It was a disappointing return to reality for the Whitecaps, in what was one of the weirder matches in recent memory. For the first hour or so, Vancouver had much better chances despite a sliver of possession. And when it looked like they had regained a foothold in the match, the Galaxy (namely Joseph Painstil) cut them open on the counter.
The weirdness will probably lead to a lot of negativity, though personally, I don’t think it was as bad of a performance as others might. How did all of this shape the grades? Read on and find out.
Yohei Takaoka: 7
Made a strong save early on Gabriel Pec and it was far from the last big save he was called on to supply. He did his job on the Galaxy break that led to Jovelic’s goal but there was only so much Taka could do there. Tough to fault him on either of the other goals, though he possibly could have come off his line to try and halt Paintsil’s advance.
Ryan Raposo: 6.5
Had a couple of frustrating turnovers but by and large he created danger on the right side, even though most of the attacking moves came through the middle or on the left. Was a pretty nice showing from Raposo and the move to yank him at halftime seemed more tactical than a reflection of his quality.
Mathias Laborda: 5
Was caught ball watching on the Jovelic goal and his spacing was out of whack as the Galaxy poured on the pressure as well. At other times he was a bit too aggressive in trying to outmatch the Galaxy attacking band and the general lack of pace on the backline was made readily apparent.
Ranko Veselinovic: 5
Some frustrating lapses for one of the most reliable players on the roster, ranging from a dumb foul and yellow card to negate a set piece and playing Painstil onside on the Galaxy’s second goal.
Tristan Blackmon: 6.5
His return to the lineup featured some sloppy touches and passes but the first half was Blackmon at his best defensively. He hung on for dear life in the second and was the sharpest Caps defender, even as things fell apart on the backline.
Ali Ahmed: 7
Ahmed saw his gameplan change quickly, as he was shifted from a wingback role to become a forward in the absence of Fafa Picault. He didn’t see a ton of the ball but when he did he was uber effective, pinning some dangerous crosses in while Schopf occupied the defense on overlapping runs. Could have been more efficient in the final third but this still was a good match for Ali.
Andres Cubas: 6
Could use to stop picking up yellow cards but was solid otherwise — when the Caps were buttoned up, it was Cubas who effectively made the center of the park a no-fly zone. Couldn’t quite maintain that effort.
Alessandro Schopf: 7
Was forced back into what has become his conventional left wingback role after the injury but he looked solid even when he was briefly a central midfielder and kept it up on the wing. Schopf looked promising in the attack and made a good case for sticking around in the starting XI.
Ryan Gauld: 7
Gauld didn’t see a ton of the ball given how the night played out but he was effective when called upon. An otherworldly through ball to White deserved a goal and he deservedly picked up an assist.
Brian White: 6.5
Scuffed a couple really nice looks in the first half that he would surely want back and then missed possibly his best chance of all in the second 45, resulting in the Galaxy going down the other end and taking the lead.
But a striker like White is too good not to get his goal, punishing the Galaxy for lax set piece defending. Still, there will be a lot of discourse about how the Caps lined up in this one but if White scores one or two chances earlier, this match looks a lot different.
Fafa Picault: N/A
A fit of back spasms inside of a quarter of an hour forced Fafa to exit early and the Caps will be holding their breath until they can get a sense of how serious things are for one of their most instrumental players.
Pedro Vite: 6.5
Infuriating is the best way I can describe Vite these days. There are times when he really looks the part in his midfield role and he had a couple really sharp progressive passes. Then he’ll have a poor giveaway under no pressure from the opposing midfield and the frustration begins to bubble up again. This was more of the former, rather than the latter, but Vite continues to puzzle a bit.
Sam Adekugbe: 5
Was cut open on Painstil’s goal and was missing in action completely on Fagundez’s tally. His arrival added something a bit different going forward but I’m not sure it was necessary to bring him on at halftime, even with the Galaxy overloading the right side.
Sebastian Berhalter, Damir Kreilach, Levonte Johnson: N/A
The triple sub marked a final roll of the dice for the Caps late in this one. Kreilach was the most noteworthy here, as he whiffed on a hat trick of chances, including an absolute sitter in the dying moments of the match.
