From June 27, 2015, to the Impact’s exit at the Eastern Conference Semifinal stage, the same back four started 14 of the team’s 24 games: Ambroise Oyongo, Víctor Cabrera, Laurent Ciman and Donny Toia.
These four players were back at it for the first two games of the 2016 season, a fine show of continuity. But an injury to Ambroise Oyongo compelled head coach Mauro Biello to shuffle his deck. Hassoun Camara, who’d gone through all sorts of physical issues in 2015, returned to the field in Dallas.
Camara was in the starting XI again in Seattle the following week. His return within the group of starters went smoothly, and he has showcased his strengths, especially on set pieces. While Camara hasn’t left the starting XI since, Oyongo did replace him during the second half of the 2-0 win against Columbus Crew SC. Camara had scored. Oyongo got an assist.
“It’s a good problem for the coach to have,” Camara said on Tuesday morning. “The technical staff made sure to have enough competition and depth within the team. It’s going very well. No matter who plays, everyone’s going in the same direction, and we know what we want. In the end, everyone will win. Everyone wants to play, but it’s up to us to adopt the right mindset.”
This rotation at full back has been seamless, and the same could be said about what happened in central defence last Saturday in Chicago. Víctor Cabrera left the game during the first half and was replaced by Wandrille Lefèvre, who held the line well alongside Laurent Ciman in a 2-1 win over the Fire.
“Two or three balls were played in behind us, on either side, and we would cover each other,” Lefèvre said. “Things are going well, and even in training, the staff is doing a superb job with this: every week, we switch things around. I’ll play with Víctor once, I’ll play with Laurent another time. We make those changes so that we find our bearings in case something like that happens.”
Added Camara: “When you watch a game on TV and you see a player come on, you don’t ask whether he’s trained before or how many games he’s played. It was tough for [Wandrille], because he wasn’t match fit, and those were his first minutes. He did very well. He helped us grab those points we wanted to take on the road. It also shows that we’re a group and that we’ll need everyone to reach our objectives.”
