In Episode 222 of the Third Sub Podcast, Alexandre Gangue-Ruzic and Samuel Rowan dive into a busy week for the Vancouver Whitecaps, Vancouver FC, Pacific FC and more.
Welcome back to another episode of the Third Sub Podcast!
In this episode, Alex and Sam are back, as usual, this time to dive into all things Vancouver Whitecaps, Vancouver FC, Pacific FC and more.
To begin, they look at the latest out of the Whitecaps, who continue to struggle in MLS play, falling 3-0 to the Seattle Sounders in midweek before losing 1-0 to Minnesota United to make it five games without a win in MLS play.
They try their best to diagnose what has gone wrong with this Whitecaps team as of late, as it feels like a mix of multiple factors have come together to create this strange stretch.
Now, the Whitecaps will look to bust that slump this weekend against LAFC in a strange match where both sides will be missing several key regulars due to the international break.
Meanwhile, in the CPL, things remain as chaotic as ever in the race for the playoffs, with just one point separating the fifth and final playoff spot from last place in the table, meaning that race for the playoffs will literally come down to the wire.
Will Vancouver FC or Pacific FC be able to nab that one remaining playoff spot? Or will Valour or Halifax find a way to do so? Vancouver has the edge in that race heading into a massive game against Valour this weekend, but it still remains too early to call in terms of how things might finish and they look at why that is the case.
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there is a good chance that the Caps will get 0/6 points in their last 2 games
and i agree with the comment above- Vanni refuses to fix before the game and inside the game our outside flank areas – its sweet pickings for our opponents – his stubbornness is a major weakness and i dont see him ever changing- kind of a narcisstic personality- i see very little professional coaching growth- he has hit his ceiling – time for another Cap special- a rookie head coach ??
I think the problem at home is that the visitors come in to shut down the caps and then hit the caps on the turnover/counter attack. Vancouver is very predictable in possession and therefore easy to defend against. And if the wingbacks are up the field and the caps lose the ball the flanks are always wide open to exploit. IMO our defending the flanks is very poor and good teams can take advantage of this easily. When the caps are on the road they set up better defensively, relying on Gauld, White and one other player to do the damage on the fast counter attack. That’s the problem with our home form. I was at the Timbers game and though the caps hit the post twice in the late stages, Portland hit the post once, i felt Portland looked the more dynamic team in attack. They seemed to move the ball through us fairly easily, whether through the middle or out on the flanks. And regarding Vite, his big drawback is his shooting. The one goal he scored recently came when Gauld teed it up for him and he just put his laces through it and with his weaker right foot. Right along the ground. Blew it past the keeper. 95% of his shots with his favoured left foot are trying to curl it into the top corner but it’s always either high, wide or both. Seems a simple fix but I guess Sartini is not the coach to change this
You overrate Raposo, sorry.
Not driving into the box on the dribble is the biggest problem. Ahmed was well policed by one Minny defender…one…and his strength is taking on guys and making things happen. He was a nonfactor. Vite has never been that kind of player but gets overy lauded for his particular skillset, which is as a deep lying distributor. Berhalter is a good progessive passer but not a dynamic, hard running athlete.
It is worth noting that the Minny goal occured because their guy took on the Caps defenders in the box and drew a foul for the penalty. Adekugbe had one play similar to that and that was it to the Caps. Just crosses and perhaps that Raposo half chance. Nada otherwise.
with up to 7 of their regular starters missing and LAFC fighting to maintain a home field advantage in the playoffs as the #2 seed and the Caps getting frozen feet in home games and with their head coach probably being suspended (but that might be an advantage), we will struggle to stop a 0-4 loss in front of an announced- not actual- attendance well under 20K
such a crappy ending to the season which i never saw coming 5 weeks ago
Also, Gauld’s form of late hasn’t been good. I’ve never seen him turn the ball over so often. His body language seems to indicate he’s in a negative state of mind. I’m a bit surprised he’s off to play international matches given his recent knee injury/reinjury? Hopefully he only plays a few minutes and goes easy in training (although not going to happen)
The problem is that if both he and Ahmed were held back from international duty by the club medicos, then neither would be available for the LAFC match.