Who Is Wilmer Cabrera? He's The New U17 Men's National Team Coach

BRADENTON, FLORIDA - I was able to sit down with new U17 Men’s National Team Coach Wilmer Cabrera in his office Wednesday following the team’s training session on the day before the squad opens play at the Nike Friendlies. Here is how our conversation went:


TDS: Do you feel like you’re getting settled in here?

Wilmer Cabrera: I’ll be settled when my family gets here. For me to be complete I need my family here, so not yet.

TDS: Have you been able to get off to a good start with learning the players’ names and evaluating everyone?

Wilmer Cabrera: I have learned the players’ names which for sure is the first step. They are my kids now and I have to learn everyone in the group. I’m trying to interact with them. It’s a little bit complicated because some of them, the 1990s, are leaving. Some of them I can’t use for the next cycle, and so I have to concentrate on the 92s and 93s, plus I have to scout players. I have to take the time to get to know the rest of the staff, the trainers, equipment guy and everything. It’s an everyday process.


TDS: Most people don’t realize how big of a job it is to coach this group, to be responsible for development, match coaching, scouting and all of it. How do you break down the responsibility?

Wilmer Cabrera: All of the coaches have to get involved. We can’t divide the job. It’s not about ‘You do scouting, you do coaching, you do discipline, you do mental training. No. We have to be involved in everything. We may have a little more experience or responsibility to do different jobs, but in the end we have to be involved with everything. Not only on the field but off the field. In soccer everything is connected. The way you live is the way you play. So we have to be involved with their school, how they behave in their rooms, how they eat, how they sleep, how they communicate with each other, what they do in their free times. We have to get involved in that and know it very well. On the field they will show us when to approach and why. Based on that we will try to know how to help them. Our job isn’t to create, it’s to help them improve their skills and confidence so they can improve their individual performance and as a team.


TDS: Do you have to change the mindset of youth players who come here, to get them to be more serious?

Wilmer Cabrera: Recreational soccer is called recreational but in reality it’s not that. All the parents, coaches and clubs just want to win and they push the kids too much to be winners. All that matters is who won State Cup, this tournament, this showcase. It’s all about ‘We won, we won, we won and nobody’s talking about development and nobody’s talking about how the kids are learning and improving their skills. I think it’s affecting our kids. The way I learned, I play soccer because I enjoy the game. I see coaches yelling at kids from the side and telling them what to do (during games). When I see that it tells me you don’t know the game. They have to learn how to decide by themselves. If you are doing that so much during the game, you weren’t doing your job as a coach during the week. We do our yelling and communicating during the week, and during the game it’s mostly just enjoy the game. We can give some directions and help and support the kids, but mainly you need to let them go. If you take their confidence it will take more and more time to get it back.


TDS: Do you do your teaching on the field mostly?

Wilmer Cabrera: We have to spend time with them in all ways. It’s all connected. I have been to mental conditioning. I’ve been to their rooms. I’ve been to their school. It’s not just on the field for me or the staff. We are here not to just go practice with them one or two hours. We are part of a family. Parents our sending their kids here and expecting us to take care of them. I’m a father too. If I had to send one of the kids I would expect the coach is not just on the field. I have to be a good guide and leader and advisor and psychologist and friend and everything. I have to try to support my responsibility as a father and I want people who understand that concept. When they are free will they just go and do what they want and if they do something wrong I’ll just send them home? No. It’s our responsibility to be monitoring them the whole time. They need to feel comfortable and see they are part of the family and they can come to us and talk about problems, sadness, difficulties with school – everything. I went through these situations when I was young and I needed someone. Sometimes I found coaches like that and sometimes I didn’t, but because of that it shows me it’s important to be involved.


TDS: Coaches who take Americans overseas always mention we are inferior technically. How do we change that.?

Wilmer Cabrera: I want to find players with good skills. We don’t want to just find athletes and hope they become soccer players. It’s easier to find soccer players and help them become better athletes. When they know how to control the ball and pass the ball and play the game, it’s easier for them to adapt to a high level. You can work with them on being stronger if they are good soccer players, but even if you can run for 200 minutes, you need to know that the game is played with the ball. They have to make good decisions and it’s better for us if they are good soccer players. When we go abroad, the kids are better than us technically, but they are also good athletes.


TDS: Do you like the personality of this team?

Wilmer Cabrera: I hope in the future we do. Right now they don’t have the personality we want. We need to put all of our (staff) personalities into them. The way we coach things is the way they will try to play and interpret the game, using their skills. We say we have to do this and that, and they try to follow it. We need to continue working together and put all of our (coaching) styles to make one huge idea for all of them. We have time. We’ve only had 1 month. We’ve tried to organize them and give them confidence. All of the pressure needs to be on our shoulders.


TDS: What kind of style do you like to see with your teams?

Wilmer Cabrera: I like to put the ball on the ground like a Latin guy. I like to hold on to it. But as a player who played at the top level, I understand that if I have kids who are fast and strong and good athletes,we have to adapt our game. I was a little bit slow so I can’t run fast, but if I have fast players I don’t want to make them go slow. We need to adapt what we have with our players to make them play their best. If I have tall players who are good in the air, I want to try and cross the ball more for them. Most important for us though, is technique. If they can control the ball it’s going to be better for the team. To score, you have to have possession. I don’t want kids to think this is like other sports where they just run this way and move to this side. The field is 110x80, they can move all over the field. If they have communication and organization, then they can play the game right. I like to give them order when we don’t have the ball, shape to try and recover the ball and then when we have the ball, to avoid problems if we give the ball away. I like zonal marking but sometimes you do have to mark man to man. There are a lot of choices in soccer.


TDS: Is the importance of technique in order to succeed at the highest level a hard message to get across to American soccer?

Wilmer Cabrera: I think we have a very good potential because of our kids. They are from Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and they are born here. That is priceless. I’m sure the Germans would love to have kids like this. We have all of it here at home. The thing is, coaches need to be smart enough to use all of that to improve the game. A good coach to me isn’t the one who makes players play his way, but one who takes the best qualities of his players and puts that out on the field. If one is tall and good in the air and the other is small and can dribble, my challenge is make them play together. I don’t want to find just little Latin kids. I don’t want to find just find tall, strong and athletic kids. We need a mix. That’s why this game is wonderful. It’s the most democratic game. You only need a ball and a space and if you can play well, they are going to pick you. It’s the same for coaches in America. We need to understand that game is about skill. The game is played with the ball, not just by running.