Whitecaps 2017 Season

[nolbertos]

45 minutes ago, Northvansteve said:

Robbo will not give Teibert that opportunity. It's clear he doesn't see Russ as anything more than an emergency depth player. It will be Jacobson in the first game and then Aly once he is in game shape. Russ might see more opportunities as a back-up and late sub, that's all.

I think the writing is on the wall now for Tiebert that he won't get a sniff as a bench player if at all.  I'd say he should try his luck trialing other MLS teams in the off season or Div. 3 divisions in Europe.

[BenFisk'sBiggestFan]

13 minutes ago, nolbertos said:

I think the writing is on the wall now for Tiebert that he won't get a sniff as a bench player if at all.  I'd say he should try his luck trialing other MLS teams in the off season or Div. 3 divisions in Europe.

Or maybe as a captain and face of a CPL club. 

[TRM]

1 hour ago, Northvansteve said:

Robbo will not give Teibert that opportunity. It's clear he doesn't see Russ as anything more than an emergency depth player. It will be Jacobson in the first game and then Aly once he is in game shape. Russ might see more opportunities as a back-up and late sub, that's all.

We'll find out Saturday but I'll bet we see the 4-2-3-1 (aka 4-5-1) with both Teibert and Jacobson (or Tchani) in front of the back 4. Without someone of Laba's quality in there having just one would spook Robbo too much. He is too conservative to have either one go it alone as a DM.

 

[BearcatSA]

10 hours ago, saladroit said:

https://www.whitecapsfc.com/post/2017/08/15/whitecaps-fc-midfielder-mat-laba-injury-update

Laba's torn his ACL, and is out for the rest of the season.

A tough loss, for sure, but good teams overcome this type of adversity.

[TRM]

A 2-1 win and 3 points against Houston but Nerwinski was getting skinned out there defensively. I'm sure we will see Williams and MDJ start on Wednesday against Seattle.

[harrycoyster]

1 hour ago, TRM said:

A 2-1 win and 3 points against Houston but Nerwinski was getting skinned out there defensively. I'm sure we will see Williams and MDJ start on Wednesday against Seattle.

I don't think I've ever seen a player that consistently looks like he's going to fall over the way Nerwinski does. Still, good enough for the win against a decent Houston attack. Reyna really is the player this team has been missing in the attack.

[saladroit]

Good performance overall; not great, but good enough that the result was justified. The only subpar player tonight was Nerwinski, who was beaten by Quioto numerous times. Still, he worked hard as always, and had bright moments.

 

MOTM was either Reyna or Montero, and not just because they scored the goals, but that they worked tirelessly all night. Reyna's immaculate on the ball, but isn't afraid to go into challenges, which I like. Solid win.

[The Beaver]

I expected a very strong performance from the Caps, and I think we saw them play very well for 45 or 50 minutes. Otherwise they scrapped it out for the win. They looked very cohesive for much of the game, but are still not the finished product. But that makes sense: this is the first time that the our best attacking players--Bola, Techera, Montero and The Rash--started together. Give them another game or two to build chemistry, and watch out.  Waston and Parker were excellent, as always. A bit worried about Tchani and Jacobson going forward. They are disciplined as double-DMs, but quite slow. I'd love to see somebody in the middle of the pitch who has some pace and OWNS that part of the field.  Maybe Aly will be that guy. Certainly sounds as though he is supposed to play that role. Kind of how Koffi used to play, when he was on his game.

I remain optimistic. I still do not think we've played our best football yet. Good news is that I think this time can take it up a notch, though losing Laba will make that a tad tougher now. 

[harrycoyster]

 

Nerwinski's average positioning last night was...rather high up the field.

[Unnamed Trialist]

I did not find Nerwinski as poor as being said. We actually played more possession (more meaning almost half), and they countered with long balls to their speedy strikers, which is an unsual situation for Caps to defend. They threw balls forward and we handled it quite well, but needed pace at the back. You can't blame the Caps backs because rarely are they ever assisted, our coverage is always late and uncommitted, they are always in 1on1s. Few teams in MLS leave the defensive outsides as exposed as we do. 

Caps are starting to have a few players on the pitch who can turn with it, dribble out of trouble, like Bolaños, Reyna, Montero, and that raises the overall quality of the play IMO. 

My last WC game live this summer, very good atmosphere in stands.

