Whitecaps 2016

[TRM]

Cross posting this from the other thread: Nice write up about him so far

http://www.whitecapsfc.com/post/2016/04/07/numbers-fraser-aird

16 tackles (most on Caps), 8 successful crosses (leads MLS), 5 chances created (2cd on Caps).

And some nice publicity for 5 teen players in the system:

http://www.whitecapsfc.com/wfc2/post/2016/04/06/five-canadian-teenage-prospects-watch-wfc2-season

[kmouseyc]

22 hours ago, TRM said:

September? Five months might be about right. It depends on how his defensive side develops. He's got all the tools and like you said can play the RB role offensively very well. His speed gets him back in position to defend and he is getting better.

One thing that would concern me is that he relies on Waston or Parker a lot. Now their communication is excellent but would he be in sync with whoever we have at CB on the MNT? For some reason I think a solid defender at RB like Henry makes Floro (and me) sleep better at night. Henry might not have as much going forward but is one tough SOB to beat. His 1v1 defending is very good.

sorry just because he is tough, does not mean he will help me sleep better at night. If all you are concerned with is the defending then many others are very capable. i.e. Ledgerwood, edgar. Henry has no soccer brain.

[BuzzAndSting]

12 hours ago, kmouseyc said:

sorry just because he is tough, does not mean he will help me sleep better at night. If all you are concerned with is the defending then many others are very capable. i.e. Ledgerwood, edgar. Henry has no soccer brain.

Yet he's found his way to a Premier League team...

[kmouseyc]

3 minutes ago, BuzzAndSting said:

Yet he's found his way to a Premier League team...

based on his athletic ability. we will see in a couple of years when his legs start to go and if he has progressed in the mental side of his game. Tosaint made to pro ball as well,he sure is fast. No first touch or brain.

[BuzzAndSting]

5 minutes ago, kmouseyc said:

based on his athletic ability. we will see in a couple of years when his legs start to go and if he has progressed in the mental side of his game.

So you believe a top ten team in arguably the best league in the world would waste a roster or bench spot on a player they believe to have "no soccer brain" and only because of his "athletic ability?"

[shermanator]

The Doneil Henry hate gets really tiring sometimes.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not as high on him as I was 18 months ago based on what I've seen lately, but let's be realistic here. He's been injured for the majority of his time at West Ham, and all we've seen of him with Canada is when playing out of position against the best squads in the region. There's not a lot to go on since his days at TFC, but before his injury, he was getting rave reviews in the Championship. Games which I don't think many people here actually watched.

I think people are still just viewing Henry as the player he was at TFC when he was a 17-21 year old CB, and have made up their mind that his play will never impress them. How many other CB's at that age level have recently been a semi-regular starter in MLS, then moved on to a high profile club in Europe? Miazga is one. Anyone else?

To say that he has "no soccer brain" is just a ridiculous statement.

[Oranje]

16 minutes ago, shermanator said:

The Doneil Henry hate gets really tiring sometimes.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not as high on him as I was 18 months ago based on what I've seen lately, but let's be realistic here. He's been injured for the majority of his time at West Ham, and all we've seen of him with Canada is when playing out of position against the best squads in the region. There's not a lot to go on since his days at TFC, but before his injury, he was getting rave reviews in the Championship. Games which I don't think many people here actually watched.

I think people are still just viewing Henry as the player he was at TFC when he was a 17-21 year old CB, and have made up their mind that his play will never impress them. How many other CB's at that age level have recently been a semi-regular starter in MLS, then moved on to a high profile club in Europe? Miazga is one. Anyone else?

To say that he has "no soccer brain" is just a ridiculous statement.

The only thing he really doesn't have is the ability to cross a good ball when he's at RB. I'm sure the general consensus here is that he is a CB or at least a stay-at-home RB so his crossing doesn't bug me that much

[kmouseyc]

Ok I can concede that no brain may be a bit harsh, he has rose to higher levels. So He is a very good CB. I am a supporter of Henry, he just looks very out of position and to expose him at that level is questionable. 

[TRM]

Well today sucked royally. 0-4 to DC. Could have been worse but Ousted made a lot of excellent saves. A lot of starters missing but crap we were bad. Without Laba we were giving up through ball chances up the middle constantly. Teibert, Bustos & Aird started and Froese came on as a sub. But before you celebrate they mostly looked real bad.

The good: Aird does what he does offensively but got skinned a few times defending. That said he was clearly the best of the 4.

The bad: Without Laba beside him Teibert was weak. Kianz gave the ball away a lot. Both are back from injuries and rusty but damn that was poor. It was the poorest I've seen either play.

The ugly: Bustos. Just nothing offensively and a very slow liability defensively. He got easily outrun by Espindola who was dribbling the ball! You could tell he was really trying and running as fast as he could but sheesh. Just plain outrun by someone dribbling the ball. That should not happen.

