The Vancouver Whitecaps notched perhaps their most straightforward victory of the season against the San Jose Earthquakes. Let’s look at the performances of the individual players.
Yohei Takaoka: 6.0
Takaoka was rarely troubled in this match (by shots which counted). But he did do a good job keeping things moving quickly, denying San Jose the time to get back into their block.
Björn Utvik 6.5
Generally untroubled. Looked good in the air the few times San Jose was able to put the ball in the box, no major giveaways with the ball at his feet.
Ranko Veselinovic: 8.0
There were a lot of potential San Jose counters that Veselinovic snuffed out before they could turn into something dangerous. On the ball it was the same, he never had to do anything particularly difficult because he did the simple things correctly and didn’t create problems for himself.
Tristan Blackmon: 7.5
Definitely the most aggressive of the back three. Blackmon’s forward supporting runs gave San Jose a little more to think about.
Ralph Priso: 6.0
Priso was *fine,* which is a big improvement over some of his performances earlier in the season. Not a particularly progressive player but he kept the ball and didn’t have any major bad moments on defence.
Ali Ahmed: 7.0
Ahmed notched three shots from the wing-back position and stretched the San Jose backline very effectively. I would like to see him work his was into the box a bit more often from wide areas rather than crossing from the sideline.
Pedro Vite: 8.5
Vite had the San Jose midfield chasing shadows the entire game. He didn’t have a huge number of direct contributions but his ability to consistently play the right pass made a significant difference. He also put in a good defensive shift, registering three tackles.
Alessandro Schöpf: 8.0
Something about playing against San Jose turns Schöpf into prime Lampard (maybe it’s because San Jose aren’t very good). Both of Schöpf’s previous MLS goals were against the ‘Quakes and if not for the heroics of Daniel in the San Jose goal he may well have had another. 5 shot contributions and a solid passing performance in the midfield underline a strong performance.
Sam Adekugbe: 7.0
Another player who didn’t have a lot of direct shot contributions but his ability to combine with teammates down the left made a huge difference.
Ryan Gauld: 9.5
8 shot contributions with 7 (!) key passes. A dominant night for Gauld.
Fafa Picault: 9.5
The MLS website credits Picault with personally putting up 1.82 expected goals in this game. That would be a pretty good total for an entire team in a single game. Picault was like a salmon, slipping away from markers and somehow leaping over players much taller than him for several headed chances.
Subs:
Stuart Armstrong scored a goal which was nice. He’s clearly still pretty rusty but you can see he’s already fitting in well with the team. Sebastian Berhalter had a pretty quiet night but San Jose wasn’t exactly doing a lot challenge the ‘Caps defensively. Edier Ocampo looks super dynamic and like a great spark plug to drop into games when the opposition is tiring. Mathias Laborda is not quite as dynamic but he throws himself about and runs into space well. A little odd that neither Ryan Raposo nor Giuseppe Bovalina were picked for the bench despite not being listed as injured when both wing-backs were known to not be ready for 90 minutes. Levonte Johnson didn’t really get enough time or involvements to have an opinion for this particular match.
Re: Raposo
I’m a little surprised too he didn’t play against SJ and then rest midweek, considering we probably want him against TFC in a little over a week (but 2 MLS games) for the title game.
Unless Vanni is counting on Ahmed and Adekugbe to be getting up to 90 minute fitness for that game, in which case Raposo probably is a sub instead of starter.
I’m hopeful we see at least 2 of White, Armstrong and Cubas start that TFC game, the MLS games between now and then are basically just “don’t get hurt” for me
Priso being “fine” is great IMHO.
Sure, it’s SJ and as you noted, they suck lately.
But he is probably our 3rd string option behind Cubas and Berhalter for a CDM, or like 7th behind Cubas, Vite, Schopf, Berhalter, Armstrong and Gauld for a central midfield in general, so I’m perfectly happy with the job he did.
I can think of years past (and not that long ago) when he might have been a starter.
Plus he is still young, and early in his career considering the injury in Colorado and how COVID messed up progression for a lot of guys his age, so he might improve even if the window is running out.
Plus Canadian
its an accurate account for the game, albeit against a weak San Jose Team that, without their goalie and some poor heading (gotta put the header downward), the Caps should have had the game by the end of the first half- not a truly dominant Cap performance from that point of view- still a win is a win (how can SJ have such a weak team year after year??)
the game next Saturday will really show us where the Caps are in the west Conference