Whitecaps 2017 Season

[BearcatSA]

I turned on my pvr for this Portland match but unfortunately saw NASCAR and then the start of the Mexico-Jamaica game.  So instead of showing three straight hours of Sportscentre tonight, maybe TSN will dedicate one of their channels to showing this game.  I highly doubt it, but here's hoping.

[Ruffian]

10 hours ago, BearcatSA said:

I turned on my pvr for this Portland match but unfortunately saw NASCAR and then the start of the Mexico-Jamaica game.  So instead of showing three straight hours of Sportscentre tonight, maybe TSN will dedicate one of their channels to showing this game.  I highly doubt it, but here's hoping.

TSN Go has "Games on Demand" section that has that game streaming on demand.

[BearcatSA]

3 hours ago, Ruffian said:

TSN Go has "Games on Demand" section that has that game streaming on demand.

They also re-broadcast games at down times in their schedule, usually on TSN2.  It just seemed that the exceptional circumstances of the Ricky Bobby Show running way over time might influence them to be more flexible in an earlier "encore" presentation" on a channel instead of simply having people go to their computer.

[C2SKI]

15 hours ago, BearcatSA said:

I turned on my pvr for this Portland match but unfortunately saw NASCAR and then the start of the Mexico-Jamaica game.  So instead of showing three straight hours of Sportscentre tonight, maybe TSN will dedicate one of their channels to showing this game.  I highly doubt it, but here's hoping.

Save yourself the frustration, and skip it. 

[BearcatSA]

On ‎7‎/‎6‎/‎2017 at 1:56 PM, BearcatSA said:

But can he coach them?  Can he make them into a cohesive, interplaying unit as opposed to what we have seen most of the time, which is some individual piece of brilliance that translates into a goal.  For me, the jury is still out on that one.

If over the course of the second half of this season the Caps change into that cohesive unit on a consistent basis, then I'll change my opinion.

That's why I want to watch it.

[Unnamed Trialist]

Loved the way, needing a goal or two with 30 min left, Robinson subbed Davies into the inside right of the midfield to help defend the Timber's left side attack. I am sure other mids on the bench loved that, turns out Davies is our DM in times of crisis to free up others to go forward. 

I honestly believe that Carl Robinson is using Alphonso to justify his flawed coaching, in the hope that the kid will help forge his legacy as his first coach. Hey Robbo, stick him in goal one day, if he makes a good save you'll get credit for being the original genius coach of a world soccer prodigy. 

Don't know, in the first half we had more possession as we pushed for a goal to tie. In the second they were kicking our butts, with Robbo fiddling with his pockets and jawing at the 4th official on the sideline, Portland possessing the ball and attacking us as we chased them wildly, and a goal behind. 

[harrycoyster]

23 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Loved the way, needing a goal or two with 30 min left, Robinson subbed Davies into the inside right of the midfield to help defend the Timber's left side attack. I am sure other mids on the bench loved that, turns out Davies is our DM in times of crisis to free up others to go forward. 

I honestly believe that Carl Robinson is using Alphonso to justify his flawed coaching, in the hope that the kid will help forge his legacy as his first coach. Hey Robbo, stick him in goal one day, if he makes a good save you'll get credit for being the original genius coach of a world soccer prodigy. 

Don't know, in the first half we had more possession as we pushed for a goal to tie. In the second they were kicking our butts, with Robbo fiddling with his pockets and jawing at the 4th official on the sideline, Portland possessing the ball and attacking us as we chased them wildly, and a goal behind. 

It felt like Robbo made up his mind that Davies was going to play 30 minutes on the day, even though the game was clearly calling for another central midfielder to stop the turning tide of possession. It's like he is too afraid start Davies due to his lack of production and too afraid to sit Davies because of his supernatural ability. 

[TRM]

Ben McKendry loaned to FC Ed for remainder of the season with option to recall.

Nice move for him. From USL to NASL is a step up if ever so slightly. Hope he gets lots of playing time and kills it.

[BearcatSA]

On ‎7‎/‎24‎/‎2017 at 4:08 PM, Unnamed Trialist said:

Loved the way, needing a goal or two with 30 min left, Robinson subbed Davies into the inside right of the midfield to help defend the Timber's left side attack. I am sure other mids on the bench loved that, turns out Davies is our DM in times of crisis to free up others to go forward. 

I honestly believe that Carl Robinson is using Alphonso to justify his flawed coaching, in the hope that the kid will help forge his legacy as his first coach. Hey Robbo, stick him in goal one day, if he makes a good save you'll get credit for being the original genius coach of a world soccer prodigy. 

