Good Friday morning Caps fans, hope you all are having a good week and that you are ready for a well-deserved break.
The trip to Winnipeg in the midweek was a bit more of an adventure than initially anticipated and full credit to Valour, who dug deep to grind out a 2-2 draw at home against the Caps. It is pretty wild to live in a world in which Valour performed better against Vancouver than Lionel Messi did but here we are.
Valour fully deserved the tie and it marks a third straight match in a row where Vancouver haven’t really looked themselves, a concerning trend as the CONCACAF Champions Cup final nears. This is one they could have buried at various points in the match and, to be sure, the home side benefited from some dodgy refereeing. But for basically the entire middle of the match, there was not enough quality and composure and Valour quickly figured out a strategy to take the Caps’ quick midfield build up play out of the picture.
The question ultimately boils down to whether Jesper Sorensen’s approach has gotten found out by other teams or if it is just a spell of poor form. While both are worrying, one problem is more existential for the rest of the season than the other. And, ultimately, I’m choosing not to worry that much.
The fact of the matter is the Caps were achieving a historic feat by leading in MLS and dominating in continental play. The fact that they did this largely with one hand tied behind their back in terms of player depth (Ryan Gauld out, Damir Kreilach basically being invisible, etc.) was even more remarkable. But that is simply not sustainable.
Sorensen’s near complete rotation Tuesday was probably not completely a reaction to those demands (he has shown he is willing to risk things in away legs in cup competitions). But it probably didn’t help knowing that this was going to be one of his better chances to rest meaningful chunks of his roster. Andres Cubas and Yohei Takaoka didn’t even make the trip to Winnipeg.
If we think of this stretch as just a belated response to the Caps’ run in the Champions Cup, then I think things don’t look quite so bad. They’ve still been able to grind out results, after all, even if it has been shakier than we’d all like. They just need to figure something out in the next week and a half to get the biggest result in club history.
As for the Tuesday match itself, some of the depth pieces didn’t cover themselves in glory. Isaac Boehmer looked rusty, Bjorn Utvik and Emmanuel Sabbi looked out of sorts and I’m not really sure what it is we’re paying Damir Kreilach to do exactly. I thought the midfield was decent enough, though even there they had their role to play in ceding control of the game to Valour during the late first half/early second half. The most promising displays came from the two goal scorers, Ali Ahmed and Sam Adekugbe, and I think Jeevan Badwal turned in a nice shift as well (which apparently is a bit of a hot take).
This weekend brings a road match against RSL and a good chance to get back on track against a team Vancouver beat just a few weeks ago. There is plenty of danger here (the Caps don’t need to be reminded of how good Diego Luna is) but this is a team that has struggled to score goals all year. Here’s to a better result to cap off the week.
Shameless Self Promotion
A recap of everything to know from the Voyageurs Cup match in the midweek. Meanwhile, Caleb breaks down who is looking promising on the Whitecaps 2 side (and who isn’t). And we run down the week that was in CPL action and for the other Canadian MLS sides.
Best of the Rest
Brian White and Sebastian Berhalter earned call ups to the U.S. Gold Cup/summer friendlies roster, while Sam Adekugbe, Jayden Nelson and Ali Ahmed will feature in the Canadian Shield. Great news for these guys but … who is going to be left to play over the summer?
An interesting take on what MLS can learn from the J League’s growth in Japan.
Awful news that former Sporting KC midfielder Gadi Kinda passed away following a battle with cancer. Our thoughts are with his loved ones, former teammates and fans.
LA Galaxy extended the contract of Greg Vanney — despite remaining winless in the league. A weird one!