It’s a truism amongst commentators and pundits that the mark of a truly great team is the ability to pick up points even when they are not at their best. Let’s hope that’s true because the Whitecaps did not look good in their 0-0 road draw with Austin FC.
Now, we do have to acknowledge a few factors that were working against the Whitecaps. As we all know, MLS has a heavy home-field tilt. I have not seen any data on this, but I have to imagine the factors that lead to that home-field tilt are only multiplied when you are travelling over long distances (like from Vancouver to Austin) and when you are playing in difficult weather conditions (like a 37-degree day). But even when taking these factors into account, getting out shot 16-5 and out xG’d 1.4-0.5 is not good.
We should also acknowledge that the game was not a total disaster. The Whitecaps did do a good job of limiting the quality of Austin’s shots. Other than a ball which deflected to the feet of Brandon Vasquez in tight, Austin was mostly limited to shots from distance and headers. The veteran defensive core of Tristan Blackmon, Ranko Veselinovic, and Yohei Takaoka all looked very sharp and did well in dealing with being under pressure for large portions of the game.
But when it came to anything other than damage limitation, things did not look good. The usually excellent midfield trio of Andres Cubas, Pedro Vite, and Sebastian Berhalter all dropped stinkers. As a result of this, the ball never really got the forward plays, so it is hard to judge how those players played. Is it a coincidence that the 4th, 5th, and 7th most used players looked kind of bad in a long-distance away game in the 21st game of the season? Who can say? Fixture congestion has not been a problem for these players to this point, and this game and the previous one against LAFC could well be a blip.
That said, the Whitecaps are only using 17 senior roster spots (you get fined by the league for filling less than 18). Two of those are being used on Damir Kreilach and Adrian Zendejas, players who cannot be relied upon to start in an MLS game. The downsides of this are mitigated by good use of the supplemental roster slots, but I was definitely thinking about those open senior spots as I watched the ‘Caps huff and puff against a team they beat 5-1 a few weeks ago!
Up next are Valour FC in the Voyageur’s Cup (Can. Champ). They play the games for a reason, of course, but on paper, this two-legged tie will be by far Vancouver’s easiest match-up of the year.
The Kreilach usage, or lack thereof puzzles me. They signed this guy to 2 years iirc, and he dresses every week, and never plays. With Rios out, could/should Kreilach not have been the 5th sub last night to give Brian 10 minutes off? At Valour, should he not be starting up top? It’s not that I think he deserves a bunch of minutes, but I agree with the tenor of the article. Maybe the travel is finally catching up with us a bit, to this point Jesper can do no wrong. But we’ve got a bunch of matches in the next little bit, all leading up to the final. Takaoka & Brian shouldn’t even travel to Winnipeg. Boehmer should start, Zendejas can backup. You have these guys for a reason.
We’re aware Axel is working on an incoming transfer, but that’s a little ways down the road. I think a smart GAM/TAM trade might be in order here. Just bring in another healthy body who can be trusted to take a shift. It’s hard to even come up with names, but there’s some disastrous teams in the league right now, there’s no reason the Galaxy, or Montreal, or St. Louis, or DC etc shouldn’t be looking to make some changes. Again, I’m not talking about a big name, or even a starter. But like a Dom Badji, maybe an Opoku, that type of second string striker/front 6 man who can be relied on to play here and there. Rios is fine for that as well, but the Kreilach spot is being totally wasted if he’s never gonna play, the Zendejas spot doesn’t make sense to me if you could have a Max Anchor type behind Boehmer not occupying a spot but neither one is even that relevant when we’re actively under the 18 senior roster spots to begin with.
The squad is doing really well, no need to totally rock the boat, but bring in a little bit of reinforcements.
Kreilach was a rare swing and a miss for Axel. A slow lumbering forward who can’t complete ninety minutes was the opposite of what we needed.
For sure he should start on Tuesday though and I’m hoping the likes of White, Cubas and Vite don’t travel at all.
i just see no reason why we have to panic– we still got draws- there have been a lot of not only games, but mentally-draining games, over the past month-this is a Team that will bounce back
You have to expect an off game, even a crappy game, given their stellar performances this season. Heat and home field (12th player) advantage definitely played a part in what was a snoozer of a game. We are fortunate to get the point, so that in my opinion is a win. Take it and run!
Taka saved the team a point in this one – that’s two good games in a row for him – the only positive note. As soon as we hear Marsch is interested in Blackmon he has his worst game of the season. It felt like watching last year’s team. Which is the real whitecaps?
Given that we put 5 past them in Vancouver you could see Austin really not want that to happen again AT HOME for them. They went flat out. Maybe the schedule is tight and the heat got to the Caps. I don’t know but we got a road point LOL.
3/4 halves in the last 2 games have not been good and yet, as the writer says, we still get points- not sure that can continue- having played in +37 C, it just saps your energy
there is no question who was the POTM- YOHEI TAKAOKA- didnt put anything wrong and made some really good saves- his most reliable game of the season and won us a point
Salty
Those Scottish broadcasters on the TSN make the game worse than it was with their constant monotone rival.Hard to listen to that for an hour and a half.Theyve got to get some decent and exciting Canadian voices.They absolutely turn people off these games with their non-stop lifeless muttering.
they are the reason i turn to MLS on Apple TV — stephen caldwell imo is the worst- just dribble
Salty
Stephen Caldwell is the worst. He is very negative towards the Caps. He is very hard to listen to
TOTALLY AGREE.and Apple TV commentators are worse….dreadful on going Irelevent garbage from inexperieced clowns …please .follow the game/ learn the players names positions and please …stop givng the history of everyone on the park!
I think this was our first truly awful game of the season. How the next two matches go determines whether we start panicking or not.
IF i were a Caps player, i would be setting my sights on June 1 vs Cruz Azul- its the biggest game in the next 2 weeks – the RSL and Minnie games dont match the importance