Don't know, in the first half we had more possession as we pushed for a goal to tie. In the second they were kicking our butts, with Robbo fiddling with his pockets and jawing at the 4th official on the sideline, Portland possessing the ball and attacking us as we chased them wildly, and a goal behind. 

Four of the next six games are on the road, then a home stretch of four in a row.  From now to end the season, it's 8 out of 15 on the road but since they have been pretty uninspiring at home, they need to steal some road points in order to maintain a playoff place.  Is this team going to finally gel into a cohesive unit that will ride a wave of big mo into the playoffs?  To me, at this point, it seems like Robbo is like JFK Jr slowly drifting his plane into the ocean off of Martha's Vineyard because he has no clue of what to do.  I really hope I can eat my words here and the team proves me wrong.

[The Beaver]

They STILL need a general in the midfield, somebody who can help with possession and make things happen offensively. The only player who seems to be able to play this role, truly, is Bolanos.  With several good options on the wings, I do not understand why Robinson does not start Bolanos in the centre of the midfield every damned game.  Mind you, Bolanos was pretty poor last game, as was much of the team.  Flat game. Embarrassing loss, to be honest. Waston is their spiritual--and de facto--leader, and they are only half the team they need to be when he is not playing. 

My starting 11 for next game:

Ousted

Nerwinski Waston Parker Harvey

Davies Laba Bolanos Techera

Reyna

Montero

Subs: Shea for one of the wingers; Ibini for Montero or Reyna

 

[Unnamed Trialist]

I'll admit that the two key home losses, DC and this last one, we were unlucky. We did not get the bounces. Vs DC we just missed, vs. Timbers they got that dumb goal 2nd half and killed our momentum coming out 2nd part. They were key games because they would have put us further over .500 and into the race not only for playoffs but division lead, it is that close. 

I agree with The Beaver that Bolaños is the guy who mixes it up best, with best pace and quality on the ball. He goes inside and out, has vision, and supports his passes always. A very competent player. Yes, I´d put him in Tchani's spot, but let Jacobsen and Laba cover his back.

But we do need to sign some quality in that spot. I was stunned by a report that Tchani made 90% passes in LA. But hey, LA was god awful. When it counts, he misses, terribly, he breaks up as many WC attacks as the rivals do.

[TRM]

We seem to oscillate between looking good and WTF type performances.

Tchani has been passing better but as has been pointed out it was against weak teams. 27 complete & 10 incomplete against Portland. Most of his incomplete were the long upfield ones that do kill plays. At least he can head the ball

[TRM]

Well we swing back to looking good. 4-0 win over Dallas in Dallas. The PK was a bit bogus I wouldn't have called it as Acosta did knick the ball before colliding with Montero. Dallas also played the last 31 minutes down a man with a straight red for an elbow to the head while tangled on the ground with Reyna.

I'll take it as we need the points but the schitzo nature of this team continues. We compete and beat leaders on the road and then aimlessly let points slip away to bottom dwellers. I wonder what team we'll see next week? Hopefully the good one.

[Unnamed Trialist]

Well I only flipped it on and off as was half watching my other team. 

But I'll take it. Let's give the team that, they are better than last year. We have a better squad, make less mistakes, are more balanced on the pitch. Committing less dumb fouls and have better discipline. More from the bench now that players are back healthy. Getting more from our main striker, not just goals but overall play. We are starting to get little associations between players that help us in certain moments of games. We have players who probably underperform, but they do give us some consistency (Shea).

We are still poorly coached, IMO, as we have a squad to do more, have more possession, be smarter defending -- but there was something I liked today: Robinson telling the team to hold the game scoreless, maybe it was 10 m left and he wanted us to shut them down entirely. They still had chances, but at least he asked something of them. 

 

[The Beaver]

Much better game last night! Far more cohesive throughout the middle of the pitch. Montero, Reyna, Laba and Tchani did very well to own that part of the pitch, with Montero doing well to come back to receive the ball, and lay it off intelligently. Montero scored twice, yes, but it was his link-up play and hard work that made him MOTM for me. Reyna is a smart and tidy footballer. We've not yet seen his best, but man is this a good little player. I like how he was slotted just behind Montero, where Mezquida often plays.

Back four was very strong. Dallas is a quick, tricky team, but the Caps did well to contain them.

I commend Robbo for giving several of the older guys--and Davies!--the day off. Guys like Bolanos and Jacobson have played a lot of football already, and a rest will do them--and the team--a lot of good down the line. This team, lest we forget, has already played a lot of football this year. Nice to see that we have a healthy squad for once. This was a huge win!

[Scorpion26]

Tough Backgrounds...

