Whitecaps 2017 Season

[Markus]

 

On 6/1/2017 at 0:35 PM, Unnamed Trialist said:

As for price, not all our players come at a  low price tag. Some are rather expensive. And rarely have we seen any correlation between salary and performance. We have never had the top-paid player clearly and definitively the best player.

You're right. I read your post and checked and we're 9th in MLS base salary.

I'm not really sure why we have never been willing/able to land difference makers with our DPs. I know there are different revenue streams but we're 7th this year out of 22 in avg attendance and it seems we have decent sponsorship/tv deals. Surely the club must be profitable. It feels like their goal is to be competitive while not spending too much which they've sort of done so far. 

Just glanced at the top 50 paid players in MLS and Vancouver has just two: Montero and Laba totalling 2.7M. Our other DP (Shea) doesn't even make the list. By comparison, Portland (similar market) have 4 in the top 30 totalling 6.4M. 

It seems to me that the league gives teams (with the ability to) the chance to choose up to three "difference makers" and pay them what they're worth. We don't seem to have ever used that extra salary room to any effect. 

Is it poor scouting, trying to save money, or just unfeasable financially? Or is this the season where their plan works out? Honestly, IMO they're a playoff team this year. Missing Reyna has hurt but every team has injuries, no excuse.

If I ask myself which players I value the most, names like Davies, Waston, Techera, and Ousted rank along with our DPs. I feel like your DPs should be clearly your best players. 

Do correct me if I'm wrong since I must admit I don't really understand the MLS salary cap, allocation money etc... Just seems that they're not that far off and committing more money to DPs could make a big difference.

 

 

 

 

[Dub Narcotic]

They'd be better off spending incremental money on a better manager, an analytics guy and a Bezbachenko-style general manager. They spend competitive levels on player salaries and youth development, if they could allocate the money they have better they would be a consistent winner in the west. If they are a playoff team this year it will the fourth spot at best and they could easily finish out of the race.

[jpg75]

Just watching VWFC - Atlanta right now...must have missed it when they played TFC, but Atlanta's coach is Gerardo Martino!?!!?! Holy crap. Talk about coaching mismatch!

Next time Canada is looking for a coach and someone says "<insert name> would never coach Canada because we're a minnow" i will use Martino as an example. I'm sure they're paying him 7 figures, but still...where there's a will there's a way.

[GuillermoDelQuarto]

When did Waston become a goal scorer?

[TRM]

1 hour ago, GuillermoDelQuarto said:

When did Waston become a goal scorer?

Today

I'll give Robbo credit for preparing plans to deal with opposing teams but his adjustments during games is something he is a ways from mastering. He is in year 6 of his 7 year plan to become a manager so any time now is fine by me.

[GuillermoDelQuarto]

27 minutes ago, TRM said:

Today

I'll give Robbo credit for preparing plans to deal with opposing teams but his adjustments during games is something he is a ways from mastering. He is in year 6 of his 7 year plan to become a manager so any time now is fine by me.

better late than never.

Caps on a pretty good run right now.

[TRM]

1 hour ago, GuillermoDelQuarto said:

better late than never.

Caps on a pretty good run right now.

Dropping 3 points to basement dweller DC defeats that. You take max points off the weakest teams or you become one. 3 wins and 2 losses in our last 5 MLS. The good news is nobody is really doing much better even the teams ahead of us. The exception is LA with 3 wins & 2 draws

[GuillermoDelQuarto]

14 minutes ago, TRM said:

Dropping 3 points to basement dweller DC defeats that. You take max points off the weakest teams or you become one. 3 wins and 2 losses in our last 5 MLS. The good news is nobody is really doing much better even the teams ahead of us. The exception is LA with 3 wins & 2 draws

shrug.  Maybe I'm an optimist but they've been light years better than last year, even if every single result hasn't went their way.  DC was a one-off(IMO) and the caps have never won in Houston(I think that's the other of the last 5, isn't it?)

I'm generally happy with their play and they've got some really impressive results LA, SEA, KC and tonight(ATL) along the way.  There is certainly room for improvement but there are some things to like as well.  They're scoring more goals than they have in the past, and this is with Montero slumping.

