For the last 24 hours or so, I've had a song stuck in my head.
The 1987 hit <a href="
Now though, every time we lose in Toronto (which is frequently it would seem) this song comes into my head and has tainted my happy memories of it!
TFC certainly have the hoodoo over the Whitecaps in matches played in the city. That 1-0 Canada Day victory in 2008 seems so long ago.
Yesterday's 3-2 loss at BMO Field was heartbreaking in so much as the winning goal came with the last kick of the ball, but it was mostly frustrating.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
The Caps aren't going to face many easier back to back games than against Chivas and Toronto.
These were two games when a draw would have left us semi satisfied because it was an away game, but also a little disappointed.
Instead, we have come away with just one point from a possible six and these are the blips that can really cost a team going down the final stretch when you start to look back at the season.
Martin Rennie and his management team had set a points target that they wanted to get from these five away games. They would never share such a thing publically of course, but my own target was to try and come back with a nine point haul.
We're at four, and at best can now get seven. It's better than nothing and that's where our little cushion we have over the other playoff chasers becomes invaluable.
We know a five game, cross country road trip is not only ridiculous, but also draining.
And there lies frustration number one.
The players are clearly shattered. They've been travelling, training, playing and all in horribly hot and humid conditions.
No matter how fit you are, it's going to start to take it's toll.
So why the hell do you not rotate the squad? Or at the very least use all three substitutions in a game.
I know why Martin Rennie is doing it, but it's still baffling, especially when it then doesn't pan out.
The reasons behind it are partly because he clearly doesn't feel that the players on the bench, and the fringe players in the squad in general, are at the right level or good enough to come in and do a job.
During games, he hasn't got the back up players to come in and change the game the way he needs it to change, so he sticks with who is out there already.
That then begs the question, why keep them around in the first place?
Not only that, but how can they develop and get to the required level if they can't get any gametime?
Rennie also likes consistency and the "if it ain't broke" mentality seems to be prevalent a lot with his team selections at times.
At other times, this is clearly debunked when he doesn't put one of the most consistent players of the season, Jun Marques Davidson, back into the holding midfielder role he has done so well in during the first half of the season.
The turning point of the game was Toronto's first goal.
With Lee out of position due to an injury, no-one was covering in that right back position and Toronto ran riot. From what we saw earlier in the season, if Davidson had been on that pitch, he would have almost certainly have slotted in to cover Lee's foray up the pitch and that goal most likely would not have happened.
Losing a game is always tough, especially when it's against a heated rival. When you lose one on the day that you ship out one of your most creative and popular players, questions will always be asked about how big a hole did his transfer leave in the team?
It was only one game, but already you could see we missed Davide Chiumiento, not only in attack but also in getting back and helping out the defence.
That's not a role that Camilo is really suited for.
Camilo struggled again. He's a shadow of the player from last year. Whether it's confidence, his niggling injuries, the lack of regular games or that teams have found out how to play him, it's hard to really say. In all honesty, it's likely a combination of all of them.
Yesterday was a chance for Camilo to come in and stamp his authority on the team once again. He failed to even lick the envelope and will likely find himself back on the bench on Saturday in Chicago.
Sebastien Le Toux isn't faring much better.
The Whitecaps have two stars at present and they're at opposite ends of the pitch.
Darren Mattocks and Joe Cannon have been immense in recent games. There's a huge void inbetween the pair of them though.
You have to think that that is only going to be filled by new players coming in.
Barry Robson still hasn't found his feet or his form. He's looked like he's blowing out of his ass towards the end of the last couple of games, yet Rennie has given him the full ninety, detrimentally to the team.
He at least showed some flashes of the player I know him to be against Toronto.
The passes are starting to find their range, and he was pivotal in the neat eight pass move that led to the Caps opening goal. It was a perfect through ball for Mattocks to get on the end of and that's what I saw him doing to both Mattocks and Hassli time and again in training before they headed down to LA.
I don't think we're going to see him at his best till around mid to late August.
He comes to Vancouver with a reputation for shouting at his team-mates, as I'm sure you've all noticed by now. How this is going to go down with some of them, it will be interesting to see.
As will who else comes in to the squad before the transfer window closes.
It's all gone quiet on the rumours front, so who knows what moves are afoot.
All we can be certain of is that there will be activity and I'm expecting something before next week is out.
'Mon the Caps.
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<b><u>AFTN 3-2-1:</u></b>
3 points - JOE CANNON (To play so well and to make so many important stops, yet still let in three and lose the game must be heartbreaking for the veteran.)
2 points - DARREN MATTOCKS (Two classy goals. The finishes on both of them were simply spectacular. A star is born. Can we keep him shining in Vancouver?)
1 point - JORDAN HARVEY (Best of a bad bunch of defenders. Kind of hard to drop him after the form he's been in but we need Davidson in more to shore up.)
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