I like a manager to show faith in a player, especially a young one, but there comes a time when that loyalty costs the team points and I feel that the Whitecaps match against Chicago last Wednesday was a prime example of that.
An unchanged line-up from the team that drew 2-2 against Dallas three days earlier was the wrong choice for the trip east. It looked that way when the teamsheet was released and it continued to look that way during the game, as the players seemed tired, jaded and just not themselves.
"I sensed it a little bit in the warm up," Robbo admitted to Team 1410 radio after the match. "I thought they were excellent on Sunday with the performance so I made the decision to keep it the same, but they looked a little bit tired and a little bit leggy in the early part of the game."
But it's not so much the tiredness aspect that was frustrating with the choice of line-up, it was the fact that some out of form players kept their place in the starting eleven when this was a prime game to see what those chomping at the bit to get their chance could do. The likes of Russell Teibert, Nicolas Mezquida and Omar Salgado instantly spring to mind.
Not to mention that this was a great opportunity to pick up three road points to make up for the five recently lost at home with some fresh, attacking flair.
At the back, Carlyle Mitchell was coming off a bit of a mare against Dallas. I will probably watch his handball for the penalty for perpetuity and still not really know what was going through his head. I'm not sure he knows himself.
Now there's two ways to look at this one. Keeping Mitchell in the line-up is a vote of confidence to a young player that you won't just get dropped for making one mistake. It can do wonders to how he then plays and Mitchell was certainly not the worst performer against Chicago the next game. Dropping him could be very damaging and make him too cagey if/when he gets back into the line-up.
On the other hand, in a young team crying out for some experienced heads and leadership, you have a fully fit Andy O'Brien sitting on the bench and needing to get back into the starting line-up. That's a lot of experience, skill and money to leave on the sidelines.
Was it better to have kept the same central defensive partnership together for that one last game before the ten day break and then make a possible change, or address it early and get a new pairing one game under their belt before coming back to what is an even tougher stretch of matches?
At the other end of the pitch, the goals are simply not coming. The chances are once again, but the finishing is not there.
Darren Mattocks is wasteful but has at least been getting a couple of goals. Kekuta Manneh is out of sorts, can't go the full 90, looks gassed by the hour mark and hasn't been the same player since he missed the crucial penalty against Toronto in the Canadian Championship. The latter is probably a coincidence but who knows if there a knock to his confidence with that one.
Both those players try to do too much and try to get the glory themselves and go past one man too many.
Erik Hurtado went into the World Cup break on a high with five goals in five games. He goes into this mini-break in a slump, with no goals and barely a sniff of goal in the last eight matches. No goals, no assists and just four shots on target over those eight games (from 12 shots total), yet he is keeping his place in the starting eleven.
How long do you persevere with a player like Hurtado in the hope of him refinding some form or making some impact?
Both Mattocks and Hurtado should have been dropped a couple of games ago to my mind, but at the same time there's not a lot to replace them with. Mattocks hit some form but some of his finishing continues to be dreadful. Hurtado is offering very little right now. Can he turn it around? My gut says no.
So is Robinson being too loyal to his young players and giving them too much rope in the hope that they will turn it around? And what is the cost to the Caps' playoff hopes in doing this? Or does he simply have no better alternatives right now?
A lot of questions there, so we turned to the man himself for some answers.
"The players are the players I've got and I've got full confidence in the players," the Caps' coach told AFTN at training on Monday. "Are they firing all at the same time? No, but that doesn't happen. Have they got the experience to know how to get through tricky situations? No, because they haven't played before.
"This is the hand I've got. I'm happy with the hand I've got at the moment. Of course I want to try and add when I can. Is that possible now? Maybe one or two pieces and if it's not then I'll look to do it in the January window, but I've got full confidence in all these young players here."
Current form aside, the key to the Whitecaps' playoff hopes could lie in whether any striker can find consistency for the next three months straight. Whether that be a new addition or one of the current crop.
Either way, Robinson has one eye to next season and beyond and certainly isn't ready to give up on his young squad.
"With young players they have ups and downs," Robinson told us. "I keep saying all along, I'll take responsibility for them being out of form or that because I think it's the right thing to do to stick with them, through tough times as well as good times.
"Everyone talks about them when they're doing well and when they're not doing well, it's easy to say 'right, ok, out of the team you go' and forget about them. I won't forget about them. We run a very small group of players here and we will continue to get the best out of these players and hopefully that'll be enough."
Hopefully it will. The West is still so tight and any team stringing a few wins together will climb the table. The Caps' fate is still very much in their own hands and there's a lot of points left to be won if they can simply refind their early season spark, but someone needs to step up and repay the faith and perseverance shown in them or someone has to be given the chance to come in and then grab it themselves.
Developing the younger players is excellent, and we're huge supporters of it. We see Robbo's long term plan and we like it, but you have to see some glimmers of hope and improvement along the way and those are dimming with every game right now.
I've banged this drum for weeks, but the team needs a left winger who can deliver and a striker who can finish. Are they in the current squad?
As a final aside, the Whitecaps held a good natured shooting practice competition at training on Monday. It was won by Nicolas Mezquida. One of the players who can't find a place into the side, despite others not performing.
Sporting KC are next up on Sunday. Will we see changes? Will we see new additions to the squad? Or will Robbo's loyalty points finally be cashed in for a welcome three points?