2020 Season game Analysis

Discussion in 'Vancouver Whitecaps' started by hot potato, Feb 16, 2020.

  1. hot potato

    hot potato Member+

    Feb 21, 2014
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    a new season, will it be a better year ??
     
  2. hot potato

    hot potato Member+

    Feb 21, 2014
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    GAME AT PORTLAND, FEBRUARY 16--

    Observations/Analysis:


    1. POTM-- Inbeom- by a country mile-- controls, sets the pace, connects the team-- all-in-all, a very smart player and heading to Europe come july

    2. Underwhelming- dajome showed a willingness, but had little impact on the game

    3. Looking Good- lucas cavallini- truly is THE TANK- hungry to score, works his arse off, aggressive inside and outside the box

    4. Over his head- Jake Nerwinski- MLS has by-passed his ability

    5. One Way Direction- Ali Adnan- impactful going forward, not so much on defending

    6. There is another way- Russell Teibert still sees the filed in reverse and sideways- he is who he is

    7. The Lone Wolf- Yordy Reyna still works for himself - a terrible waste of talent

    8. Did I see it ??- teibert doing a header inside Portland's box

    9. A long way to go- David Milonkovic has a long way to go to get game shape... and will probably be injured soon enough

    11. Runs like me... and I am in my 8th decade- Andy Rose- enough said

    10. What would I do??- Recognizing that the owners will not go after a significant MF player because it would cost them $$$$, I would move adnan to AMF and find another LB; have a soccer psychiatrist talk to reyna about the need to connect with his teammates; wait for godoy to be the RB; play Milinkovic about 35 minutes/game; hope that Hwang doesn't get injures

    11. Still- Caps are a team heading for #8-10th placing

    11. Keep it a secret- Inbeom is the key to shutting down the Caps -- close him down and we fall off the cliff, but cava will make it interesting, but who else can score ???
     
  3. hot potato

    hot potato Member+

    Feb 21, 2014
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    BTW- we lost 1-2
     
  4. BearcatSA

    BearcatSA Member

    Jan 15, 2008
    Canada
    I think you should throw Teibert in that category, as well. He's a back up/utility guy going forward.

    With Rose, the fact that he came on as the sub for Khirmi leads me to think that Didic will probably be on his way to another trial elsewhere now that the Serb and Godoy are now n the CB fold.
     
  5. hot potato

    hot potato Member+

    Feb 21, 2014
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    Russell should always be on the Caps- he bleeds OUR ALL OUR HONOR- sometimes its more than just playing ability- having a local guy on the squad is important- no better than teibert to answer that call
     
  6. BearcatSA

    BearcatSA Member

    Jan 15, 2008
    Canada
    He can answer the call as a back up. If (and that's a big "if") Metcalfe impresses enough to earn minutes, then he can answer the call of being the "local" guy because he was born and raised in the Lower Mainland.

    The only thing that matters with a majority of this fanbase is supporting a winner. Getting the best players and building the best team possible trumps everything else.
     
  7. hot potato

    hot potato Member+

    Feb 21, 2014
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    PRESEASON VS MINNESOTA- February 22-- 2-1 WIN- some thoughts:

    1. Remember...- what the Caps looked like last february?? in this game, a lot more connection, solid passing, more pressure going forward- PLAYED LIKE A UNIT

    2. POTM- Ali adnan - moved the ball well, attacked down the wing, looks fitter, a leader on the field and made the pass for Montero's winner

    3. Well-aged wine- Russell teibert - finally has learned to make passes going forward- its better to be late than never- more attack-minded

    4. He heard me-- Dajome was far more involved in the game and did some pacey runs and dribbling- venuto and bangoura WHO??

    5. The winner of the hair contest- Khimiri has a style all his own (mattocks excluded) and he shows a good ability to move the ball with passes to our MF

    6. The ground has to love it !!- WE played the ball more on the ground and kept more possession

    7. Molasses, but...- Milinkovic offers a good security position/pass- but he will rarely blow by a defender

    8. When was the last time a Cap did this??- Cavalini - 4 goals in 4 straight games

    9. His socks came off- Yordy reyna was tireless in moving forward and even did some passing along the way- I thought I saw some smoke coming from his boots

    10. Settled- Inbeom looks more adjusted to the league and what can be expected- matured- give him another good MF to team up with and the team can have a positive start to the season

    congrats to Fredy Montero for getting the winner- could he be our super sub ??
     
