It wasn’t a vintage performance from the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday night, but it was still enough to see them get all three points against the Colorado Rapids.
There are still real questions about the backline as it is currently composed and the attack wasn’t exactly humming on all cylinders. However, some guys turned in excellent performances. What does that all mean for the report card? Keep reading to find out.
Yohei Takaoka: 7
Came up big to either make a save or throw off a promising Rapids attack on numerous occasions and couldn’t be blamed for the one he let past him. Another quality performance from Taka.
Javain Brown: 5
Needs to stop hitting crosses when drifting up to join the attack, as all of his balls into the box were way overpowered. Did better on line breaking balls to try and take the Rapids’ press out of the picture. Not his best match defensively and got turned way too easily by Omir Fernandez at an inopportune time late.
Mathias Laborda: 4.5
I didn’t love the idea of Laborda as the middle CB and it this match did nothing to change my mind. Laborda is the new whipping boy for much of the fan-base and while he was caught out, including on Djordje Mihailovic’s goal, I wonder how much of it does come down to him being asked to play a position where he isn’t comfortable. Case in point: I thought he improved moving to the wide CB slot and his passing efficiency is a datapoint in his favour from this one.
Tristan Blackmon: 6
Gave away a silly yellow but settled in as the only real natural centreback in the back three. Blackmon loves to overload the box and it works well but then inexplicable is told or doesn’t feel comfortable shooting when he gets the ball in those positions. Was sacrificed for Fafa Picault at the half in a bit of a strange (yet ultimately effective) substitution.
Ali Ahmed: 6.5
Showed strong 1v1 defending early, tracking back well against an aggressive Rapids attack. I thought he waited too long to start getting aggressive himself going forward, however — I would’ve liked to have seen him really take on young Jackson Travis. Fafa Picault’s arrival galvanized Ahmed, giving him more space to be effective and he put in some lovely service as a result with three key passes in the second half. Another player for whom the eye test and numbers don’t quite align.
Sebastian Berhalter: 7.5
After starting in the midweek, Berhalter took his chance and really seems to be thriving both in the three-man midfield and then as a makeshift wingback. He often floated out wide to help overload the right side and try and get a chance to ping in one of his patented long balls and the transition to the right wingback role was natural. His goal was well earned.
Andres Cubas: 7
An underrated benefit of the three-man midfield is it gives Cubas more flexibility to roam and play as a true destroyer and he used that leeway here to good effect. Didn’t miss a beat when the midfield shrank in size, either.
Pedro Vite: 6
Had a couple of truly fabulous long balls and I give him credit as one of the few players willing to try things (take a shot, have a dribble) from the edge of the box.
Luis Martins: 5.5
Was shuffled around from wingback to centerback over the course of the night and never quite settled down in either spot. Martins possibly could have closed down more effectively on the Mihailovic goal.
Brian White: 5
Had strong hold up play when the ‘Caps decided to play direct but was fed a heavy diet of crosses into the box, which he wasn’t able to make much use of. That held true even as the quality of service improved over the course of the night. You do start to worry that White’s goal drought has gotten into his head.
Ryan Gauld: 7.5
Wasn’t as sharp as midweek but still picked up a pair of assists and looked much better when Fafa Picault came on and he dropped a bit deeper and played a bit more centrally.
Fafa Picault: 7.5
Made an instant impact after coming on, offering a new dynamic that pulled the defence away from Ryan Gauld. Continued to look quite dangerous and his link up play in and around the box is a quality the ‘Caps sorely lack when Fafa isn’t on the field.
Bjorn Utvik: 6.5
Did what he was supposed to do: Come on and add some solidity to a backline that had no natural centrebacks on the field. Utvik is tough as nails, getting banged up and soldiering on with no issues.
Alessandro Schopf: N/A
Nothing to write home about from Schopf in this one.
Giuseppe Bovalina: N/A
Made a huge goal-line clearance just moments after coming on and had a flash of danger on the stoppage time winner. This match didn’t really show his potential but I would like to see a full match of Bovalina in MLS play — he continues to intrigue me.
Damir Kreilach: 7
Kreilach made the most of his return from injury and scored exactly the type of goal he was signed to bang in. It won’t make the highlight reel but with White in a funk, these are exactly the kinds of chances the ‘Caps need Kreilach converting.
Again the ratings in a win for some players are confusing:
– Cubas, a player that was dribbled past three times and was 1/5 on ground duels did not put in a 7.5-worthy effort. Colorado moved the ball through the middle particularly on switches with ease, and got to the top of the box regularly. Average to poor effort from Cubas.
– Utvik isn’t a natural CB ? He definitely is. If you mean “not a natural middle of a CB three,” then say that. I’ll disagree, but at least the statement makes sense in context. Laborda is also, for the record, and disagree he struggled in the middle of the three. I think it was the other two either side of him that caused the issue more than he did. Statistically Laborda was excellent, aside the first-half misplaced pass that led to an opportunity. 5.5 is harsh, 6 or 6.5 for me.
– Ahmed, yes statistically he had a decent match but as alluded to the tangible benefit of what he does on the pitch doesn’t but for the odd chance manifest into top-shelf opportunities or direct goal contributions. And he recycles play far too often when 1 v 1. Too passive in attack, and gets lost defending. 6.5 is fair statistically, 5.5 is fair based upon tangible observable outcome.
– Bovalina continues to not impress in any way with his play. His distribution isn’t quality, he’s not composed with the ball at his feet, and defensively he’s quite lost. Might be a case where he needs a season in NextPro to develop, not ready for MLS yet imo. 5 at best in this cameo.
I agree with Westsider13 here, but I think we’ll miss Cubas’s presence more than some think during the Copa.
I’d love to see Sartini try out a 4-1-4-1 formation as Cubas is capable of excelling in that role and having 4 at the back would be more defensively sound.
I’m not certain about that suggestion, I think physically he’s not up to the task of having to cover that much ground and win enough battles as the lone pivot. I don’t think the ‘double pivot’ is necessarily needed but an 8 (Berhalter) to assist to an extent works well for Cubas. Agree that four at the back is better, the three CBs is still frought with challenges and gaps that are more and more often being exploited.
DRIBS AND DRABS :
1. POTM- although he only played the second half, Picault changed the game into the Caps favor and ignited Ahmed to be more decisive and thrusting- Fafa brings an edge that pisses off and distracts opponents- 8.0
2. Takaoka- outside of some dithering short passes that came back into a possible nightmare, Yohei saved us 2 points- PUNT THE BALL UPFIELD- 7.5
3. Berhalter- has earned a regular starting spot- 7.5
4. if Laborda is a concern on any position on defence, what will the Caps do with him ? his value has to have plummeted (but when i looked up Cordova’s stats since leaving the Caps for $2 mill- 3 Goals/28 appearances- there are sucker teams to be found)- 5.0
5. Some other ratings– White- 4.0; Ahmed- 6.0; Cubas- 7.0; Gauld- 7.5; Kreilach- 7.5 (as a 15 minute sub, he scored to get us 3 points- lets hope he can do that super-sub role)
6. Vanni Sartini- 7.5 – he made the changes that brought us 3 points
Berhalter – regular start – YES!
White needs to be a sub for a couple games… bring him on as a sub to maybe get him going.
I agree with this! He needs to sub in. On the side maybe he see’s how the players are moving and figures out what he needs to do to put one in. I feel like he would almost like that for a couple of games.