[Obinna]

Is Davies not in the 18 tonight?

[Big_M]

Beats one of the best defenders of the league to the ball, great cut in and pass back for the equalizer one man down

[saladroit]

1-1 versus Seattle. 

Good result. We were really, really poor up until the substitutions (mainly because most of our starting XI played against Houston three days ago), but from that point on, I think we deserved the draw, especially given that we were a man down. This team clearly has way more fight and hunger than last year's Caps; results like this, the NYCFC game, and the FC Dallas game proves that. We just need to be less inconsistent; we can't seem to string two good wins together.

MOTM was probably Montero. He scored the goal, but he was also relentless in putting pressure on Seattle's backline, and created tons chances in the second half. I really hope Montero stays here; he's easily the best striker we've had since he who shall not be named. Ousted was great too though, and Davies was great off the bench; I think he'll start against Orlando.

Not expecting us to get a point out of Orlando, but on the other hand, Orlando has been kinda poor this year so it's not that unrealistic. 

All in all, I'll take a point from a game where we were second best for the majority of the game against the defending champs, all while being a man down for the last half hour or so. (Judging from the fan reactions on Twitter, I'm in the minority with this opinion).

[Northvansteve]

Find it baffling that Robbo continues to trot out Williams, Harvey and Jacobson game after game when he has better options. Williams has no business being in an MLS lineup - he is brutal defensively and contributes nothing offensively. Harvey should be nothing more than a depth player as he too contributes nothing offensively. This, in turn, neutralizes Techera and Bolanos who never see the ball in open space. De Jong is clearly better than either of these two. 

As for Jacobson, I know he's filling in for Laba until Ali is ready, but geez he is terrible. He is essentially a pylon out there. Would much rather see Teibert out there and that's not a Canadian vs American thing (although there's that too). 

[michaeltfc91]

5 hours ago, Northvansteve said:

Find it baffling that Robbo continues to trot out Williams, Harvey and Jacobson game after game when he has better options. Williams has no business being in an MLS lineup - he is brutal defensively and contributes nothing offensively. Harvey should be nothing more than a depth player as he too contributes nothing offensively. This, in turn, neutralizes Techera and Bolanos who never see the ball in open space. De Jong is clearly better than either of these two. 

As for Jacobson, I know he's filling in for Laba until Ali is ready, but geez he is terrible. He is essentially a pylon out there. Would much rather see Teibert out there and that's not a Canadian vs American thing (although there's that too). 

I would cheer for Vancouver way more (and they would probably be better) if they replaced Williams Harvey and Jacobson with Aird De Jong and Teibert (if they still had Aird)

[TRM]

Robby is way way too conservative. I mean one change out of 11?

The players, except Montero, really gassed early and all I could think was "NO SHIT Sherlock". Tchani with some very tired fouls and Jacobson, Harvey were trying but so tired. I was expecting at least 3 starters to be fresh and then use the subs to replace the most gassed but I am at a loss to fathom what was on the coach's mind.

Got a point so not bad result but now for the third game this week he'd better use his bench better.

[Unnamed Trialist]

Watching a trash, disgrace of a team called the Whitecaps winning at Orlando without having shot at goal yet. 

This team is so badly coached, you spend the weekend watching footie, and the worst coached team is yours (one of them, okay). Pure garbage in passing, positionally, decision-making, tactics. Very low football intelligence and Robbo whining to the fourth ref, his big concern. It is just mediocrity absorbing a rival's many efforts as long as luck and a bit of CD talent will last.

BTW, Teibert having a terrible game, with glaring give aways in front of the box and no development at all. Our best player so far, Waston.

[Unnamed Trialist]

Fine win, big result for the league and playoffs going forwards.

We continued to play badly, only we countered well, up to the final touch, where we missed maybe 5 clear chances to put it away. Davies picked at their defence, and admit the changes were right, putting on better ball quality up high. 

Still, Whitecaps have no pressure on the ball, no width, do not cover for each other, the mids and strikers are on the wrong side of the ball defending almost always, they are not smart tactically (we had cards to take late), and are guileless, even the Latin Americans, when it comes to time wasting. 

 

[The Beaver]

1 hour ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Fine win, big result for the league and playoffs going forwards.

We continued to play badly, only we countered well, up to the final touch, where we missed maybe 5 clear chances to put it away. Davies picked at their defence, and admit the changes were right, putting on better ball quality up high. 

