Anyone hoping for a letdown from the Whitecaps after their midweek triumph in CONCACAF Champions Cup were left disappointed, with a dominant 1-0 win over FC Dallas on Saturday.
A cool 57% possession belies what was an even more dominant performance, with Dallas unable to muster a shot on target while the Caps dictated the bulk of the match. There was midfield dominance, good fullback play and even a now de rigeur goal from a defender.
Some of the Caps’ youngsters in Edier Ocampo and J.C. Ngando continue to shine brightly but this match belonged to a couple of Vancouver veterans. Who exactly? Read on in the report card to see the final grades.
Yohei Takaoka: 6
No shots on target meant almost no problems for Takaoka, who had one sketchy moment of poor positioning but otherwise was largely without much to do between the sticks.
Mathias Laborda: 7.5
Played a bit more narrowly in possession as a release valve but had plenty of chances to bomb into the box and create chaos. He effectively became a third centerback at times and was good defensively and noticeably strong in the air.
Ranko Veselinovic: 7.5
Got caught in possession once but otherwise this was a tidy match from Ranko, who organized the backline well as the Caps parked the bus and performed well 1v1 in the few transition half chances Dallas had before then.
Tristan Blackmon: 8.5
These are the types of performances from Blackmon that make up for any individual errors he might ship in other matches. Was hyper aware as he drifted far forward, reading the match well to snuff out possible problems defensively before they emerged. And then his awareness paid dividends, as he crashed the back post and headed in a brilliant cross to grab his first goal in two years.
Edier Ocampo: 8
A really dangerous performance from Ocampo, who found plenty of space to work the Dallas right line. Played in some probing crosses and would have had an assist on another night. He still looks the most assured on the dribble, winning several fouls and interacting nicely with Pedro Vite. He also used his pace to track back well also and put in a team-high seven tackles. It is going to be interesting to see how much Ocampo features when Sam Adekugbe returns — it would be hard to take him out of the lineup at this point.
Andres Cubas: 7.5
Cubas smothered basically any promising Dallas move and seemed to take it personally any time an attack made it past him in the centre of the park.
Sebastian Berhalter: 7
I like Berhalter’s role in the more possession based Sorensen ball, as it allows him to basically hang out at the top of the box when he wants, playing quick passes and firing from distance, or drifting out wide and pinging in crosses.
J.C. Ngando: 7.5
Ngando’s technical skills and physicality commands attention and respect, opening up space for wingers going forward. He’s underrated in terms of his physicality, as he does a really good job winning body positioning against defenders. His passing, however, stole the show, with a fantastic assist coming off of a set piece straight off the training ground. Ngando continues to look the complete package as a midfielder.
Ali Ahmed: 6.5
Ali had his fair share of moments running at guys in space on the left side but wasn’t able to work a ton of clear cut chances out of it. His most dangerous moments came in quick build ups with other players but this was a quieter match for Ali.
Brian White: 6
Worked himself a couple of chances, including a 1v1 on a tough angle but White was a bit more muted tonight, not being able to really get on the end of any of the crosses. Continued to work hard but White struggled to make a real impact.
Pedro Vite: 8
Vite was excellent and continues to shine as the team’s primary creative outlet. In this one he played a more advanced role, pinching in more centrally to give Ocampo space to run in behind. He continues to pack a wallop shooting from distance and adds in a dash of quality set piece delivery. Vite is so strong when the Caps are in possession that you forget his pace and quality in space but he tormented Dallas the one or two times the Caps launched a transition attack.
Jayden Nelson: 6
Nelson didn’t have a ton of dangerous moments, as his arrival coincided with the Caps starting to yield more possession and Vancouver often opted to play through the other side of the pitch.
Ralph Priso, Jeevan Badwal, Bjorn Utvik, Daniel Rios:
It was once again nice to see Badwal make a cameo here. Rios continues to look a bit off the pace in terms of his match sharpness and awareness.
Ngando returning was considered an afterthought/just a body type but he has really surprised with his performances. Good on him!
Loved Jesper’s comment from Dallas….” How about them Whitecaps” Very funny.
Pretty much the same group of players that Sartini had but what a difference under Sorensen. 2 central defenders look rock solid. Outside backs providing so much attack and even goals. Kudos to Schuster for recognizing Sartini’s limitations (failures) as a head coach. Viewing the past 2 seasons it was obvious to me that, for a variety of reasons, Sartini’s style of football wasn’t working. He did make some changes, finally, in the playoff games to good result but what the heck took him so long to come to this realization? Just had to get this off my mind.
you are 100% right about Sartini- he had BIG blind spots, locked down players with a rigid game and sub plan, glued players to the bench – he had a ceiling and i dont think he will ever go beyond that because he isnt a learner of the game
You have to see though, that Sartini was a necessary step to getting here. The back 3 was a necessity for the most part and he was a big part of getting players like Vite and Veselinovic up to snuff.
1. its a real strength of this years Caps Team to have such depth that there are actually competitions for starting roles- Ngando, Ocampo, Halbouni, Boehmer, Johnson, Nelson and Sabbi are pushing hard – it makes us a better group that can take hits from injuries, yet survive and get wins– it will be interesting to see what happens Saturday vs Chicago as we will be missing 4-5 legitimate first Team starters
2. Regarding Sam Adekugbe, its best that he has games where he is not a starter- his frequent leg injuries is the reason- i see him more and more as a 60 minute sub who can bring energy, smartness in his passes and creativity
3. from what i have seen, i see no reason to expect much contribution from either Rios or Kreilach- if i had to choose one, it would be Kreilach as he has does do some chasing and moving; Rios is basically a floater and slow, slow, slow with little to no impact- if he has more than 5-10 touches in 30 minutes, that is an amazing number (he reminds me a lot of Ardaiz)- i think a back-up player for Brian White who can actually contribute is needed, but i doubt that will happen- its our weakest position on the Team
4. Vite is now pushing for higher recognition and if he continues, will draw some interest from Europe- i am now becoming convinced that he is taking his professional career more seriously
5. i am curious to what is happening in the locker room prior to kick-off- this is much different, more energized Team starting games than 2024 where we would come out sluggish- i do know that Sartini’s hyper-talks would eventually fall on deaf ears, so Sorensen is getting the players’ attention
Caps POTM on Saturday- Tristan Blackmon- followed by Vite and Ocampo (and i agree with you- how do you keep Ocampo and Ngando out of the starting line-up ?)
Salty
@salty
> its a real strength of this years Caps Team to have such depth that there are actually competitions for starting roles – Ngando, Ocampo, Halbouni, Boehmer, Johnson, Nelson and Sabbi
Can’t help but point out how your main criticism during the offseason was how the caps didn’t bring in enough help and how the caps had too many “rotating deck chairs”… but only 2 of those are new additions… Really have to hand it to Axel on this hire of Jesper, he’s looking really good so far and has really unlocked a lot of the potential of these pieces that were already there