Saturday night at Dignity Health Sports Park, the Vancouver Whitecaps fell by a score of 4-2 against the LA Galaxy.
It was a match that could have been a great opportunity for the Whitecaps to test themselves against the best team in the West, but a rotated squad with eyes ahead on the Canadian Championship made this a difficult matchup for Vancouver. Ultimately, the Whitecaps were unable to provide much resistance against the Galaxy’s four-headed monster up front – who were absolutely deadly in front of goal when they had their chances. Brian White’s 63rd minute goal was able to draw the Whitecaps back within touching distance for a couple of minutes, but beyond that, there was relatively little doubt as to which side would come away with three points at the end of 90 minutes.
Alright, let’s dive into three thoughts from the match:
A Different Test
The past couple matches had seen the Whitecaps enjoy quality performances from depth contributors, but that trend did not hold up on Saturday night in LA. Alessandro Schopf and Ralph Priso, each of whom played well on Wednesday, struggled to keep up with the pace of the game, and their indecision and poor passing led to a number of opportunities for the home side. Equally, Tristan Blackmon had played really well in his return from injury, but simply put, this match was a horror show for the American defender. Gabriel Pec gave Blackmon nightmares down his side of the pitch, leading to multiple Galaxy goals. As Blackmon struggled, he reverted to his wandering ways, not staying disciplined within the system and leaving his teammates exposed. This is the part of Blackmon that had perturbed Vanni to the point where the defender fell out of favour in comparison to Utvik in the back three.
All in all, I think this match shows that while Vancouver’s squad depth has taken a serious step forward this season, this was perhaps too much to ask of the group that started, even if there was a pretty valid reason to approach the match the way they did. Vancouver was able to get away with it against FC Dallas, San Jose, and even Houston to some extent, but the Galaxy are a different beast.
Frustration Personified
In spite of all the negativity I’ve expressed so far, perhaps the most frustrating thing about this match is that Vancouver didn’t feel that far away from being in it, even in spite of rotation and poor performances. The gameplan was going relatively well for Vancouver through the first 30 minutes, and the Galaxy’s first goal was a combination of bad luck for Vancouver and quality finishing from Gabriel Pec, as opposed to an egregious error for Vancouver.
With Vancouver making changes at the half, just like Wednesday, there was still reason to believe Vancouver could find a way back. That’s what made the second goal such a back-breaker for the visitors. A loose pass sent the Galaxy away in transition, and Pec once again was the danger man, on this occasion playing a ball right across the face of Yohei Takaoka, which was eventually bundled in by Sebastian Berhalter for an own goal.
Call me old school if you like, but in my view, a cross played that close to the goalkeeper has to be claimed. At the very least, Takaoka needs to come out and get some kind of touch on the ball, instead, he was simply caught in no man’s land as the ball dribbled past him.
Over the course of the second half, Vancouver showed flashes of their ability to harass the Galaxy with their high press, as well as attacking a questionable LAG defensive line with lofted crosses into the area. Yet, it always felt like it was too little too late for the Whitecaps, as their efforts to find goals left themselves exposed in a way they wouldn’t have chanced if the match was more even. At that point, the Galaxy had the match exactly where they wanted it, a track meet with plenty of transition opportunities, a slug-fest that Vancouver was never going to be able to win by a couple of goals.
Worth It?
Sometimes it’s simple, if the Whitecaps win on Wednesday night, the sacrifices made against the Galaxy will look a whole lot better. A third straight Canadian Championship trophy would be a big jewel in the crown for this era of Vancouver Whitecaps teams, and it would have been an equally large gamble to have started a full strength lineup on Saturday, potentially compromising player availability for the final this upcoming Wednesday.
However, Vancouver can’t feel too comfortable when it comes to the MLS playoff race either. With Houston picking up a 1-0 win over Austin, the Whitecaps have dropped back to seventh in the West. Although Vancouver does still have a match in hand, the best they can do with those extra points is jump up to fifth. Looking behind them, the Portland Timbers have become a legitimate threat, with Evander playing at an MVP level, just two points behind Vancouver for the last legitimate playoff spot.
What I’m trying to lay out here is that I’m not sure we’ll know how to feel about Vanni Sartini’s approach against the Galaxy until the next couple of weeks play out. If Vancouver wins the Canadian Championship and follows that up with a couple of big home wins in MLS, then great, who cares, all is good. However, if the Whitecaps hit a snag in the final, or against their Cascadian rivals in massive six-pointers at BC Place, then we might be wondering what Sartini was thinking.
