It’s fair to say that Yohei Takaoka’s form at the end of the 2023 season was not the best. He conceded a number of questionable goals and that, combined with with his somewhat limited ability to handle crosses, created problems for Vancouver. So, should Vancouver be looking to make improvements in goal? First, a PSA Before we begin we need to understand how we use … Continue reading Yohei Takaoka: Good Enough?
Every year there is a lot of speculation about which Canadian Premier League players might make the jump to MLS. In the past, I have argued for a fairly conservative approach to CPL signings. The league hasn’t existed for very long and, although the sample of players has moved up a level, I still feel it’s not totally clear how we should evaluate CPL achievements. … Continue reading CPL Players I Would Take a Punt on
Well, the Whitecaps have once again failed to win a playoff game. Of course, there are some ways that this one was different from previous failures. For starters, the Whitecaps were pretty unlucky to be playing LAFC in the first round at all. If the xG table were the actual table, the Whitecaps would have had the home-field advantage against F.C Dallas, a matchup you’d … Continue reading The Whitecaps should go “all in” for 2024
The Vancouver Whitecaps will find themselves in a do or die match against LAFC. It’s a match-up that feels like a microcosm of the Whitecaps as a whole. On the one hand, the gap between the Whitecaps and LAFC is a lot smaller than it used to be. The Whitecaps, thanks to their home field advantage, are probably slight favourites to win this particular game. … Continue reading Match Preview: Defending Home Turf vs. LAFC
Amidst the first team’s return to the playoffs, WFC2’s season quietly ended in September. After a very bright start to the season, WFC2 fell off significantly in the second half of the season, after Levonte Johnson and JC Ngando more or less graduated to the first team on a full-time basis, and missed the playoffs again. But the point of a reserve team is not … Continue reading WFC2 Year End Report Cards
Ryan Raposo is weird (as a player I mean, I’ve never met him). If you just look at his fbref page then you would come away with the impression that he is an extremely effective attacking fullback. But if my Twitter timeline is any indication, most people do not come away with that impression of him. So, what I want to do here, is investigate … Continue reading Ryan Raposo is a Good Attacker
The Vancouver Whitecaps managed to grind out a 0-0 draw on the road against the Seattle Sounders. The ‘Caps were perhaps a little lucky but Seattle didn’t do a whole lot to show they definitively deserved to win the game. Vancouver fielded quite an aggressive lineup with Pedro Vite and Sebastian Berhalter in a double pivot and Junior Hoilett pushed forward into a #10 role. … Continue reading Post Match: Sweet, a Point
There are lots of possible explanations for why the Whitecaps have struggled to turn good play into results this season. There’s the purely mathematical explanation that sometimes unlikely things happen, even several times in a row. There are more material explanations. They’re too short, they aren’t good enough at finishing, etc. There are even spiritual ones: The players don’t have the right mentality to hold … Continue reading Post Match: The Mandate of Heaven
For the second straight match, the Vancouver Whitecaps fell to Western Conference rivals on the road, this time, losing 2-1 at Salt Lake. Let’s have a look at the player grades. Yohei Takaoka: 4.0 That first goal was less than ideal to give up. I saw some blame for the second goal attributed to him as well but it was right on the doorstep so I’m … Continue reading Report Card: Can’t Win ‘Em All
I tweeted that if the Whitecaps signed Junior Hoilett after selling Sergio Cordova I would “do January 6th on the Whitecaps’ offices.” Now I have no choice but to fly back to Canada, put on the head of the Spike costume, break into the building, and livestream myself smoking a cigar in Axel Schuster’s chair. Ok, but seriously, why don’t I like this movie? Well, … Continue reading A Throwback Signing: Junior Hoilett