Whatever you do, don’t shake loose Joe Cannon’s short shorts (screengrab)
It’s finally time to change things up.
This seems like the road trip that lasts forever, hasn’t it? It’s only been eight days since manager Martin Rennie fielded an experimental side against Colorado that replaced suspended Jun Marques Davidson and injured John Thorrington in the midfield with defender Alain Rochat and new arrival Barry Robson.
That game against Colorado was fine and the Caps ground out an away win by counting on a piece of individual brilliance from Darren Mattocks for a 1-0 win. But at the the time, I thought it was certain the Caps wouldn’t know what to do if the opposing team had scored again.
If a few chances had went the other way—and they were very, very close—I’m not convinced they had an answer that would have helped them retain the three points.
See? I said that. Martin Rennie named the same side—even though he had Davidson back—against Chivas USA. And they weren’t able to come up with anything, with Mattocks suspended. Commentators noted that Rennie didn’t want to change things up when things were working, which is a fine sentiment except they weren’t. That game was a goalless draw, meaning that in 120 minutes, the Whitecaps garnered a goal and two shots on target, but they patted themselves on the back for garnering road results.
So Wednesday night, it wasn’t an unfamiliar story. They sold away Davide Chiumiento, one of the few players to create a chance against Chivas, on gameday to FC Zurich. Alain Rochat started in midfield and Davidson started on the bench.
The Whitecaps had trouble creating anything through the first half and managed to get something out of the blue at 50 minutes to go up 1-0. If you look at it, it’s good! One of the first pieces of great work from Robson in a looping ball to Mattocks who, like his goal against Colorado, simply worked as hard as he could to get the ball in the goal. Excellent, but not the thing you can count on happening because it was certainly against the run of play. Two minutes before it, pinned on the left hand side, a short throw in went to Robson, who passed it back to DeMerit, who gave it to Rochat, who gave it right back to DeMerit, who kicked it back to Robson, who put it out. That play never left the same ten yards. They had nothing.
1-0 up because Mattocks pulled something out of nowhere. Just like Colorado. Except this time, the Whitecaps conceded. And then they conceded again. The first goal came just after Y.P. Lee picked up a wrist knock while trying to send in a cross from the Toronto byline. As a result, the guy in charge of guarding TFC defener Ashtone Morgan’s cross is Le Toux, a centre forward playing as a midfield winger. Toronto’s Luis Silva at that point is already behind Gershon Koffie—also a midfielder—and makes it to the ball easily.
On the second, Cannon punches away a cross and immediately the defense splits: half to the clump of players on the left, half towards Frings on the right, leaving a space filled only by Gershon Koffie, who looks at the ball dumbly as it careens past. At this point, the Whitecaps have tried to make themselves look like an outlet capable of scoring a goal and as a result bungled their organization. The goals, combined with some physical play from Toronto, shook them away from being the lean unit that ground out those points in Colorado and LA; at this point in the game everyone is everywhere in an attempt to do something useful.
Then Mattocks came back to equalize in the 90th minute against the Worst Team in the World because he has a four-foot vertical jump. The club have this goal plastered everywhere, because it’s nicer than the result. Look at it! It’s pretty. But it wouldn’t be the result, because the Whitecaps were still all over the place. Two minutes later, Dunfield broke his cover on a corner and got a free header. Cannon couldn’t do one of his patented diving saves because Y.P. Lee, who is 5’9″, tried to head it off the line and succeeded only in knocking it into the goal.
But more than anything else, what I’ll remember about this game is Gershon Koffie lumbering around stock still by every single goal and covering his head dumbfoundedly.
First goal, Koffie on the near post.
Second and worst: Koffie hanging out around where Frings’ shot careened.
Third, Koffie looks on at Dunfield’s 94th minute header.
But I don’t even blame Koffie! Why is he, a central midfielder, carrying the most important marking assignments standing still watching Frings’ shot careen past him? The same reason why Y.P. Lee is trying to head a ball while Cannon is trying to dive for it. Because the current Whitecaps formation is a patchwork job that scrambles under pressure.
But at least now we know that it doesn’t work.
Stats after the jump.