Nice to get through to the knockout.. it will give us some fun in the off season (I think the next round goes early in the new year. Saved Carl's Job I would think too.
sometimes there has to be a dark cloud covered by a silver lining- and according to FO Pres bob lenarduzzi, it looks like the whitecaps will stay on the same road- keep the entire coaching staff and recruit mainly in CA and SA 3rd tier leagues, maybe asia, hoping to find the proverbial golden talent that will lead them- cheaply- to the promised land of being a MLS soccer power- wont happen, just like it didnt happen this year the caps record of finding that golden gem has been abysmal- morales, rivero, perez, bolanos, flores, smith, rodriquez, and kudo- all being basically busts to mediocre and costing upwards to $4 mill USD but the CCL games might be fun IF the teams play a first string team- mexican teams will probably demolish us unless there are significant upgrades... and i have no hope of that happening
The next knockout round will be before the MLS season... so, they will certainly start their best 11 (or at least who Carl is loyal too so maybe our friend Pedro will be the #10 in that series!).
Good to see Vancouver finish the group stage strong. They did well enough that they should get a good seed and therefore a more friendly draw for the first knock out round.
i dont read too much into these results- the opponents are in 3rd tier leagues and does it gives the appearance that the Caps are dangerous in CCL competition; players like techera look great in these games, but i dont read too much into it- a 3rd tier player against 3rd tier team (actually might be a 4th tier team)
Yeah, the group was soft.. but you know what... we get a cool home and home series sometime in Jan or Feb and if it is against an MLS club the Caps have a legit chance at a semi final. For me, that is nice even if it was an easy path to get there. We have not had CCL knockout play before, it will be nice to see something fresh after such an absysmal season.
The Caps can only play the teams they are set against which, by the way, did include a fellow MLS side. The CCL is a fun tournament, especially once you get to the knock out rounds. I say this as a TFC fan who's had the chance to see his team in the CCL. Enjoy what the Caps do.
i will look forward to the next round, but with so many suspected changes in players, it might be a stretch to see them play well as a TEAM, especially since it is preseason in MLS- depends on how many games the Caps play in euro to get ready but yeah-- it should be good or has the potential to be good entertainment- it will give us an indication of the possibilities for MLS 2017
Caps are missing Montero, who will be out a while. Bolaños and Mezquida. Even if Vancouver takes out the Sellouts, semi finals aren't going to be easy.
This is seriously the biggest match in the MLS tenure of the Caps. At least to me. I hope they come out of this maybe down 1-0 and the city gets jacked up for the return leg. We can certainly start close to our best lineup. Even David Pratt is hyping thing thing!!!
staying within 2 goals of tigres would be a soccer miracle- getting an away goal even moreso (like 3-1 tigres)- my prediction- tigres wins by 4-5 goals- the Caps have no one in MF to control the game, hold passes, move the ball to the forwards- at this juncture, the Caps MF is one of the weakest in MLS and as we all know, games are won and lost in the MF
0-0 at the half but I have a feeling the floodgates will open for Tigres for at least 3 goals. No comparison in quality of two teams even accounting for early season for 'Caps and well into their season for Tigres.
Shea through on goal at 60' but falls down, gets up and then dives and gets carded for simulation. That was basically what you can expect from him as a striker. Should have been a goal.
CCL is a fool's errand for Vancouver. First, they play a weak team against San Jose on Saturday in preparation for this team and wind up losing 3 pts. Not only that, they played 70 minutes a man down and used extra energy to try and protect their 2 goal lead. Then they fly to Monterrey, Mexico to play against a team that is a full level of quality above them and lose by 2 goals. Next, this tired team gets to fly to Toronto for a game on Saturday where they will be in no shape to get a result and probably lose 3 more pts. But, since they are "only" 2 goals down, they will have to go all out against Tigres at home and will probably hurt themselves again for MLS matches before and after that one. Vancouver never had a chance to beat Tigres in a home-away series. The teams aren't even close in quality.
This is one of the serious detriments of salary caps... a club can not build enough depth to handle multiple competitions. Putting priority on one competition is at serious detriment to another one that has a game later that week. This CCL Semi is (regardless of whether people buy into the hype or not) , the biggest stage they have played on since they joined MLS. So, it did deserve them to put out as best of an 11 as they could. Yes, it costs them MLS points, however, I accept that risk in this case. They are not MLS cup contenders as it is. I don't know the numbers for Tigres, but their salary budget must be 8 - 10 times that of the Caps considering how good they are and there no cap in Mexico.
well, my miracle happened and it really could have been a 1-0 lose- hats off to the efforts by all the players who gave 100% and to the head coach who got the lineup and game tactics spot on- with a lethal touch, the Caps could have scored a goal on 3 good chances it was remarkable how the young alphonso davies played in the 1st half- some trickery, good passing and defensive work- truly belonged on the field; especially impressed by the work rate of shea, de jong, laba and williams; montero looked lost and very ineffective except for 1 header that set shea in alone on the goalie PS it really pissed me off to see shea do a dive trying to get a PK i wonder how many will attend the rematch on april 5; if it were 1-0, i definitely would have gone; not so sure at 2-0
PS the next Cap game is in vancouver vs TFC who will be missing giovinco- we could be 1/9 points and falling behind the pack- as it stands, this team is not good enough to make the playoffs- add 1 significant MF leader and it could spin to being a possibility
Sad to see the Whitecaps drop the series to the Tigres. Overall, however, another good showing by the Canadian entry into the tournament.
i was impressed with the whitecaps' performance against a team that has a much, much larger budget- nothing to be embarrassed about- if bolanos had have scored on his great chance, it would have been 2-2 in aggregate and it would have been game-on