.jpg]It was D-day for Vancouver Whitecaps in Portland last night. Defensive mistakes, disciplinary problems and a distinct lack of team chemistry all came together for another derby day disaster
<i>"We’re in a bad spell just now. We’re not playing to the standard that we were before. So it’s going to be a good test for our character, to see how we bounce back.
It’s one of those things where we have to dig really deep now. We’ll get criticism for that, understandably so. I think we deserve it based on that performance. That wasn’t anywhere near the standard we would expect from anybody and we have to turn it around."</i>
That was the thoughts of Caps coach Martin Rennie as he spoke to reporters immediately after the loss in Portland.
Strong words. Honest words. And they need to be as the natives are getting restless.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Three defeats in a row, two of them in derby games, and some woeful and lacklustre performances does that and rightly so.
The current Vancouver Whitecaps team we are watching is a shadow of it’s former self and their early season success. So what’s gone wrong?
Too many changes to the squad? Too many suspensions? Poor player performances? Poor management?
All of the above? We have a winner.
Rennie went on to describe the current losing streak as <i>"a tough little run"</i>, whilst Joe Cannon described the team as being in a <i>"funk"</i> as <i>"the stakes have got magnified"</i>.
It’s really hard to think that this is the same team that impressed against San Jose, Los Angeles and Real Salt Lake recently and had us contemplating third, and maybe even second, place in the West.
Now, holding on to fifth spot is going to be a huge challenge and the game against Dallas on September 15th could make or break us and our season.
The Caps haven’t suddenly become a bad team overnight. The quality is still there, they’re just not playing as a team.
Kenny Miller got his first Caps goal last night in Portland but is still not firing on all cylinders. He is playing far too deep and getting little support for what he is looking to do and how he needs to play.
He struggled with who he had around him. He missed having Darren Mattocks to interchange with. There is no spark, no chemistry, between him and Camilo yet. Will there ever be one?
I’m not sure Miller and Camilo can play in the same team.
Camilo reverted back to trying to do it all by himself, but when he was the best offensive layer, it’s hard to knock that too much, but it really doesn’t help the team effort.
Dane Richards struggled to get into the game and find room, but was rejuvenated when Mattocks came on and he found his speed again.
A lack of speed was just one of many things evident in the Caps team for the whole game.
We knew it was going to be a bit more defensive being an away game, but when you go a goal behind you need to be able to make the necessary switch to move away from that and this is one aspect where we really struggle time and again. We can’t seem to react quickly enough and make the necessary tactical changes.
The Caps needed to have an impact player to come off the bench and try and be a game changer. That was just what we were bemoaning a few days ago.
For this game it was going to be Camilo, Richards or Mattocks. The general thinking was Camilo, but as he impressed in training, Mattocks was the one to make way.
We needed to have someone, anyone, come off the bench and make the difference. We hadn’t expected it to be with a red card.
After picking up another stupid card, and probable two or three game suspension, Mattocks is going to now fill that sub role for most of the remainder of the season and Miller will get the nod as our starting striker.
If Mattocks can’t change that aspect of his game, you could see him being the latest name to be shipped out.
The discipline of the squad has been brutal in recent weeks.
Regular readers will know that I like a player with a bit of bite. One who likes to put himself about a bit. A good, old-fashioned hardman, but one that can do it subtly or as subtle as you can with all the cameras around.
Leading with your elbow and kicking a player in their chest is not the way to go about that. I can easily handle a player losing out for yellow card accumulation when it’s a build up of some good, robust challenges.
Discipline has been a big talking point this past week and it continued post-game following Mattocks’ latest sending off and forthcoming suspension.
Kenny Miller told us after the game that these decisions and suspensions are things<i>"that help a team build and come together"</i>. Let’s hope so, as we badly need both of those things right now, with emphasis being on the 'team' aspect.
The dismantling of a successful, and winning, team mid-season raised eyebrows at the time. Now that it’s all starting to go a little wrong, questions are being asked more loudly and if it keeps going, the knives will be out. Maybe not for Rennie but for the players that have come in. Rennie will get a lot of the flak though too and if we don’t turn this around, he deserves it.
The general feeling from within the Caps camp is that the players have had more than enough time to gel and integrate into the team and the systems. So is it the wrong players, the wrong systems or both that are the reasons for our downfall?
It’s not all bad news for the newbies, as Andy O’Brien looked fairly solid at the back. Unfortunately O’Brien, and those around him, seem to have no pace at all back there at this stage of the season. Our attacking fullbacks are fairly non existent right now.
The game deciding goal came from a mistake from Joe Cannon, but he has saved us point after point this season that there will be no finger pointing there.
Our midfield was dominated and posted missing by a poor Portland team that simply had our number, had pace and looked like the only team that was going to win the game from very early on.
Barry Robson has had a poor last couple of games. A lot of that is due to having to carry the rest of the midfield, who have been far too defensive.
Whatever is the cause(s), the hole in this sinking ship needs plugged real soon or we could see a major collapse.
Confidence and momentum can do so much for a team in the final stretch of the season. Vancouver are lacking both right now.
Finding them again at the right time could set the Caps up nicely for a serious playoff push. Every team goes through a rough patch. We just have to hope that ours doesn’t come at the wrong and costly time of the season.
This is the fine line that the Whitecaps now need to cross and soon.
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<b><u>AFTN 3-2-1:</u></b>
A hard one and very open to debate and interpretation, but…
3 points – ANDY O’BRIEN (was looking good back there and had a few dangerous forays at the other end of the pitch as well before his injury)
2 points – CAMILO SANVEZZO (the main danger in attack for the Caps for most of the game and we use that word loosely. At least he tried, if maybe a little too hard on his own)
1 point – JAY DEMERIT (hard to pick a third but Jay put in a mostly solid display in his first game back from his concussion. A few mistakes here and there but who didn’t have those?)
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