And Raposo goes to the bench for the Seattle match, Andrew. Cleatly a tactical move in that his quality wasn’t good enough in the 45 minutes he played in the loss to LAG.
It’s difficult to win any game without scoring multiple goals. Sure, there are games won with a score of 1-0, but not many. After reading comments over time, regardless the team, the blame for a loss seems to consistently fall on the last line of defense when there are typically a number of reasons the game was lost. Every fan finds a scapegoat. Every fan has a favorite who “never” makes mistakes.
And then there’s this
“I never want them to think, never, on the field,” Sartini added. “A player on the field should take decisions, never think”. – Vanni Sartini
https://aftn.ca/beyond-set-pieces-a-deep-dive-into-vanni-sartinis-philosophy-of-zonal-marking/
If every player has not bought in to Sartini’s philosophy, one or more “zones” will consistently be under defended, and that’s what we see game after game.
During the next game, take a screenshot during a press against Vancouver. Draw a circle around each player, and ask if they are protecting their zone, and consequently the adjacent zone, or are they “thinking”. Because by implementing Sartini’s method, players can’t effectively and simultaneously do both.
Players are taught from childhood to “think”, to maximize their aptitude and athleticism, and to use those skills to win games. That’s how they ended up in professional sports. Obviously, some players are better than others. Game plans should be a collaboration between players and coaches. Aside from that, consistency and game readiness (fitness) should be at the top of the list for game management.
Players’ performance scores are arbitrary using Sartini’s method. Player A may do everything that was expected of him, but if Player B is out of position or, in some cases, trying to be a “star”, suddenly Player A is left to defend an impractical amount of space leading to a mistake when, in fact, his teammate left him exposed.
Excerpt taken from the article linked above:
…While one might applaud the almost romantic nature of Sartini’s philosophy, neither Sartini nor his philosophy can escape the reality of the landscape of professional soccer. The fact of the matter is that the state of soccer is like that of capitalism, where performances need to produce tangible results to be deemed successful. Points are currency, and when the performances are not satisfactory, clubs will demand swift change… – Felipe Vallejo
Good luck in the upcoming game against Seattle.
Raposo had an off night, nowhere near a 6.5 rating IMHO. I think the formation should have been 4-4-2, as those long diagonal switches by LA were effective the entire game at stretching Blackmon and causing him to cheat wide too often.
Ricki Puig was like a one man army. Thanks to his habit of accumulating yellow cards, Cubas had to play like a defanged snake. He really needs to dial things back just a little as these frequent yellows are hurting the team.
Imagine this team with Julian Gressel still in the mix, frustrating…
I am not sure what the agenda is for giving Raposo a high rating or talking him up in preseason podcasts about giving him a shot in a central, 10 role. He is a squad player who has improved a lot during his time here and is a contibutor but he has reached his ceiling. Let’s not make him out to be more than what he is.
Cubas’ penchant for cautions is a concern, agreed. And it’s also concerning to me that he appears to not understand why he’s shown them in most instances. Quality pivots know when they’ve fouled a player, particularly tactically, and usually simply jog on knowing they’ve earned the decision and fair play for the card taken. Cubas does neither. He’s often late in a tackle, or simply clumsy / careless. For all the good he does on the ball, he’s at the minute a bit careless without it.
Not sure which goal yer talking about as all 3 came down our left side. Ok, if Blackmon tucks in closer to Ranko that killer pass and run is still on. Blackmon and Adekugbe are still beaten. Maybe Blackmon can recover to get some kind of block in, and that’s a generous maybe, but allowing shots, crosses and passes right to the front of goal is a recipe for disaster. Adekugbe was in the vicinity of Painstl but in the end he wasn’t in position to offer any defence against the LA attack. Over the past 3 years how many times have you thought “that was easy “ when the caps concede…
You want to seal off through ball passes between yourself and your CB partner (Ranko). That pass ended up taking out both Adekugbe (not tracking the run and/or communicating the danger) and Blackmon (too far away from Ranko leaving a massive passing channel to exploit), not just Adekugbe. A pass only between Adekugbe and Blackmon gives Blackmon a better attempt at recovery positioning.