Still, Whitecaps have no pressure on the ball, no width, do not cover for each other, the mids and strikers are on the wrong side of the ball defending almost always, they are not smart tactically (we had cards to take late), and are guileless, even the Latin Americans, when it comes to time wasting. 

 

Though your analysis seems a tad harsh, I am not sure I disagree with any of this. I think they got their tactics right, but the execution was often naïve and too hurried.  Yes, it make sense to bunker and counter, but we gave the ball away too cheaply, too often. We defended fairly well, but I also saw too many occasions where we were out of position in the midfield.

I thought Tiebert worked his ass off, but the giveaways were a bit of a shock. He is usually a much tidier player. I chalk it up to ring rust. The dude has not played much for the last dozen or so games.  Dejong was fairly strong, I felt. Maund seems a decent 3rd CB. Waston was terrific. Ibini had some nice moments, as did Shea, but they also gave the ball away far too cheaply.  

Only reason I am not as critical of this performance is because we started several of our bench players and still ground out a result. Davies looked dangerous and exciting-as-hell. Just a bit more composure and he'll start bagging goals, and setting up others. He just glides past grown men like nothing...Kid is exciting.

 

 

[Grizzly]

Every time I watch the Whitecaps this year they look like one of the worst teams in the league yet they also won a lot of those games in which they looked terrible and are in a playoff spot right now.

[Unnamed Trialist]

36 minutes ago, Grizzly said:

Every time I watch the Whitecaps this year they look like one of the worst teams in the league yet they also won a lot of those games in which they looked terrible and are in a playoff spot right now.

All I am asking is for some entertainment quality plus results. Not just results. I actually do like football and think most Caps fans do too. I also think that by lines our defense is better than MLS average, mids average or below, attackers over the average.  We have the players to play way better and are being held back by an archaic low standard coach.

[saladroit]

I wasn't able to watch the game live, but I just watched the replay of the match. Massive three points, given that the Whitecaps essentially fielded a B team. A beautiful cross from Mezquida led to the own goal, and what a finish from Brek Shea to seal the deal (also a great goal from Cyle Larin!). Davies was good again; it's been awhile since he's strung two good performances together for the Whitecaps.  Maund had a good debut, Hurtado was able to match his effort with legitimate quality, and Waston was, as usual, immense at the back. 

Teibert put a good shift in, but struggled on the ball a bit. De Jong, on the other hand, not only put a good shift in, but was calm on the ball. I'd like to think that De Jong starts against RSL, but Harvey was a warrior today, so I think it's Harvey's spot to lose. 

During the run of play, we were, more or less, dominated, but good teams find ways to win even when they're subpar. This Whitecaps team is more suited to the rigor of the playoffs than I think they've ever been. 

[BearcatSA]

19 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

All I am asking is for some entertainment quality plus results. Not just results. I actually do like football and think most Caps fans do too. I also think that by lines our defense is better than MLS average, mids average or below, attackers over the average.  We have the players to play way better and are being held back by an archaic low standard coach.

I think they are getting back to being tougher defensively and having that "grind out" quality they showed for most of 2015, which allows them to stay in matches.  But especially at home, they seem to underachieve tactically.  They should be way better at keeping the ball with the personnel they have available.

Loved the finish on the winning goal but the play started with two consecutive bad passes by Orlando with their team comfortably in possession about 25 yards out from the Caps goal. 

On a positive note:  I think Marinovic showed some good stuff out there, especially with commanding his box on dangerous inswinging crosses (the ones Waston can't get).  So if Ousted has requested a return to Europe following this season to further his career in his prime, the Caps looked to have set up his successor, so good on the management with this personnel move.

[jonovision]

I didn't think the win was that ugly. The second half, at least, had plenty of flowing, wide-open football. That was the perfect situation for Davies to come into.

I think it's fair to criticize the way in which Robinson rotated his squad, but considering the players on the pitch for Vancouver last night I find it hard to complain about the performance.

[TRM]

At least Robbo rotated his squad and I didn't burst an aneurysm like I almost did against Seattle. Marcel may be the replacement for Laba. He was way better on and off the ball than Russ. A few mistakes but solid mostly. We may actually play with a lone DM while Laba is out.

In the end we were lucky to get one much less three points but I'll take it.