Three games to go. Three games to become the first Canadian club to make the MLS playoffs or go down in the history books as a team with an epic collapse.
For all the spin coming out of Vancouver, going in to the final matches of the season still in with a shot of either making or missing the playoffs is not the position this football club should have been in.
But here we are.
They’ve imploded. Who cares about pre-season expectations? What about the expectations of two months ago.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
It’s still in our own hands of course, but it could have been so much worse if it wasn’t for everyone’s least favourites clown haired player doing the business late on in San Jose.
That was just a horrible game to follow on Saturday night if you were a Caps fan.
Could we have gone to the Earthquakes and played out of our skin like that, nearly grabbing what would have been a huge three points? Not on current form.
You can’t say that Dallas want it more. Every player wants to be in the playoffs with their team and wants it just as bad. To say otherwise is ridiculous.
Dallas however seem to have the fight, passion and self belief to take their play to the next level when it’s needed most. You can also add in the fear factor, as they know they don’t control their own destiny and HAVE to perform. Failure is not an option.
Maybe Martin Rennie should have been playing up the "must win" aspect to install a fear of god into our players long before now, instead of playing it all down.
For the Whitecaps ARE now in must win territory.
You have to expect Dallas to get six points from their two games against Chivas. The Caps have to do the same against Chivas and Portland, and with the Cascadia Cup possibly still being up for grabs for the Timbers, and at the very least Cascadian pride, the latter is not going to be plain sailing in the slightest.
Whether Dallas can take anything from Seattle, and set up last weekend drama, is now the key.
Going down to the wire is what the Caps need to avoid. You just sense it wouldn't go well, unless the game means nothing to Real Salt Lake with regards to playoff positioning and they play a weaker side.
With Dallas playing their final game the day after Vancouver, if the Caps leave the door open they will surely walk in against Chivas and would go into the game knowing just what they need to do.
That's the nightmare situation for Caps fans – and I'm not talking about actually wanting Seattle to win!
There’s also been some debate between fans as to how much it matters whether the Caps get in or not.
On the one hand, it would be a great achievement to become the first Canadian team to accomplish that feat, especially after last year’s debacle. On the other, has it really been worth all the emotional torment if we go out after one game?
I think it is. Just.
We certainly don’t look like doing anything in the playoffs but then that’s when some teams find their spark.
We certainly need to find it from right now to even get there.
Saturday’s performance against Seattle was alright, but we still didn’t create enough.
Having been like a Richmond driver in recent weeks (not very good on the road), a lot has been expected of Barry Robson in this four game home stand.
Saturday’s game was a frustrating one to watch as Robson’s passes were either excellent or poor, with very little anywhere inbetween. He seemed to give the ball away a lot, but the stats seem to indicate about a third of the time. It felt like more.
Maybe that’s because he had the ball so much and covered one hell of a lot of the pitch. It’s part of his game that many of his critics seem to conveniently miss.
A lot is being expected of Robson and Koffie to create, but it shouldn’t just be up to them. The rest of the team need to step up too.
Part of the problem from earlier in the season is that we are missing the runs of Omar Salgado and the impact of the wingplay from Lee and Rochat. Our play on the left in particular is really weak right now.
Lee had a good game on Saturday on the other wing and was getting forward well and adding good support.
I feel Rochat is wasted in the middle. He’s doing well there, but is he really that big an improvement on Davidson? And all at the expense of losing the threat on the left.
Harvey did get himself forward well against Seattle and got into the positions. Unfortunately he then squandered them by poor passes or being too heavy footed. He’s no Alain Rochat where it matters.
The defence kept their first clean sheet in 13 games. Incredible after the miserly start the team had.
I like having Andy O’Brien back there.
He may not have the aggression and off the ball digs of Martin Bonjour, which I both like and get frustrated at, but he provides way better coverage to mop up Jay DeMerit’s mistakes.
That is one thing which has been missing from the early weeks in the season.
Jun Marques Davidson was regularly there to cover for DeMerit’s mistakes and to cover to allow Lee and Rochat to pile forward. Bonjour has never been that good at doing that, but O’Brien was excellent at just that on Saturday, as well as marshalling the defence.
He did a lot of shouting and positional work, especially with Lee. A lot of that will have gone unnoticed by many as the game went on around them. He certainly does a better job than the club captain in that regard.
Kenny Miller also does a lot of this and again, it's an overlooked part of his play by those keen to criticise him for not scoring every game and not being Eric Hassli.
Matt Watson had an excellent game when he came on for Sicknote. He should keep his place for tomorrow and it was good to see some fresh desire in the middle.
The injury to Darren Mattocks might not be as bad a blow to the team as many feel. It also might not be as bad an injury as first feared.
The absence of Mattocks will hopefully see the team getting away from the constant attack of through balls and over the top balls for Mattocks and Miller to run on to.
We all know we’re going to do it and so do the opposition.
Mattocks is expecting it every time and it’s starting to affect the other aspects of his game. His positioning and general off the ball movement is poor.
I watched him closely on several occasions on Saturday. He always seems to be expecting the long ball or the through ball for him to chase down. Not the short passes behind him.
Far too often he doesn't see the chance or the need to run off defenders for a different kind of pass. He often has a man either side of him as he anticipates the pass, making it far more difficult to slot the ball through without a defender getting their first.
Short passes tend to stay behind him and possession is lost.
We can't play this type of game as well with Miller and shouldn't even be trying. Being forced to look at a different gameplan with Mattocks' injury might be a help rather than a hindrance. Miller and Camilo looked ok in the 4-4-2 formation of the second half and has to be played against a poor Chivas side.
The Caps badly need a confidence boosting win by a few goals. Those opportunities don't come much better than against the worst in the West, with little to play for.
Anything but three points on Wednesday evening would be a disaster and likely end our playoff hopes altogether when it's all played out.
The time is long overdue for the Whitecaps players and management to stand up and be counted, especially if they want to be here next season.
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<b><u>AFTN 3-2-1 v Seattle:</u></b>
3 points – GERSHON KOFFIE (An absolutely immense performance from the young star)
2 points – YOUNG-PYO LEE (Solid at back and showed signs of the attacking runs he showed earlier in the season)
1 point – MATT WATSON (Came and made a good claim for some regular minutes)
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