We lost with the exact same score that LA fc was dealt at Dignity Health. We were playing a top team with a need to rotate and give players a breather. They are not robots and they had earned a valuable point in heavy humidity and 30 C, three days before this. And do remember, we played a full squad and still lost 1-3 at home. The LA Galaxy counter is lethal and it takes a great day from everyone to contain it.
Vanni is a likeable fool! …if we loose on Wednesday? sorry he should be gone ASAP! He sits out 5/6 of his best players who most likely have won the game. MLS play offs must always be a club priority!
I get that people want a championship but really – so we’ll get knocked out in the first round of the champions league? Frankly I would have preferred three points although there is no guarantee that we would have gotten those had he started all the best players. But I think he over rotated – Ryan, Fafa, Sam, Pedro – in a game where Ali and Cubas were unavailable was simply too much rotation.
I don’t agree that winning a Canadian championship is a big deal. The state of the game in this country and the teams that play professionally here do not warrant much hype. If the best Vancouver can do is to top TFC than that is a sorry indictment of the team. The Whitecaps should be all in for league games… winning the final or even making it as the West champion in a losing effort would bring some real respect.
When, in professional sports, did it become okay for team management to send the message to fans, and especially the players, that it’s okay to lose one game in the hope of MAYBE winning another? While considering player safety, the goal should be to win every game, whether the opponent is in last place or first.
It’s really frustrating to hear it and then to watch, and, for the record, you don’t see many, if any, teams benching their best XI to start a game that’s needed to secure a playoff spot. That’s because those teams intend to win every game.
How many teams facing a number one team don’t manage their lineup for the best possible chance of winning? Is it not logical to start your “best” players to try get a lead and then make subs instead of the other way around in an effort to “catch up”?
If players can’t play multiple games in a row, I would start to question fitness and how it’s being managed. The average player age on this team is 25.8 years. Fitness issues shouldn’t exist.
It’s easy to blame the defense for every loss, but look at the numbers. Last night Vancouver only had 2 shots on goal to the Galaxy’s 8, for a total shots of 15/13 in the Galaxy’s favor. Vancouver had 12 corners to the Galaxy’s 4. I’d offer that someone other than “The American” isn’t pulling their weight, and even if it would be reasonable to “blame” him, once it became apparent he was struggling to cover his ground, why didn’t Sartini adjust by adding a 4th defender rather than hanging him out to dry? In fact, why didn’t Sartini start the game with 4 on the backline?
If they lose against Toronto on Wednesday, it will be interesting to see how Sartini’s style of management and his “strategy” is justified. If they win, he’ll be a hero.
Teams rotate all the time in this league. This isn’t EPL where your farthest away game is a 500km trip. We have 3000km+ road trips with drastic changes in climate, time zone, and elevation, all on a heavily congested schedule. The effects of MLS travel on fitness are notorious, you can’t just dismiss that.
your comments sum the issue up spot on! ……..”How many teams facing a number one team don’t manage their lineup for the best possible chance of winning? Is it not logical to start your “best” players to try get a lead and then make subs instead of the other way around in an effort to “catch up”?.”
Whitecaps had a higher expected goals count in this match. The galaxy had 1.7 and the whitecaps had 1.9
i think trestristestigres2 has it nailed– if we win vs TFC and get a spot in the prestigious CCL and then win at home vs Portland (a tough game as the Timbers are playing well) and then another 2 home games vs Minnesota and LAFC, this loss can be accepted and hailed as smart tactics, something i often struggle to say about Vanni (last game i named him the star of the game with his game tactics, so go figure)
with so many second stringers starting, the outcome was inevitable and its obvious that Vanni realized that before the game started- he accepted that, something as an old-timer i struggle with… planning and accepting you will loose before the game starts
i am still hoping and believing that the Caps Team will be a real challenge for any MLS opponent when Vanni starts our top Team, especially with Stuart Armstrong in the MF to give us some STEEL, something we lacked last night when Schopf, Priso, Ocampo and johnson started
we will make the playoffs (barring a combination of injuries to Gauld, Cubas, Veselinovic, Armstrong and Picault) and place anywhere between #4 to #8
There’s been a lot of frustration and criticism online about Vanni’s approach to this game, but I just don’t get it. Of course you rotate for this game! It’s three points vs a trophy, CCL spot, and bragging rights over a major rival. Even if Vanni went full strength yesterday… away at 1st place in the conference is not a game where you expect to earn points.
If the ‘Caps do end up missing out on a top four spot, this is the last game I’m blaming it on. Also, two months and a day between league losses isn’t too shabby! 6W-1L-3D over a three month stretch.
Well said.
You nailed it