WWWWWWWWWWWWow what a game. I only caught the second half (I'm in Japan right now and had trouble finding a live stream of the game), but marvelled that we didn't put in 5 or 6. (And that Colorado didn't bag 3.) I love Rennie's philosophy of pushing forward even with only ten men. We did look like the better team in the second half, and Rennie smelled a goal I think. Thoughts about Mattocks's yellow?
Oh how i wish im in japan right now. I have to work through the game and somehow none of the streaming sites worked for this game. My view is that despite the Mattocks sent off, we showed the characteristics mentioned among the Caps team and Martin's philosophy. In conclusion a very deserving win over Rapids. I have to congratulate the Impact with their stadium opener in a goal fest against Seattle. Very much needed of such result as we sit a point above the sounders in the western conference.
I was also happy that Rennie decided to push forward one man down. Le Toux played well with Mattocks while he was still in the game, so I wasn't surprised to see him slot into Mattocks's central spot after he left. Great goal! I would have liked to see Camillo come in instead of Hassli though; a bit more speed, and probably would have done better holding on to the ball when he got it. The second Mattocks yellow was inevitable, I guess. Although the ref seemed disinclined to give yellows for similar non-ball-playing kicks from Colorado players; the tackle on Koffie inside the box for instance. Replay clearly showed the Colorado defenceman run past the ball, and hook his leg deliberately to scissor Koffie's leg. Clear penalty (uncalled) and a clear yellow--maybe even straight red if that hooked leg is seen as malicious. No attempt at the ball--which was longer gone than the Mattocks yellow--but every attempt to try and break Koffie's leg. The first Mattocks yellow was an outright joke. Mattocks was already headed to ground after he cut back in at a strong angle--just decided to kick his leg out a bit. If that's a yellow for diving, Lenhart of the Earthquakes would be double carded after the first 20 minutes of every game. The league has to do something about the officiating. This guy looked like some of the refs that used to do my beer league. Took him what seemed like 30 seconds to even get down to where Mattocks was for the first yellow (out of shape), and had called 18 fouls by half time in a game that wasn't rough. Shrugging his shoulders and arguing/justifying his calls to the players--amateur bush-league stuff. He and Toledo probably hang out at the same pub. Where does the MLS find these idiots? If the league has any credibility, they discipline this guy for such a performance.
Your comment is spot on. After the sent off I was nervous that Rennie was going to bring on Harvey to just grind out a 0-0 draw. So its very pleasing to see that the caps have retained the offensive mentality to go for the win. On a side note, I would not be happy if I am Camilo at the moment, he basically got shafted aside and let Harvey to sub in instead. To me, Harvey does not have any more defensive attribute than other because everytime he is on, we are more likely to concede.
Great game, they did well with 10 men to get all three points. Unfortunately we saw an ugly side of Mattocks today, first the dive then the rash challenge all in the space of two minutes. He needs to keep a calmer head than that.
Mattocks is a gifted that has a bright future i'd say, getting a quote from Rennie "he needs to slow down." It makes sense because as he plays more matches for the caps, experience will build and he will choose to be a lot smarter on the pitch. However if your at age 30 and consistently getting on ref's back, then its a different story.
I completely agree that the officiating was wildly inconsistent. Koffie was fouled in the box and that should have been a penalty. Being a ref myself (I ref up to university-level games) I gotta say that I think that Mattocks deserved the first yellow for simulation. He kind of lost his feet under himself, but then added a flourishing little flop and immediately looked to the referee for a foul. If I see that in the game, I see it as Mattocks deliberately trying to have the referee perceive a foul has taken place. Subtle move by Mattocks, but textbook simulation. We both agree he deserved the second, and that equals red. Sucks to lose him for a game. And as of this match, I'm officially off the Hassli bandwagon. Seems like a great guy from interviews and the one time I met him, but he should be carrying our team, and instead, he's a non factor either because of suspensions (last year) or lack of I-don't-know-what - heart, courage? (this year). I say let Tan and Hassli go at the end of this season. Find another strong CM so we can go to a 3-5-2 =)
Whether the initial yellow card for diving was a good one or not, the second yellow by Mattocks was just stupid and showed a total lack of discipline. Really immature play which in most circumstances would or should have cost the team dearly. One player who hasn't been mentioned is Chiumiento: he made a brilliant turn and cross-field pass to Le Toux on the goal. Not many other players in the league could have made that play, if any at all. First class.
Davide always does that unique feint touch. Its brilliant yet subtle, 9/10 the defender gets wrong footed, yet its just one "simple" trick.
Yeah, that was genius. And that's the kind of one-touch goal that Le Toux can score regularly, imo. When he has to take multiple touches, he seems to over-run the ball, or run out of ideas as to what to do with it. For me, he's a far better target man than Hassli.
i totally agree with your comment on Hassli-- IMO he is a done deal with rennie who, no doubt, has spent a lot of time trying to get hassli to change his approach to games, fitness, etc- time to cut your losses and try to get a trade (but who would want him with the salary hit of 1/2 season pay unless the Caps subsidize the deal??) regardless of his few wonder goals, the Caps are a better team without his distractions on the field; keeping him for the rest of the season could be a real BIG negative/distraction for the team as far as Tan goes, i can understand his frustration-- if rennie has no plan to use him for the rest of the season, then Tan should be released so he can pursue other avenues-- tan has been an honorable player and deserves either a chance to play first team or to be released/traded and this is 2 games in a row that chiumiento has played well-- i just might be changing my mind about his value to the club IF he keeps up his game over the next 2 weeks-- but he still is a 60 minute player-- his pass to le toux for the goal was amazing-- simply world class!
Since I'm of asian decent (Hong Kong), I do wanna see Tan do well when he played well in the final part of last season. But what he did on twitter was not professional and deserved the suspension. It has been a gut feeling that Tan would be frustrated having featured with only a few minutes when its half way through the season. On the other hand, I hope Davide won't be too unhappy if Hassli does leave the team since they r best buddies off the pitch.
I think the best thing to come out of this game was that the Whitecaps have opened up a 10 point gap on sixth placed Chivas and a six point gap on the fifth place Rapids. I dont want to jinx anything but id be pretty sure the Caps will make the playoffs this year. Here's hoping they make the top three at least !!
Thanks! Really appreciate it. I upload new photos and articles as much as I can, so keep checking back for more updates
Le toux is too one dimensional to be relied on. his speed and work rate are great but he lacks skill. his first touch and passi ngawful. he's the opposite ofhassli . i wish they could combine into one player. i think ultimately the need to partner together like they did against montreal and camilo needs to be trqded for depth