[TRM]

I'm happy that they are winning and especially the wins on the road have been important. They aren't pulling away from the pack yet and I hope they will soon.

It is a long season and hopefully they will get healthy and on a roll to close out the regular season then ride that into the playoffs. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

Atlanta is playing a game that is tactically very hard to pull off. I think, frankly, that Tata is mistaken to demand that from his players, pressure hard and up high, pressure on the ball always, when you get it back open up and play wide. Keeper always tries to play out. Part of this is okay, but the demand on the players, technically and physically, is very high. No MLS team is prepared to do this.

NB: the ref called a penalty in Whitecaps favour in our box

This is probably the story of the game. In the second half m. 76 Montero was defending a set piece and was kicked turning towards his own goal to control the ball, in the box. And the ref pointed to the penalty spot.

Here's the play but the "penalty" call is cut out:

In the press conference after, Robinson explains how the ref was kind enough to explain what happened. He told Robinson that since Montero is a striker, and he'd been fouled, it was a penalty. So he pointed to the spot. In a defensive play. Then he realized he'd erred and reversed it.

Check out what Robbo says at 5:50, not sure the full  highlight is available anywhere though:

https://www.whitecapsfc.com/post/2017/06/03/robinson-character-we-showed-was-phenomenal?autoplay=true

 

[shermanator]

Sheanon Wililams has been arrested and charged with assault. He will also undergo mandatory substance abuse training.

 

[Big_M]

Nerwinski has been good, should step right in

[TRM]

1 hour ago, Big_M said:

Nerwinski has been good, should step right in

He's been very good in the few times I've seen him at RB. Now we will see how consistent he is offensively and defensively.

What is this? Spring crazy week to get busted in?

[TRM]

Tchani can't make the passes. Constant give aways and yet he doesn't get subbed out but Shea who was making passes does. I know it is great to have at least one bulky mid to deal with a large team like Dallas but we gotta find someone else.

[Unnamed Trialist]

4 hours ago, TRM said:

Tchani can't make the passes. Constant give aways and yet he doesn't get subbed out but Shea who was making passes does. I know it is great to have at least one bulky mid to deal with a large team like Dallas but we gotta find someone else.

There were authentic amateur passes from Tchani, who should not be near the creative mid spot, and Harvey, and Parker. A lot of garbage football on the team. The give-away by Laba ends up in their goal. 

Jacobsen did well, and Techera. For me, that is about it.

Whitecaps continue to be one of the worst-coached teams in the league, Carl Robinson continues to be a major liability. Because we have some hot players out there, but they are clueless  about what they should be doing, and the rivals laugh in our faces half the time at our ineptitude.

Honestly: that is a very poor product of sports entertainment.

Edit: that ref was so totally biased, he made 7 questionable calls against us in the first 7 minutes, just to let us know what side was up.

[The Beaver]

I thought the Caps were mediocre at best, but I also felt it was a pretty decent gritty performance, especially defensively. The team is missing more than a third of its roster, including big pieces like Bola and Waston, not to mention Reyna and Mezquida. Not sure there was much more Robinson could have done against a very good team. Nicking the point, all things considered, was pretty positive. As for players, Montero did very well despite no support. Shea was decent. Tiebert worked his ass off, but the midfield did not find any chemistry, really. Davies was a spark plug again, and got the team driving forward positively. Most of his passes were spot on, which is good to see. He's still got a ways to go, but you can see new aspects of his game emerging all the time. 

Maybe Robinson is a shite tactician, I don't know, but the fact that he's got the Caps right in the middle of the table--with games in hand on everyone in front of them--must count for SOMETHING considering all the bloody injuries. I am curious to see how this team performs once they get MOST of their guys back for a half dozen games.

