Good Monday morning Caps fans. Hope you all had a lovely weekend and are having a good start to your week.
Hopefully, your weekend also wasn’t marred by an infuriating display on Sunday night from the Whitecaps, who beat themselves (with some help from Christian Ramirez and referee Victor Rivas) in a 2-1 loss to Austin FC. That defeat will pretty much cede the Supporters Shield to Nashville SC, with the Caps unable to capitalize on a 2-2 draw from their Eastern Conference rivals over the weekend.
The Caps have turned into their own worst enemies at times, with two defensive brain farts giving Ramirez the chance to grab a brace on the only two real chances Austin generated all night. The attack created plenty of chances but remains inefficient, with little help from the wide players and little finishing luck from anyone other than Brian White. The penalty miss from Ryan Gauld, who was otherwise excellent, will also loom large. The misplayed passes and little lapses in concentration are beginning to become a habit against weaker teams as well. I’m not sure if it is a mentality problem, a fatigue problem, or an issue with depth players not rising to the occasion. But the levels have simply not been good enough during a spell against teams this team has historically had no trouble beating.
Jesper Sorensen will also need to go back to the drawing board, as this was another match in which the wide players were not effective. Bruno Caicedo is not the same player when starting, and Cheikh Sabaly has not had the decision-making needed to facilitate the attack.
Every team in MLS has matches like this, but these sorts of let-offs have been happening a bit too frequently. The Caps should be confident entering every match, given their quality, but they seem to have been a bit too overconfident. That will not stand on Wednesday in the Canadian Championship semis against a CF Montreal side desperate to advance and salvage something good from their season.
Shameless Self Promotion
More from Sunday night’s loss in our post match recap.
Best of the Rest
Good news for independent MLS media, as Kickback is starting to support local sites/podcasts covering MLS teams.
A star is born, as Philly’s Cavan Sullivan continues his hot streak.
Jonathan David scored his first goal for Atletico Madrid, while Seb Berhalter nabbed a brace in Boro’s win over Norwich City.
Vancouver Rise buried Ottawa with a second half surge on Sunday, walking away with a 4-0 win.