Coffee with the Caps, Eighty Six Forever, Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Coffee with the Caps, Friday May 5

Good Friday morning Caps fans, hope you all are gearing up for a nice weekend/Cinco de Mayo festivities.

The Caps are back in action at BC Place Saturday against a team that has largely been their mirror this season: Minnesota United. Without an AWOL Emmanuel Reynoso, the Loons have struggled to create chances and score goals but have been defensively solid. Sound like anyone we know?

The Caps will get a lift with the likely return of Sergio Cordova, who is back in first team training this week. The (admittedly cherry picked) videos shared on the Caps’ social media channels show him apparently firing on all cylinders.

Pretty, pretty good, eh?

Cordova’s return comes at a critical juncture for the Caps, as their defensive solidity has helped them rack up a string of draws but concerns about scoring goals have put them behind the eight ball as far as turning those results into three points.

The truth is Brian White, while he is doing a lot of things right, has been disappointing in terms of carrying out his number one job, which is scoring goals. Pedro Vite, who I had high hopes for this season (and still do) has not been especially effective. Even Ryan Gauld, long a paragon of attacking output, his been good at creating chances but remains without a goal and has generally been a bit hot and cold.

The Caps are not the only team facing an existential crisis in terms of their attack (Minnesota and Austin come to mind as well). And this team has the feeling of one that is still trying to find its feet as a possession-based side, something that has helped immeasurably to improve the defense but has left the attacking band a bit lost at times (the Rapids match showed this).

Enter Cordova, who offers something a bit different. I was not thrilled with him being the DP striker and the fact that he almost immediately got hurt meant the jury is still out.

But he is a bit of what the Caps need at the moment: a high-engine guy who can offer something a bit different, stretching opponents. His work rate remains good, he gets in a lot of shots (something that could help break through the indecision that has plagued the Caps at times) and he plenty of motivation to return and hit the ground running.

This isn’t to say that I’m convinced Cordova is the answer to all of the problems, nor am I convinced by this signing. Expecting an immediate impact is perhaps unfair — it seems likely he will start on the bench against Minnesota as he pushes to regain fitness.

But it isn’t hyperbole to say that the next five matches could make or break the Caps season, or at least help us understand if they are for real. Excepting York United in the Voyageurs Cup, they are all comfortably inside the playoff bracket and Seattle and St. Louis City have been the class of the Western Conference.

If there was a time for the Caps to begin performing up to their lofty expected goals number, now is it. If there was a time for Cordova to show the impact the Caps wanted when they bestowed him with the DP tag, there is no time like the present. If there was a time for White, Gauld and Vite to pick up the pace … well, you get the idea.

Buckle up folks, things are about to get interesting.

Shameless Self Promotion

Alex looks at the tension between one of the best defensive performances in Caps history and what the attack needs to do to right the ship. Meanwhile, we also break down week one in League 1 BC for both men’s and women’s sides. And is Manny Aparicio irreplaceable at Pacific FC? We discuss.

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(Image Credit: Vancouver Whitecaps)

2 thoughts on “Coffee with the Caps, Friday May 5”

  1. expecting cordova to be the scoring leader on a Cap team that has a lot of promise except for scoring is naive IMO- his history has been 1G/7games – i think he will go down as Axel’s worst signing and wont give us what we all want- GOALS

    i have more hope with Simon Becher, but- as usual- Coach Sartini just lacks an intuitve sense about what players should get prime time– he still believes- as others do- that Brian white will be the magical finisher and that pedro vite- who i admit i had hope for- will be the answers… sadly they wont

    we all suffer for a true goal striker – if we had one, we would have at least 5 more points and be a top 3 in the West – playing becher should be the logical choice, but Vanni just lacks the belief in him and that is what makes sartini incompetent as head coach

    Reply

  2. Hope Becher still gets meaningful minutes, not just 10 at the end of a game. He remains one of few players that can put the ball in the back of the net

    Reply

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