[Obinna]

11 minutes ago, The Beaver said:

I thought the Caps were mediocre at best, but I also felt it was a pretty decent gritty performance, especially defensively. The team is missing more than a third of its roster, including big pieces like Bola and Waston, not to mention Reyna and Mezquida. Not sure there was much more Robinson could have done against a very good team. Nicking the point, all things considered, was pretty positive. As for players, Montero did very well despite no support. Shea was decent. Tiebert worked his ass off, but the midfield did not find any chemistry, really. Davies was a spark plug again, and got the team driving forward positively. Most of his passes were spot on, which is good to see. He's still got a ways to go, but you can see new aspects of his game emerging all the time. 

Maybe Robinson is a shite tactician, I don't know, but the fact that he's got the Caps right in the middle of the table--with games in hand on everyone in front of them--must count for SOMETHING considering all the bloody injuries. I am curious to see how this team performs once they get MOST of their guys back for a half dozen games.

Yup. Robinson gets flack for being tactically poor but his side is over achieving right now. Let's see if it continues. 

[jonovision]

I thought the Teibert substitution was the most puzzling, since I thought that was one of his more complete performances this year.

 

[harrycoyster]

Another good game from Shea and Techera. Shame the defense and offense keep choosing different games to play well.

[TRM]

We lost 2 points tonight. Up 2-0 at the half and then let them back in it. We really need to do better against the weaker teams. Getting a point against DC at home was frustrating and now blowing a 2 goal lead to another bottom dweller.

You take max points off the weak teams or you become one.

 

[harrycoyster]

13 minutes ago, TRM said:

We lost 2 points tonight. Up 2-0 at the half and then let them back in it. We really need to do better against the weaker teams. Getting a point against DC at home was frustrating and now blowing a 2 goal lead to another bottom dweller.

You take max points off the weak teams or you become one.

 

Got abused on the wings towards the end. Our fullback play isn't great, and Techera/Davies/Shea stopped tracking back as well as they did earlier in the game. Wish we had a wide midfielder on the bench who could defend like SKC does in Mustivar and Medranda.  

[Unnamed Trialist]

But come on guys, we were totally outplayed from start to finish. We were up 0-2 with 23% possession or something. And outshot, and more corners against, and worse overall play. The team is hapless. We just made good of our chances, then they rightly came back. 

I am going to politely reserve my Robbo-rant today, but really, it has to make you think: with a minimally modern coach and not this dreamy-eyed punk, we'd be a contender. 

[TRM]

Our passing accuracy of 59% (85 for them) was abysmal. I think that is a new low for us. Possession? 73 to 27 for Minni. Really poor. Shots were actually not too bad for a road game as they took 17 to our 11 and on target was 7 to 5.

The abysmal passing bothers me the most. That is the heart and soul of soccer and we totally sucked at it.

[BearcatSA]

10 hours ago, TRM said:

We lost 2 points tonight. Up 2-0 at the half and then let them back in it. We really need to do better against the weaker teams. Getting a point against DC at home was frustrating and now blowing a 2 goal lead to another bottom dweller.

You take max points off the weak teams or you become one.

 

In the dog days of the MLS summer it's virtually road games for the Caps, so the odds of them keeping above the playoff line, even with all their A list guys available, don't look very good right now.  However, maybe they can develop a siege mentality and get back to grinding out the road results like they did a couple of years back.

But once again, as in the previous season, this team doesn't seem to play like an 11 man unit, either offensively or defensively.  It seems to  rely exclusively on some individual school yard brilliance to manufacture some goal chances.

[The Beaver]

Disappointed that we squandered the points, but man are we depleted.

What we are missing now is what we were missing all of last year: somebody to boss the midfield. Our work on the wings has been mostly very good, and Laba destroys like a beast, but we never OWN the ball in midfield. There have been times during the season where we were better than last year, moments with Bola on the ball, and sometimes with Jacobson. Tchani, I guess, was supposed to come in and be that general in the midfield, but the guy is far too delicate, and his passing over these last two games has been horrible. Montero, to his credit, is battling his ass off, getting shite service, but still creating stuff. If only he had some quality behind him.  I wanted Davies to shift into the middle, if only because we'd get some oomph in the midfield. Tchani is a bust, I'm afraid. Once Bola and Reyna are back, and Waston, I'd imagine we'll not see too much of Tchani going forward.

But this team needs to get its skilled players back! They can only grind out games for so long...