  8. OldFan2015

    OldFan2015 Member

    Nov 29, 2015
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    Looking forward to your game reports again this season. You dropped off a lot last year and were derelict in your duties.
     
  9. hot potato

    hot potato Member+

    Feb 21, 2014
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    I was in soccer depression all of 2019- hard to keep commenting on the same shite - we will know in 2-3 months IF the ship has truly turned around... but I am liking what I see

    its not a playoff team YET-- but I am moving the needle from #9-11 in final standing to #7-9- the reason is I am wondering who will score after cava- he cant do it all by himself and, at this point, I see no other- fredy will be a supersub for nicking 4-5 and yordy the same - AINT ENOUGH
     
  10. Kingston

    Kingston Member+

    Oct 6, 2005
    I wish the Whitecaps well this season (unless they meet TFC in the Canadian Championship or the MLS Cup).

    I think the team is significantly improved over last season. It isn't going to shoot you to the top of the standings but it should be much more fun to be a fan this year with further improvements possible on this base next season. The team is turning it around.
     
  11. hot potato

    hot potato Member+

    Feb 21, 2014
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    HOME OPENER VS SKC- FEBRUARY 29-- 1-3 LOSS: analysis

    1. What has changed??- control the MF and a team controls the game- its Soccer 101- the MF of SKC were far superior at moving the ball constructively and intelligently- what we see with the Caps is NO improvement, but hopefully the new recruits- while not scintillating signings- will be a big improvement- we had 2 MFs- in-beom and teibert- and both were overwhelmed by the SKC MF coverage- easy-peasey- MDS should have known that there is NO WAY that 2 MFs will do the job vs SKC

    2. POTM- David Milinkovic was a tricky winger and actually made a great touchline run to set up Jake's goal- while only 60-65 minute game fit, he looks like a valuable addition

    3. On the other hand...- Christian Dajome was basically useless on the other wing and offered very little to the attack- he isn't as fast as people say he is - he looks like a disappointing signing, in the lucas venuto space

    4. WELL DONE, Mr Jake- if Jake is one of your better players on the night- and I say this respectfully- the Caps are in trouble … and they were, except for about 20 minutes

    5. That wont happen again!!- Lucas Cavallini missed 2 great opportunities, a post and a leg squeeze by the SKC goalie- defeated him, but he had so little service- he is the striker we have always needed with his super-aggression and butt checks

    6. STFU- Ali Adnan rails on his teammates and he must be royally pissing them off or undermining the confidence of our 2 young CBs- we really do need godoy back-- Adnan is no prize as a defender anyways!!

    7. The Darren Mattocks Hall of Fame- Fredy Montero is sporting a new hairdo- maybe he thinks it will improve his game.. IT WONT

    8. The next home game- YIKES!!! we could be 0-2 and the attendance will plummet unless there is a miracle in LA- and the owners continue to be LIARS about investing in the Club to make it more competitive

    9. In-Beom- Hwang might be heading to Europe this summer, but it wont be to a big euro club- I just don't see the ability to draw the transfer attention

    10. The Lone Wolf- Yordy Reyna continues to take on multiple opponents and constantly looses the ball and frustrates the hell out of me and probably his teammates- he isn't the brightest bulb on the field and refuses to change his game- his time in Vancouver has to be limited IMO

    11. He has to be on a short leash- MDS- outside of cava, what has he really accomplished in 2 years of recruiting- lets hope that Owusu and Bikel, and maybe Lee from S Korean, will improve his resume- if not, he and his staff will be gone by july and the Club will be at or near the bottom of the West
     
  12. hot potato

    hot potato Member+

    Feb 21, 2014
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    GAME AT LAG, MARCH 7- 1-0 win- WOW!! thoughts:

    1. God, I love it- when I had it wrong and come out perfectly HAPPY

    2. POTM- The Team-- if you watched the game, you know what I mean

    3. The Smartest player on the field- Andy Rose was immaculate at CB- he dominated, along with khmiri, the middle of our box- I didn't know he could play so well and MDS made the right decision in keeping him for 2020

    4. The Surprise- Bikel at rb outplayed and dominated the LAG prize-boy, pavon

    5. Looks like a gamer- Owusu came on for the final 15 minutes and showed a gritty and thoughtful game

    6. Is he a rookie??- Reposo had 20minutes to show his creative stuff and he did not disappoint

    7. The dog was back- Teibert was like a hound dog all night- howling at the moon!

    8. How long will we have to wait ?- Cavallini didn't score and missed a PK- the goalie didn't move- aren't they supposed to ??

