Sigi clearly feels like no one has locked down their spot in our back four (save for cole I suppose) Here’s hoping they get it together. I can’t survive another defensive tear like last.
I think the first 10 or so matches will be tough. Romney and Steres are average MLS defenders at best. Skljevik is new to the league. Ciani is yea... Arce seems to have potential, but he will get exposed at least a few times. Not sure who to start our first match.
Vancouver goals : https://www.whitecapsfc.com/post/20...ara-score-third-goals-preseason?autoplay=true Not the best from THA on the first goal.
Based on the highlights, we look really out of shape. A lot of guys look physically exhausted, should we not be in better shape by now? The marking on both goals was atrocious, simple goals to be giving up, even in pre-season. Hope it gets better quickly.
My guess is they're just worn out from non stop training. I know Sigi was making conditioning a priority this offseason and I'm guessing the guys haven't had a break since preseason started and they just need a day or two off to recover. If the team still looks out of shape against Portland, then I'll be worried. Until then I'll cough it up to the coaching staff pushing the guys extra hard during the preseason.
well, I'm officially pessimistic about our chances again. I was excited, but seeing us bleed goals and generally look as anemic in defense as we did last season has taken all the air out my expectations. I'm certainly no expert in tactics, but one of the things that I remember Bruce emphasizing when he came in was team defense: when we lose the ball, get your butts back on defense. And I remember seeing a response- the team hustling back to get in shape. Watching the San Jose travesty, it seemed like defensive shape was gone once we lost the ball. Some of those opportunities were bad giveaways, but especially towards the end, SJ would sit back and counter us and once we're stretched, bad things happen. Kitchen helps, but I'm thinking too many of our pieces that look good when attacking, Alessandrini and the Dos Santos brothers, tend to give up too easily once we lose the ball. For some of you that more tactically astute than I am, am I misreading this?
I'm a little worried given how we've looked on some goals. But preseason results don't mean much. If you went by preseason Atlanta is worse than CLB, Minn, and the Charleston Battery.
This seems eminently logical and we should all remember that with so many new faces on the team a fast start is unlikely. Once they get to know each other better the team looks pretty good on paper, but they need time.
Starting XI against Vancouver : David Bingham; Rolf Feltscher, Michael Ciani, Jorgen Skjelvik, Ashley Cole ©; Perry Kitchen, Joao Pedro; Romain Alessandrini, Giovani dos Santos, Emmanuel Boateng; Ola Kamara. Bench : Brian Sylvestre, Hugo Arellano, Emrah Klimenta, Tomas Hilliard-Arce*, Daniel Steres, Dave Romney, Drew Skundrich*, Baggio Husidic, Servando Carrasco, Jonathan dos Santos, Nate Shultz*, Sebastian Lletget, Chris Pontius, Ariel Lassiter, Cordell Cato** Ciani starting, Jona is injured so we don't risk him. No more G2 guys but all the three Draftees are here. Buescher is not on the bench but Cato is. I think he did OK during the preseason, I can see him earning a contract which could be a good news because we are thin at the fullback positions.
Close -- Ola Kamara played in on goal, but GK did a good job shutting down the angle and he coudln't chip it over
Good pass by Gio. Gets a little lucky with Vancouvers bad defending. Ola needed to score. Wish Gio had the ability to be our true 10. We sorely miss an offensive presence behind Ola.
0-2 Vancouver. My first time watching the time this year. Not convinced by our defense and not convinced by Bingham or Feltscher.
Ola seems like he'll be this years RA. If he isn't sharp, and if he isn't on, we're going to suffer big time.
1-2 loss. We're clearly better than last season but defense is the biggest concern. Cole was my MVP but Feltscher is clearly not a world beater, Ciani had a good game but his slowness is obvious, and Skjelvik looked average (though his passing is clearly good). Bingham has not been decisive yet. Joao Pedro is in a very, very bad situation. Aside from Cole, I thought Kitchen and Alessandrini had good games.