As Vancouver Whitecaps 2012 MLS season came to an end on Thursday evening, they thankfully went out with a performance closer to a mild bang than whimper
Despite all the hard work and effort put in by the team at the Home Depot Center, it was a game that showed that there is still a lot of work to be done to try and get the Whitecaps to not just make the playoffs, but to be actual MLS Cup contenders.
A team which has the ability to go into a playoff game not with the sole tactic of getting nine men behind the ball, hoping for the best at the back and trying to hit on the break.
The scoreline may have been close on the night, but the stats certainly weren't.
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The huge gulf between the teams was plain for everyone to see. It has been all season and we shouldn't let a one goal loss shade this.
That's not to say that we didn't compete well with LA on Thursday in some areas. We did.
Our defence, the real reason we made the playoffs in the first place, looked good and held firm for most of the match. It was always going to be a near impossible task to just sit back and try and hold on for 87 minutes against a LA side that had only failed to score in one home game all season.
They didn't make many mistakes and it looked like the team that started the season. Confident, communicating well and all seemingly on the same page. Andy O'Brien's inclusion is a big part of that.
He's been immense since coming in and has a passion for the game and the team that many others would do well to replicate.
Brad Knighton had what many are calling his "coming of age" game, but I think that does him a disservice as to how well he's played since he came in for Joe Cannon at the start of September.
When we did break forward we looked like we could do some damage and we had chances to put the game away.
It's hard not to say that the game didn't turn on Kenny Miller's fluffed chance and the immediate LA equaliser, along with the tale of two penalty claims.
Miller's miscue was horrible. Just looking at this photo of the chance, you have to at least get the shot on target from that position.
Barry Robson should also have done better with the rebound but once he didn't hit it first time, which would have at the very least forced a save out of Josh Saunders, he really didn't have any other options on.
Miller is being pounded by many, but he had a decent game when he came on and had some nice interplay with Watson and Thorrington in particular. Unfortunately for him, his salary and DP status is always going to mean that a lot of fans don't see this work and just want him to score. And he should be from these positions.
Missing chances like the one he did makes it hard to defend him though and if he is going to have a reduced role, then it is better for both him and the Caps if he moves on. Expect a loan deal leading to a permanent move shortly.
As for the penalties, Landon Donovan went down easily, but from the referee's angle he will only have seen Martin Bonjour's arm come across, so it was well sold by the Galaxy player.
John Thorrington on the other hand lost winning a penalty by overselling it.
When I saw it live, I never thought it was a penalty, but seeing the replay he is in fact clipped on the leg and hit in the face. The face hit was very hard to see in real time and if he hadn't gone down holding his face, whilst flicking his legs back, I think he might have got the call.
You have to think that the Galaxy would still have gone on to win and at the end of the day, the better team won.
As gutted as we feel and as proud we are that the team battled and didn't get blown away, we just didn't have the players to compete toe to toe with LA.
So how far away from the Caps are the Galaxy and the other top teams in the West?
We are fairly close. Above the halfway point to where we need to be.
We're probably three or four players, some consistency and some changes tactically away from realistically saying we can compete week in and week out with the best in MLS.
From a regularity point of view, we need two strikers scoring and creativity in midfield.
It easy to sit back and say all that of course, but turning that into reality is a lot more difficult.
How close we are seems to vary depending on which Caps team turns up and whether they're at home or not.
It's clear that the Whitecaps have two very different playing styles and for away games we're going to bunker down.
It's not pretty and you have say that it hasn't really worked either when you look at just three wins and 13 points from those tactics.
The problem with going in defensive is that when you go behind, especially to an early goal, the team has trouble switching in to the attacking mindset and we don't seem to have the players capable of making that adjustment.
There is going to need to be changes in the offseason and Martin Rennie now has a tough few weeks and months ahead of him as looks to add the necessary personnel to make us better.
Going from the worst team to the playoffs has been great, but I still feel we fell short of where we could have been and now the pressure is on the current management to improve again next season.
Over the next few days we'll have our usual end of season round ups, with a season review, final 3-2-1 standings, our annual awards, a stat attack and an in-depth player analysis where we'll take a critical look at whether they should stay or they should go.
With all the comings and goings at the Caps this year, you can be certain that it's not all over yet and November could be a very interesting month.
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<b><u>AFTN 3-2-1 v LA:</u></b>
Our last 3-2-1 of the year. We have the results all tallied and will be posting the final standings shortly.
There were a lot of great displays last night in LA and in the end we went with…
3 points – BRAD KNIGHTON (Not a lot he could have done with the goals, but he commanded his box well throughout the game and put in a performance that should see him firmly established as next season’s number one)
2 points – ANDY O’BRIEN (There’s been so much to love about O’Brien these last few months. A great pick up and another solid performance when it mattered. His set to with Keane near the end was the passion we need to see from all these guys)
1 point – MATT WATSON (There were a lot of people surprised that Watson started but he had an excellent game. His footwork in the build up to the goal shows what he is capable of and he gave his all throughout.)
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