[ATTACH=CONFIG]3462[/ATTACH]Two points most certainly dropped on Sunday as opposed to a point earned from a brave fightback.
Vancouver Whitecaps now head off for three tough and very crucial away games and they need to get points. But will they be on the road to hell or heaven?
For me, not one or two or even three points will likely do. It has to be a four point minimum haul by the time they return from their trip to Montreal, and ideally five or more.
The upcoming three game road trip looks like being the decisive making or breaking of this team.
Come back with points, and they’re still in the mix for the playoff places. Come back with one or none and it’s sadly going to be a case of being left in the hunt for dead October.
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Kenny Miller’s post game comments on Sunday summed it up nicely:
<i>"We've definitely got the players. We've definitely got the ability to go and do it, but it's not about standing here talking about it, it's about going away to Dallas next week, to San Jose after that and to Montreal after that and actually going out and crossing that white line and performing enough and well enough to go and get the results that we need, because let's be honest we're going to need more than one win. We're going to need a few points to make sure we give ourselves a chance going into those last five game."</i>
Sunday was undoubtedly a major set back to the Caps' post season hopes.
The Chivas game was always likely to be a potential banana skin with the way both teams had been playing. We said as much ourselves <a href="http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/content.php?4906-Caps-cant-allow-nannies-to-make-them-ninnies" target="_blank">>last week</a>.
In Erick Torres, Chivas have made one of the loan deals of the season. As he starts to get more attention from the Mexican national team, we can at least say we watched him in his breakout season.
Andy O’Brien can say that too.
Torres had O’Brien all over the place in that first half on Sunday. He just didn’t know how to handle him and that’s a worry. Other teams will see that and look to have a guy do the same and try and exploit some of the same weaknesses.
He wasn’t helped out much back there by Johnny Leveron, who failed to be in the right places and clear danger when needed. We missed Carlyle Mitchell’s height in the box at times, although Leveron is much more composed and talented on the deck.
With Jay DeMerit close to coming back into the starting eleven, there has to be concern about an ageing central pairing, fast opposition and a lot of road travel. At least they are fairly fresh from missing so much time.
A DeMerit/O’Brien pairing will likely be the way Rennie will go, but I’m not totally convinced that will be the best partnership to have out there in some of the games.
Nigel Reo-Coker’s presence was certainly missed in the middle. To his credit, Gershon Koffie stepped up big time on Sunday and Matt Watson played an important supporting role.
The third midfielder and the right wing spots are the two positions that are likely to prove crucial to the Caps’ playoff hopes.
The shape of the team was hard to read at times at the weekend, as was exactly where Russell Teibert was meant to be playing.
The Canadian’s star is certainly starting to wane in the run in and it will be interesting to see if someone steps up during his absence on international duty and makes that spot in the starting eleven his own.
Kekuta Manneh could step up, but he definitely seems more impactful coming off the bench and needs to look up and pass more. That said, when the young Gambian streaks forward and finds seven Chivas players back defending, with no Caps up in support, what is he meant to do?
That particular breakaway in the first half was the clearest sign of an attack not working as a team and I found it interesting after the game just how many players eluded to the need to be playing as a team.
It certainly felt that the players and/or the management were clearly pinning the recent results on the lack of a cohesive team unit and that has to be addressed pretty quickly.
The Caps need to try and find a way to shake up what they’re bringing to their offense. It’s just got too predictable. Trying to find a way to get Tommy Heinemann more minutes could be the key. Get a big bulldozer in to ruffle a few defensive feathers, get some knock downs and hopefully grab a few decisive strikes.
With 24 points left, the Caps can’t just rely on what worked in June starting to click again.
They need a spark, they need something fresh and unexpected, and they need it quickly.
The room for error in these last two months is close to nil.
Without repeating ourselves too much. For us, RSL, LA and Seattle are guaranteed playoff berths. That leaves the other five teams battling it out for the final two spots.
San Jose are both most in danger of falling away and most likely to make a late push. A couple of results, including the Vancouver one, could decide their fate.
They sit five points away from the final playoff place right now, having played a game less than three of the other five teams in the mix, including the Caps.
The Whitecaps could in fact inflict a death blow if they can go to Buck Shaw Stadium a week on Saturday and come away with a win. If they don't, you can realistically see San Jose getting four wins and a draw from their remaining games, which will leave them in a very strong position.
Before the Earthquakes task, Vancouver have to head to Dallas. The Whitecaps have never won there and nothing is screaming out at me that anything different is going to happen on Saturday. Dallas will pick up some points in their run in but I see them falling short, which would make dropping points to them all the worse.
Chivas have been playing some attractive football and Martin Rennie’s comments after the game on Sunday were that he expects them to take more points in their remaining games. So do I, although that may not help the Whitecaps out too much.
Of our playoff challengers, the Goats have only taken two points from Colorado in recent weeks. Looking at their eight remaining games, two are against Eastern Conference opposition and three are against the top three in the West, who, as we’ve already covered, we fully expect to be in the playoffs anyway.
That leaves one home game against San Jose and possibly two key games at home to Portland. If Chivas can take four or six points from those two matches against the Timbers, then that could really help the Caps out.
Despite how well Chivas played against New York and Vancouver, that’s still a pretty big if, but not an impossible one. Portland and San Jose will still be feeling it’s six and three points respectively towards their final tally.
But like last year, we cannot sit back and rely on other teams failures to make the postseason.
Looking at the remaining fixtures, I see the following points won and final standings:
4th - Portland - WWWLDLLD - 11 points - Finishing with 50 points
5th - San Jose - WWLWDLW - 13 points - Finishing with 47 points (more games won)
6th - Dallas - WDLWLWLL - 10 points - Finishing with 47 points
7th - Colorado - LDLLLWL - 4 points - Finishing with 43 points
8th - Vancouver - LLLDDLLW - 5 points - Finishing with 42 points
It may look depressing but a Caps win in Dallas and in Colorado and we're sitting on 48 points and 5th spot.
This is how tight it could all be and should be one of the greatest motivations for the team to head to Texas and come back with three points.
The whole success of the remainder of their season could depend on it.
‘Mon The Caps.
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