Sartini’s system (all good defensive set ups, for that matter) is about protecting the middle, keeping passes in front of the defenders and on the periphery, not incisive like that one. Hey, it was a well weighted pass by Puig but if you leave that big a gap available, even Teibert would have played that play through ball.
on a cool night with the roof open as if the day temps would be the same at night
1. Adekugbe– he looked quite good going on the offence, but seemed lost on defence, suggesting he doesnt fully grip onto Vanni’s zonal marking
2. Raposo- wasnt very effective IMO and should have been subbed at the 30th minute mark; more of a good sub at the 60th minute mark
3. Vite is a mystery wrapped in a twinkie – he always has that touch of promise and then drifts off into mediocre- he cant seem to play well in BIG games and gets lost in the moment
4. Schopf has been reborn with better legs — he should be a starter before Vite or Raposo
5. Memerizing- White choose to change the ball to his left foot, rather than shooting with his right- the goal was gone
6. Ahmed was wasted in the first half – Vanni needs a system to maximize his skills
7. Gauld- needs relief with a high quality (for MLS) MF – too much is expected from him- a summer transfer window is begging for serious help to keep us in the top 4 in the Western Conference
8. Question- why do the Caps have a habit of starting some games like they are dead men running ?
9. I will end on a positive- defence is blocking more shots and handling set pieces better than 2023
Good assessment here.
Good valid points/concerns
The Raposo assessment is a joke!!! What is it about this fan blog that continually overrates this player’s contributions? He had one good play, the inswinging cross to White (off his weaker left foot, surprisingly), two bad giveaways and nothing else of note because LAG had the ball ALMOST ALL THE TIME during the first half! What other “danger” did he create? He’s such a nonthreat that LAG left LB Aude on his own to attack and defend that side while Paintsil was shifted to their right side to support Pec with an overload on the attack. Gotta question the rationale for this inflated player assesment
Blackmon faced a lot of music because he is a question mark with positioning, hence the overload on his side but he had some good moments, such as a great hard and vital challenge on the edge of the box, but also some very poor, like losing Jovelic on his header at the far post as well as being too far apart from Ranko and totally unable to deal with the Puig pass to Paintsil for the winner. I expect a healthy Utvik to get another look at LCB vs Seattle.
Puig had the freedom of the pitch, so who was responsible for not shutting him down? It is hard to be positive with the play of the centre mids when the most dangerous guy on the field, the guy you needed to stop, was the POTM. No fly zone? Whatever…
Gauld works his arse off but he’ll be burnt out by August the way Sartini uses him. Takaoka made an alert save when Pec was given too much room by Blackmon to get his shot off. Adekugbe needs to step up his overall game.
Good points but i don’t think Blackmon can be blamed for Puig’s killer passes and Painstill’s killer runs that start from the touchline and look to get behind the back 3. And when our opponents’ succeed with this then we’re in trouble. We’re into 3 years of this
On the goal, he’s too wide. Even moving a couple of yards closer to Ranko discourages the pass between them. As a defender, you want that ball played across and in front of you: you have to cut off that through ball as best possible and that starts with positioning where you protect the middle.
Agree and disagree. Watching the game on Apple was frustrating. Mostly because of how easily the Caps conceded the 3 goals and how late Sartini waited to make the 2nd half subs. I’d agree this was actually a strong performance by the Caps. 1st half chances were equal. 2nd half we came out strong but our left side defensively was a problem. Blackmon and Adekugbe were not on the same page and LA was able to turn this problem into 3 goals. Seemed on the 1st goal that Laborda left his man wide open for a close in tap in. Don’t know why he would leave his man to double mark another opponent. Satini’s zonal system perhaps? On LA’s 2nd goal Adekugbe was there, close to Painstil, but did nothing to mark him. He took a few steps to catch him and just gave up. I thought maybe he tweaked a muscle or something but he was fine after that. To blame Ranko for not getting the offside trap right, well if we’re going to rely on the offside trap with a 3 man back line and wingbacks higher up the pitch then we’re in trouble. We did finish strong with the 3 subs in the 84th minute having a positive impact, however LA’s 3 subs in the 74th minute proved to be a very strong move by coach Vanney. I still don’t think Raposo should be starting and especially not on the left side as he has no left foot whatsoever. I still think Brown has a role to play on this team. And Fafa leaving the game was a big loss. Conceding the flanks against good, wide, attacking players is always going to cause us problems…