Wednesday night in Spokane, the Vancouver Whitecaps attempted to mount a Champions Cup comeback, but ultimately fell short, losing the match 2-1 and the tie 5-1.
The final scoreline feels unkind given how the Whitecaps played on the night. The Sounders started brightly, with a golden Albert Rusnák chance inside the first minute, but after that, it was largely one-way traffic in Vancouver’s favour.
The Whitecaps were rewarded for their start in the 24th minute, when early-season standout Jeevan Badwal fired a long-distance effort into the top corner past Stefan Frei. If the comeback was going to happen, that first goal was vital, and at that point the Whitecaps looked poised to give the Sounders a real scare.
However, the match levelled out a bit for the rest of the first half, with the Sounders content to sit in their low block and Vancouver unable to find much incisive play in the opposition box.
The match went to halftime level, and though there was still a mountain to climb for the Whitecaps, it felt like the tie was still alive. Jesper Sørensen had been forced into a late first-half substitution, replacing Andrés Cubas with Emmanuel Sabbi due to a calf issue, and Kenji Cabrera replaced AZ Jackson on the wing to start the second half.
Vancouver opened the second half with more attacking pressure. That said, while Thomas Müller and Brian White combined to set up the opening goal, the two veterans did not look especially sharp for much of the evening, particularly early in the second half. There were several moments where the ball seemed to ping-pong off them, squandering promising Vancouver chances.
In a match where Vancouver needed three goals, that was something they could not afford. Equally, Sebastian Berhalter looked a step off with his delivery, as corner after corner was fired directly at Stefan Frei or out of play.
As the match approached the 80th minute and Vancouver still faced a two-goal deficit, it was clear the Whitecaps had started throwing caution to the wind. The Sounders, being the quality team they are, were able to pounce. First, they took advantage of lax defending on a quick throw, and four minutes later, the Whitecaps were caught again on a quick vertical ball and a Yohei Takaoka error in the box. The late goals came from Danny Musovski in the 79th minute, and Paul Rothrock in the 83rd.
I think that if this had been a one-off match, the Whitecaps probably could have won it 1-0. That said, Seattle knew exactly what they had to do and were perfectly content to crowd the box and win headers. Credit to them: Brian Schmetzer’s group has a great combination of quality and scrappy work rate.
Ultimately, Vancouver’s failure to find a second goal in the first 30 minutes of the second half is what sunk them, not the late goals.
From here, the Whitecaps will obviously be disappointed to be out of the Champions Cup. However, it also presents a real opportunity to focus all of their efforts on the league, and in the long run, that might not be such a bad thing.
The Whitecaps are still a very good team and should be one of the top sides in MLS this season. However, I think it’s fair to say they won’t be sneaking up on anyone this year. Everyone knows they are a very good team, and that is going to make the challenge of maintaining their excellence all the more interesting.
AZ isnt close to being like Ali Ahmed who has a lot more trickery and soccer sense besides his pace, and its why he is succeeding in the second tier in England
i have seen speed without those 2 qualities (Kekuta Manneh, Sabbi and Jayden Nelson come to mind), but they reach their ceiling early– Ahmed is still pushing his ceiling … and he might even push higher
I won’t disagree that Ahmed is a better player with a higher ceiling… but to be fair, AZ should have won a PK rather than get a BS yellow for diving.
Winning a PK every other start isn’t sustainable over a season, but that does show some threat in the box.
Great effort by the guys. I am more than happy to turn all our attention to MLS cup now. It’s been pointed out endlessly, but it really is impossible to balance two deep runs in both competitions (we saw that first-hand last year). This may be a blessing, and we bowed out with honour. Shout out Jeevan for a fantastic goal
it isnt time to start nit-picking players- the Sounders played really well-organized, disciplined soccer- Seattle are always a scrappy team
our top strikers just were very ineffective over the 2 legs, and some defensive miscues gave away the goals
what strikes me the most is that word will get around that defensive blocks is the Caps’ nemesis and the Team seems befuddled by it – what we saw over 2 legs is that a team- like Seattle- can frustrate the Caps and then get a win
this is something to learn from- how to break-down defensive teams – moaning and groaning wont work- analyzing, discussing and practicing how to overcome an opponent’s defensive wall is absolutely necessary this season if we are to take a run at MLS Cup
Salty
“what strikes me the most is that word will get around that defensive blocks is the Caps’ nemesis and the Team seems befuddled by it – what we saw over 2 legs is that a team- like Seattle- can frustrate the Caps and then get a win”
Teams that are cross-happy/centric where the default offensive tactic is to play the ball wide and cross it into the box (which is what Sorensen’s team does) will struggle against a low-blocking defense. And a well-organised one such as Seattle is will not be too taxed overall in said defensive shape. And that’s exactly what happened in both legs. Add in a fair bit of overall quality in both players and play, and the ‘Caps were played perfectly by a quality side and coach. Expect to see more of this as the ‘Caps play MLS opposition at the level or above Seattle’s.
And, to the point about nit-picking individual players, too many weren’t up to scratch in both legs. Fair to not belabor it, but it’s valid to mention it as it is something to be aware of.
Good point about being too dependent on crosses, especially if White and Muller are not at their best (which was the case Wednesday.) Further to that, while AZ has been a revelation to me so far and has helped me get over losing Ahmed and Nelson, he seems to always always go right…I worry that the rest of the league will discover this, and that side will become even more sterile
GAME WAS SHIT!
You are so kind to Laborda…I must say he did great at the end of last last year and really surprised me with his adaptiveness when called upon but after the boner that would have got him benched on my high school team in the first leg, he was a pilon on the 1-1 goal. He’s great on attacking corners (defending – not so much!) and all but he is such a liability on the back end – go back and look at when the whitecaps get scored against, and almost every time there is Laborda standing next to the guy with a confuzzled look on his face. He must love soccer for all the time he spends watching (the other team’s unfortunately) highlights!