Saturday night in Missouri, the Vancouver Whitecaps dropped a contest with MLS newcomers St. Louis City SC by a final score of 3-1.
I think what happened in this match is pretty simple, so we won’t belabour the point here too much: the Whitecaps played quite well against a top side in the West on short rest, but were absolutely killed by some very poor individual errors and some dubious officiating. Now, losing a road match like this in isolation is totally acceptable, the problem is that Vancouver has been so bad on the road for so long, it’s getting to the point where it feels like they really need one, and they’re still searching.
Ok, on to the player grades.
Thomas Hasal (2.0) – Big questions can be asked of the Canadian keeper on all three goals, unfortunately. The reality is that with a better performance, the Whitecaps probably get at least a point. To me, Hasal’s errors looked like they came from a lack of confidence and comfort in live action. Given this, I think some of the blame falls on the coaching staff as well here. It feels like they’ve had no plan for how they want to develop Hasal for 2-3 years now. I don’t think waiting this long to throw him into the fire really made sense, even if he is your clear no.2 keeper. I asked Vanni Sartini about Hasal last week and he said to me that they didn’t want to put him in a position to fail…so what the heck was that, then?
Javain Brown (4.0) – This match was definitely the “chaotic evil” version of Javain. He was caught out a number of times at the back. I’ll maintain I like him better in a back three.
Ranko Veselinovic (6.0) – Back from personal absence, Ranko was solid and cleaned up a ton of low danger chances from St. Louis, tallying 13 clearances.
Tristan Blackmon (4.0) – Other than his moment of madness, Blackmon was very solid. On another day that would have been a casual header back to the keeper, but in this match it was a back-breaker for Vancouver.
Luis Martins (6.0) – For what it’s worth, I liked Martins’ involvement in this one. He looks a lot better when the Whitecaps are on the front foot in possession. I also think that I’m pleasantly surprised anytime I’m not frustrated with Martins defensively, so perhaps my evaluation is skewed.
Sebastian Berhalter (6.5) – The young American has proven to be very serviceable midfield depth this season and continues to put in positive performances from the no.6 role.
Alessandro Schopf (5.5) – Even with the Whitecaps having long stretches of possession, I felt like there were several 10-15 minute periods where Schopf drifted out of the match. With Gauld, Vite, and Gressel all demanding a lot of the ball, the Austrian’s best attributes aren’t always on display. I still have real questions about how he fits in this team.
Julian Gressel (7.0) – Another top match and another assist for the German-American. He tallied 5 key passes in this one.
Pedro Vite (7.0) – I thought this was the most confident and commanding Vite has looked this season. He was always looking for space to be an option for a pass, or to play a teammate into space when he was on the ball. When the two attacking mids were on the pitch together, I thought that Vite outshone Gauld in this one.
Ryan Gauld (6.5) – The Scotsman’s form has been on the uptick recently, but it still feels like there’s a final ingredient missing to re-discover the game-breaking potential he showed at the start of his Vancouver career.
Simon Becher (5.0) – I’m ready to take on the haters with this one. Simon Becher is a great story and a great super-sub, but he shouldn’t start matches consistently for Vancouver. He was physically over-matched by St.Louis’ centrebacks in this match and does not provide the same hold-up play that Gauld and Vite can use so effectively, as they do with Brian White.
Substitutes – As mentioned, Brian White brought a noticeable uptick when he entered the match, and was able to cause more problems for St. Louis centrally. Sergio Cordova continues to look completely lost and Caicedo is struggling to make an impact in his return from injury. Cubas was solid and it was nice to see Johnson rewarded with some MLS minutes.
Vanni Sartini (6.0) – Minus the handling of the goalkeeping situation, I thought the game-plan was a good one against St. Louis. Vancouver held the ball as expected and really controlled most aspects. The goals they conceded weren’t down to bad coaching, more a mix of bad officiating and calamitous errors.
Alright, those were my thoughts. Let me know yours in the comments.
Sartini gets a 3.0 for starting Hasal. Poor coaching decision. I didn’t see the officiating being a direct cause of our 3 goals against. I watched the game and the hi light package and don’t see what you’re talking about on that one…
I think with Ahmed injured Vanni needed to think about Hasal in the Cup game and this was actually the best opportunity to get him some minutes. It’s a road game on short rest upon short rest going back weeks so no serious pressure. Hasal has been with the team long enough that no one should have expected a performance like that. Plenty of bench keepers get no warning before starting or entering a game and still keep their heads. Unless the coaches willfully messed with his mind I fault the player for this debacle.
What I learned from last night’s game is the Caps are good. They played a strong, determined and gritty game and they were the better team. Hasal cost them the game. Or, Sartini cost them the game. To me, this was a pivotal game where the Caps could show their stuff and even come away with 3 points. But starting Hasal, my gut feeling he was going to have 1 miscue that would cost us a goal but I thought it would come from the ball at his feet or questionable distribution. The 1st goal was a tough one for any keeper but the 2nd goal was really, really bad. I don’t think Blackmon was trying to head the ball back to Hasal. He was just trying to make contact so the attacker wouldn’t get to the end of the pass. There’s no way Hasal should have been where he was, leaving his goal wide open. After that Hasal was rattled and St.Louis smelled blood, forcing Hasal into saves where he fumbled the ball awkwardly. Blackmon had a good game. The 4.0 rating is bogus. Becher impressed. Cordova didn’t. But Salty, it’s not for a lack of speed or skill. He’s just not trying. He’s out there collecting a big cheque only putting out at 65%. No idea how the Caps get out of this one. He wouldn’t be a Venezuelan international playing at this level. Out of all the lineup decisions Sartini had to make starting Takaoka was probably the most important. In this away environment we needed his calm, confident way. Perhaps Sartini should look at winning the game that’s in front of him and then use our depth as needed for the next game. We have the depth to cover every position. Our MLS 2 players seem ready and motivated to show their stuff if called up as well. Anyway, enjoyed the game a lot and the USA broadcast team liked the way the Caps played and that’s a positive…
no rating for Cordova ?? you know it had to be a 3.0 and that might even be generous when taken in the context of his $1 000 000 salary
certainly becher has to start before Cordova- he always gets chances (he had 2 last night), so why shouldnt he be a starter unless the Caps do actually get a true striker who scores every 2 games ? Becher and White are a decent combo for what we have
Blackmon made 1 possible mistake, but i think it was more on Hasal than Tristan- if Hasal didnt call out what he was doing and tell Blackmon to leave the ball, then its on Thomas (he needs game time and should be loaned out for 2023-2024- he has made zero progress in 3 years))
i think you nailed the rest
Going to completely disagree with your commentary on Hasal. He was poor against York as well and hasn’t been good since 2021. He was bad last year, he’s been bad in both appearances this year, and if he’s a professional he has to be ready to play. This isn’t a coaching staff problem, it’s a player problem.
The best two performances from a Whitecaps ‘keeper last year came from Boehmer … it’s time he passed Hasal on the depth chart.