Saturday’s defeat against LA was disappointing on many levels.
Never mind, the worst team in the West come a calling on Sunday to help them get back on the saddle. Three easy points against the poor, out of form Goats then.
Sorry, they did what now at the weekend? Oh. I see.
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Sure the Whitecaps held their own for long spells against the defending MLS champs, didn’t get a lot of calls go their way and were deprived of at least a point by a world class save.
The flip side of that, or the glass half empty side if you will, is that the Whitecaps were caught defending sloppily early, had to readjust their gameplan with the wrong personnel on the park/in their squad and in no way pressed home any sort of dominant home advantage, creating little in the process.
Either viewpoint, the scary stat line reads: LA - one shot on target, one goal, three points.
The other disturbing reading is the Western Conference standings. On a weekend where they could have moved back up to second in the West, pushing hard for that top spot, the Whitecaps ended it out of the playoff spots in 7th place, one point out of the postseason and nine off the top spot.
Vancouver still control their own destiny at the moment, with 27 points left to play for and 18 of those against teams now above them in the ever tightening playoff race.
The pressure is undoubtedly on, and this season run in will be the judgement of this squad and, for many, their futures in Vancouver. Can they rise to the occasion and play their best when they need to and get wins in big games?
Of those big games so far, they did against LA in May and Seattle in July. They didn’t in the Voyageurs Cup against Montreal and in all the other Cascadia derbies.
All nine remaining games are now big games and Sunday’s visit of Chivas could unexpectedly prove to be a season defining moment.
You can be sure that no-one within the Whitecaps will be taking those three points for granted, but they still need to get the job done.
Chivas have been playing some nice football of late and in Erick Torres, they may have picked up ones of the best loan signings of the season in MLS. The guy oozes quality. Four goals and an assist in his six games so far and not even one red card!
The Goats’ season is long over and they have nothing to play for but pride and contracts for the next campaign. Two of the most energizing motivators you can get.
Make no mistake. This is a must win game. We'll drop points in other games for the remainder of the season. Some of them may come at home. Nothing but three points is helpful or acceptable in this one. The Whitecaps cannot let Chivas be the ones to make them look like goats.
For that win to happen, it isn’t about luck, or getting calls going your way, the Caps will have to earn it and play a damn site better than they have done in the last two games.
We won’t bore you again by going on about the lack of squad depth. We’ve made our views on that very well known since April! Nothing has changed. We still don’t have the midfielder we've needed all season.
I’m still holding out for that trade we need before the roster freeze, more in hope than expectation.
Salary cap issues are obviously a concern but tradable assets for a midfielder and allocation money include Darren Mattocks, Jordan Harvey and our 2014 SuperDraft pick from Toronto, which currently sits as number two.
Frankly, a promising youngster next season and/or one for the future is nowhere near as much use as a quality midfielder and a left back we can have complete faith in right now.
Mattocks had a stinker against LA. His excusers can put it down to rustiness all they want, but he simply cannot read the game, what is needed of him and where he needs to be on the pitch. All that play the ball through for me to run on to shtick is clearly not what was on Kenny Miller’s mind on Saturday.
Miller obviously has the experience and game sense that Mattocks may develop as he gets older. Camilo has three years on him and Teibert is younger, but they both seem to be able to cope just fine. Yes, familiarity of the system and playing together helps, but surely that’s what training is for and he’s seen enough games from the bench and stands to know how the Caps play.
But Saturday's loss wasn't just about one player who played and one player who didn't (side note, and I know I've made this point on twitter and in the 'Caps Countdown' comments but it's worth repeating, but why was Camilo on the bench if he couldn't play? Why not have Heinemann there or if there was injury doubts about him, bring Hertzog back from Edmonton?).
Saturday played out as a game for the taking, but as a team, the Whitecaps could not get the necessary attack going to actually take it and a lot of that fell down in the middle and on the left side of the pitch.
Koffie is looking better and better each game in that DM role, but having him there leaves a bigger gap in the middle than already existed. Combine that with the weak play up the left and it's costing the Caps dearly.
Some of the build up play on the right wing against LA was fantastic to watch. I don't know how much of it came across on the TV but Teibert and Reo-Coker were constantly pointing to the other for where they wanted the ball played or where they were going to play it. The work between the pair of them could be our best hope in this final stretch (when both available) for getting the creativity and successful final ball in that we need, but it's dangerous to rely on that one option and the opposition already know that's where we're stronger.
As a result, they close down a lot more on the right and attack a lot more on the left.
I go back and forth on Harvey. I like him in there as a back up or occasional guy, not as a regular starter. He looks dangerous in both boxes.
A lot is being expected of him on that wing though because no-one in the middle is taking it on in a successful manner and that's been costing him and the Caps defensively.
So if a new player is not coming in, what is the answer?
Look around the squad and there isn't anything jumping out at you. Hurtado has potential on the left if he can stop the giveaways. His control has looked better in recent reserve outings and I like how hard he is to knock off the ball.
Throwing a bit of an out of the box one at you, which would need to see an amazing turnaround in Rennie's thinking, would be a switch to a 3-5-2 formation. The midfield is weak, so stack it and try and get them more into games. I know that this three at the back system didn't work out so good for Chivas under Chelis, but you have to believe we have more quality and understanding back there to pull it off.
O'Brien, DeMerit and Leveron as your back three could be interesting if the right wing backs were in there. Would Harvey flourish better as a left midfielder with just the occasional left back coverage required? The last two season I always preferred him as a midfielder to a defender. Generally, would want a new face in there.
You could keep Lee in a similar role on the right. Save his tried legs a little. Play Teibert just inside him, Reo-Coker in a free role in the middle and Koffie to his left.
Camilo and Miller up front, pace off the bench and the ability to drop back to a normal back four by taking off a CB if things need adjusting that way.
Never going to happen but the rigidity of the current formation is killing the Caps as they don't have the quality players to keep playing it and certainly not the quality back ups to come in when people are injured or having an off period. Plus they have become to easy to read.
Something has to change and they're running out of games to refind their June magic (note, not Jun's magic).
Chivas will know all this and sense the chance to play spoilers. This is a far different Chivas side that we saw demolished at BC Place back in June.
Both Erick Torres and Julio Morales are players who can give our sometimes flat footed backline a lot of problems and the fans nightmares. The Caps defence will need to be on guard from the kick off for their touches and turns, quick footwork and shooting.
They are a team that moves the ball quickly on the ground, so we need players in there capable of stopping that but also capable of getting right back at them the same way.
One of the main areas in which New York fell down against Chivas was that their midfield were shut out of the game. They just couldn't get anything going. And they're decent. Sound worryingly familiar?
There are two big chinks in the Chivas armour.
They are dreadful at defending set pieces and high crosses. Unfortunately for Vancouver, we are equally as dreadful at delivering and making the most of them.
They also seem to struggle to defend diagonal balls in the box and this could really be the way through for the Caps.
We just have to hope that Dan Kennedy doesn't produce another outstanding goalkeeper feat.
Any dropped points to Chivas wouldn't signal the end of the Caps' playoff hopes but it would be a serious death blow.
It could be the wrong team up next at the wrong time, but with a very difficult three game road trip coming up next, the Whitecaps can't let that happen.
'Mon the Caps.
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