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Local Pride Vancouver soccer

21 new players joining residency

Four articles on Vancouver Residency

[TRM]

Got a 2-2 draw in Colorado. Given the conditions it is a decent result.

[Unnamed Trialist]

So I'll comment a few things about Caps. 

First, we are getting road results and that is always good. You felt vs. Colorado we should have won, but a draw is okay. Again, feeling was they came to their goals too easily and we did not give ourselves a proper chance for the 3 pts. 

Some players are stepping up a bit. Since I have slagged Tchani here, I will alter the story a bit: he is actually a bit better, more consistent passing and team play, positionally too. I don't even care about the goals, though will take them. 

Our depth is showing, we are able to sub on quality most games. So much so we can start arguing about guys on the bench who should be playing.

We were hacked to death. You could argue the ref was good because he called them all, and Colorado complained constantly about those calls. But you could also argue that with 25 fouls they should have had a few more cards. It was 9-1 at the half, I heard, and it ended 25-8. That is a hackfest. So we are being treated as a team to hack, and surprisingly, they actually had more possession than us. We got the ball and set to counter, and were chopped at. 

Our overall standing is actually quite strong, we have games in hand in a very even division. Even while technically out of the playoffs as we stand. With a little run we could even think about not only playoffs but taking a spot with home advantage. Asserting ourselves vs. lesser teams has to be part of that, and better results at home: we are already the best away team in the West, and if we beat Revolution next week will be the best away in the league.

 

[Dub Narcotic]

The West is as weak as it has been in recent memory. I agree the 'caps have good depth and they should be shooting for a home playoff game in the first round.

[Unnamed Trialist]

6 minutes ago, Dub Narcotic said:

The West is as weak as it has been in recent memory. I agree the 'caps have good depth and they should be shooting for a home playoff game in the first round.

The teams with quality DP investment, and DPs that are playing to their full potential, are dominating the league, and they are in the East this season.

[TRM]

8 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

The teams with quality DP investment, and DPs that are playing to their full potential, are dominating the league, and they are in the East this season.

I would say Montero is doing everything you could ask of a forward. He's clearly the best DP we've had and best forward since Camilo's heyday.

On a PointsPerGame basis we are in 3rd place so I'm not concerned about the official placement of 7th. What does concern me is that we drop points to bottom dwellers. If they can stop that I think we could be serious contenders.

[The Beaver]

Good stuff, guys. To follow up on your notes:

Yeah, the team is rounding into form. I said a couple of months ago that they'd have to grind things out until they got healthy, and then would have to wait four or five games for Reyna to be fully integrated (once he was healthy). I figure we are two or three games away from that now, what with Reyna starting the last two.  Jeffrey is right, we've got some real depth now, which is awesome to see.  Techera is still the better option on the wing versus Ibini. Bolanos is a bit off form at the moment, but if he can get back in the groove, then our front 6 is pretty dangerous and experienced.  My one worry: centre back.  If Waston goes down with injury--or is suspended--then we are very vulnerable.  We are a much better team with him in the line-up. That first goal against Colorado does not happen if Waston is in the line-up. I bet we do not end up conceding at all if he is in the line-up. At the moment he is our MVP, bar none. I hope he is back this weekend.

As for the officiating on the weekend, that was by far the best job I've seen in all my years of watching MLS.  Jeffrey is right, there should have been a few more cards considering how much we got hacked, but otherwise the ref was excellent. He has an excellent FEEL for the game, and a wonderful manner. Damn impressed. We need twenty more like him.

Prediction: Next home game--versus Houston--will be our best performance in a long time.  I better buy tickets!

 

[saladroit]

So apparently Dean's off to Chicago, and we're trading a 2018 Superdraft pick for RSL centre back Aaron Maund.

Dean to Chicago: 

 

And trading for Maund:

 

[harrycoyster]

4 minutes ago, saladroit said:

So apparently Dean's off to Chicago, and we're trading a 2018 Superdraft pick for RSL centre back Aaron Maund.

Dean to Chicago: 

 

And trading for Maund:

 

It's a potential future for playoffs now move, which I'm fine with since Dean will likely never be a great MLS player. One negative, from the national team perspective is that this kills any chance of Dean playing for the CMNT eventually. Would have been eligible for citizenship in 2021.

[Keegan]

12 minutes ago, harrycoyster said:

It's a potential future for playoffs now move, which I'm fine with since Dean will likely never be a great MLS player. One negative, from the national team perspective is that this kills any chance of Dean playing for the CMNT eventually. Would have been eligible for citizenship in 2021.

He would never be eligible anyway as he played for the USA before becoming eligible for us.