 

 

[Unnamed Trialist]

We still have not played a good game this season, solid even at least 80 minutes. The players do not know how they are supposed to be executing, they are very lost.

We should start playing right soon, don't you think Mr Robinson? Front office?

As I saw that game, it was just change the pieces and nothing more. The only new piece that looked promising was Hurtado. Since it was not scrub in there, something more had to happen than just that.

After that performance, had to think Carl R will not last the season.

 

[TRM]

There was a noticeable improvement in offence when Manneh came on and Hurtado almost scored one from open play. Maybe we've played the 4-5-1 to death because we don't have the players to play anything else? That or the players we have just have not learned to execute the 4-4-2 which is hard to fathom.

I'm not in the "change the coach" camp. Far too often it is just a knee jerk reaction to a bunch of players not performing. If we are going to do that then do it at the end of the season.

[nolando]

Wow, yeah...yesterday was depressing as all hell. The Canadians, as mentioned, ranged from below-average to poor. Kudo looked completely lost - I think he is having trouble adjusting to the physical nature of the league and looks like the kind of player who needs that extra inch or two of space to work his magic, and this in a league where he won't often get it in his position (shame he's not a midfielder where there is often acres of space in MLS). Never thought I would see Waston and Parker look so poor either, as they did at the end of the match. Carl must be dying to get those Canadian players (really, their nationality is essentially irrelevant to the club at this point) off and have the Latino guns back at his disposal.

[Grizzly]

19 hours ago, TRM said:

Well today sucked royally. 0-4 to DC. Could have been worse but Ousted made a lot of excellent saves.

 

He did make some good saves beforehand but that first goal was really his fault letting the ball out of his grip when he should have held on to it. After that the wheels fell off and you can't blame him for the other goals but if he stops that one maybe the rest of the game is different. I still find him totally mediocre as a keeper.

[TRM]

The old Devo song line "How long can this go on?" comes to mind. We just can't score from open play. Now second behind NYRB in that category and climbing. Lots of chances tonight but a hot keeper and we are still goalless from open play in 300+ minutes. Sigh.

[kmouseyc]

curious about thoughts and feelings about the performance or lack of from Bolanos?

Caps had some good play, better pressure on the ball, but very frustrating with some of the poor touches or bad passes after working so hard to regain possession. Not sure how we find the back of the net "300+ minutes. sigh." to quote TRM

[Northvansteve]

The entire forward and midfield group is being exposed as mediocre: Rivero, Techera, Manneh, Bolanos. Very average and one-dimensional players. Watch how completely incapable they are of beating a player 1v1 or connecting with one another. 

One bright side: Aird is an outstanding talent. He's very fast, great crossing, runs miles, has good vision and his defense is getting much better. His one error in this game was a midfield turnover, not a "defensive" error. Shame that he doesn't have anyone who knows how to use him besides Morales, who is always injured.

 

[nolando]

Yes, it almost looks like the team doesn't believe in Aird as they give him a decent ball so rarely, not even giving the ball back to him on clever should-be one-twos that he has started. That said I'm not convinced he should be a RB at all. Yes he can learn the defensive side of the game and seems adequate already but it just seems he has a hunger to be a true attacking mid or winger. And with that cross of his I wouldn't argue against him. Beita covered the weaknesses of the CBs much better while Aird's frequent deep runs that rarely get covered by others in defensive support leave Waston very exposed at times.

Besides the Canadian situation I also find the fact that Hurtado is our new late game hope  to be utterly depressing. I mean it's not that the guy is that bad but it's more a case of why hasn't the club found or developed better options at this point.

I agree with Daso about the terrible work rate and body language from Bolanos. He looks like a guy waiting to be appreciated.

And then there is Rivero. He does some good things but at some point surely he has to be judged by goal production and shown the door.

And where is our great leader Morales in whom so many still want to invest their hopes and dreams? Laid up again while it seems so many other club's DPs are making a clear difference match-in match-out.

Laba has also been very inconsistent. The only guy playing like a DP has been Ousted.

All in all pretty dire stuff.

[kmouseyc]

4 minutes ago, nolando said:

Yes, it almost looks like the team doesn't believe in Aird as they give him a decent ball so rarely, not even giving the ball back to him on clever should-be one-twos that he has started. That said I'm not convinced he should be a RB at all. Yes he can learn the defensive side of the game and seems adequate already but it just seems he has a hunger to be a true attacking mid or winger. And with that cross of his I wouldn't argue against him. Beita covered the weaknesses of the CBs much better while Aird's frequent deep runs that rarely get covered by others in defensive support leave Waston very exposed at times.

Besides the Canadian situation I also find the fact that Hurtado is our new late game hope  to be utterly depressing. I mean it's not that the guy is that bad but it's more a case of why hasn't the club found or developed better options at this point.

