven appearances with the U.S. men’s national team.
Cabrera’s firing left only two coaches with Long Island ties running teams in MLS — Brentwood, N.Y. native Chris Armas with the Red Bulls and former Rough Rider Giovanni Savarese with the Portland Timbers.