I agree with Daso about the terrible work rate and body language from Bolanos. He looks like a guy waiting to be appreciated.

And then there is Rivero. He does some good things but at some point surely he has to be judged by goal production and shown the door.

And where is our great leader Morales in whom so many still want to invest their hopes and dreams? Laid up again while it seems so many other club's DPs are making a clear difference match-in match-out.

Laba has also been very inconsistent. The only guy playing like a DP has been Ousted.

All in all pretty dire stuff.

I might not be as pessimistic, but agree with most everything. Thought Jacobsen could have presented more to receive the ball.

 

[Dub Narcotic]

This is a worrying time for the club. They've been in sub-playoff form for almost a year and Robinson doesn't seem to know what his best team or best formation is. In addition, either the midfield and forward group is really mediocre or Robinson doesn't know how to get the best out of them, and that shows no indication of changing.

[shermanator]

I think this fact sums up that Rivero needs to see the bench for a while. Terrible, completely overrated DP signing by the Caps.

 

[BearcatSA]

11 hours ago, nolando said:

All in all pretty dire stuff.

You can say that again! 

These last two matches are the first I've seen of the Caps this year and, regardless of being on the road, they looked liked utter shite.  Last week the second stringers in the starting XI and the subs looked far from adequate in doing a defensive job and last night the internationals in the Hollywood positions looked bereft of skills (how's that possible?).

This team has been on a slide since the second half of last season and I can't see ownership standing pat with the coaching should the mediocrity continue in the next four matches, three of which are at home.

[shorty]

5 hours ago, Dub Narcotic said:

This is a worrying time for the club. They've been in sub-playoff form for almost a year and Robinson doesn't seem to know what his best team or best formation is. In addition, either the midfield and forward group is really mediocre or Robinson doesn't know how to get the best out of them, and that shows no indication of changing.

Agree about the worries.  Personally, if I hang anything on Robinson's neck, though, it's not knowing the best 11 (he has rarely had everyone healthy or not suspended) nor the formation (at least yesterday, I thought his formation changes were appropriate for the situation).  I would judge or guess that Robbo is guilty of the following:

1) He has avoided tough love for Rivero for too long, to Rivero's detriment and possibly others as this risks breeding resentment when one player seems undeservedly untouchable.

2) He has not found the right message to help Manneh progress.  There's no doubt that Manneh was one-dimensional and needed to develop other parts of his game to grow, but that one dimension was good and was a principal threat.  You can see Manneh working on vision and passing, but he has lost his verve on the dribble and is second-guessing himself to the point that now he is no-dimensional.  It's still a good long-term strategy, but it hurts the team short term.

3) He has not managed to convince Bolanos of the culture he is trying to build.  I absolutely agree about Bolanos' body language -- you could see it within 60 seconds of that substitution (which on paper was the right substitution).  Obviously a lot of that is on Bolanos, but much is on Robinson too for the same reason that persisting with Mattocks, persisting with Hurtado, and persisting with Manneh and Rivero has been frustrating.  They may be worthwhile projects but they need to move along faster or be shelved.  Not in the sense of moving the players, because that's not often possible.  And I'm not suggesting that shelving is the preferred option anyway.  Robinson needs to develop a hard-assed side to his personality.  He is popular because he works with players and develops culture, which is good; but he needs to add more stick to the carrot, without losing his overall positive nature.  The players have to know that if he needs them to track back, or always show in space for one's teammates, or work hard off the ball, or whatever, they need to show it when they get their chance or someone else will get the chance.  The last semi-regular player under Robbo I can remember who looked half-interested on the field was Mattocks, and Robinson did turn him around to an extent, but it took forever.  Hope that doesn't become Bolanos.  (Incidentally, the bad body language thing has been bugging me about Larin for the Canmnt too, and judging from this board I'm not alone on that.  Hope it's not creating problems behind closed doors.)

A lot of this is speculation obviously, but it's what I'm seeing from my armchair.

[Unnamed Trialist]

Good post above, agree with all three points. 

I think we should simply go back to basics, which means defending together and disciplined, even going to four proper mids and 4-4-2.

I never thought I'd say what I am about to, but here goes...sometimes those American journeymen who you can real get tired of in MLS do the sort of job you need done. They are committed and hard working and yes, that only partially covers their defects. But I would live with the defects because in crisis mode you have to batten down the hatches.

[nolando]

7 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

I never thought I'd say what I am about to, but here goes...sometimes those American journeymen who you can real get tired of in MLS do the sort of job you need done. They are committed and hard working and yes, that only partially covers their defects. But I would live with the defects because in crisis mode you have to batten down the hatches.

Exhibit A being Jacobson, imo.

[Unnamed Trialist]

3 minutes ago, nolando said:

Exhibit A being Jacobson, imo.

Harvey, Parker. All terribly reliable players and by no means our problems right now, closer to part of the solution.