    9. A happy Canadian- Ricketts scored the winning goal- time to wave the red and white

    10. Positive congrats- MDS deserves the win for all that he has had to endure this past week- he got the TEAM motivated and inserted the right players at the right time
     
  13. BearcatSA

    BearcatSA Member

    Jan 15, 2008
    Canada
    They worked hard and earned the resulted against this overhyped opponent but as I said in the other thread, I have seen this movie too many times before. Guardedly optimistic about Bikel and Owusu starting in midfield against SKC calibre opposition in the future.
     
  14. OldFan2015

    OldFan2015 Member

    Nov 29, 2015
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    wheres your game analysis hotpotato???????
     
  15. hot potato

    hot potato Member+

    Feb 21, 2014
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    here
     
  16. Kingston

    Kingston Member+

    Oct 6, 2005
    How are you Caps fans feeling about tonight's game against TFC? Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing Cavallini play (although I hope he doesn't score against us).
     
  17. OldFan2015

    OldFan2015 Member

    Nov 29, 2015
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    #17 OldFan2015, Aug 19, 2020
    Last edited: Aug 19, 2020
    Cavallini is a great signing but just not on a good enough team to make his potential. I have to wonder if he makes his full 4 years without getting sold. It has to be tough to be in your prime and realize you will be at a lower table club for that time. He left the Mexican league for this and can't be thrilled at where this club is going.

    Honestly the squad is quite poor, and MDS is lost. I sense Axel is working on clearing out as many higher priced players as he can so he can genuinely start this over from scratch. He wants to show what he can do and he needs a clean slate. I would suspect Adnan, Reyna, Montero, and likely more to be gone along with MDS.

    I really like MDS but something isn't right here. Of course, we always have the cement ceiling of Kerfoot's spending, but in saying that, we can judge him on what he did with the MLS and allocation monies and Davies money that he had. That first season left him with nearly half his salary in what I would call " dead money" by the time the summer came around. (go back and look at the June 2019 roster and run through it versus the salaries) Just a poor performance on that front.

    Next year will be an expansion style year; Axel should clear out as much as he can including the coaching staff (sorry MDS), and show us what he can do. While this will be a lower level team under the current owner, they can most certainly give us something better even within their restraints.

    As for our coach, he will have no problem finding work if he drops down to USL or CPL and that may be best for him to re build his reputation and get more experience. He still has a bright future even if it isn't with the MLS. I cant say what he is thinking, but from visual appearance , body language, and tone of voice; he seems like a man who is burned out and has no idea how to get out of this.
     
  18. Kingston

    Kingston Member+

    Oct 6, 2005
    I don't want to read too much into one game, but last night certainly bore this out.

    I'm actually very surprised at how poorly the Whitecaps have done at managing their squad over the years. The ownership has certainly opted for the low cost model. Historically, however, they had been a good organization for getting the most out of what they had. That has not been the case as, like you point out, they don't seem to spend even what little they have very wisely.
     
  19. OldFan2015

    OldFan2015 Member

    Nov 29, 2015
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    #19 OldFan2015, Aug 19, 2020
    Last edited: Aug 19, 2020
    Yes, even under the "spend as little as possible above what MLS provides" Kerfoot model, their results are just terrible. Carl made a lot of bad signings especially in the 2nd half of his time here when he was almost exclusively getting leads from Baldwin. MDS had over 4 million (my napkin math) by mid season of his first year in underperforming or outright dead money.

    For all our bitching about ownership opening up their personal wallets; it's hard to really get to that point when the money our club does have is mismanaged as much as it is. They have spent most of all of the original Davies money and most of it is guys who are gone or need to be gone, with Cav being the one good move but he is not going to flourish in the current format.

    They went with rookie first division coaches three times in a row now. I would think Axel will want to get someone who has coached in a 1st division at MLS level or higher (although that guys salary may make Kerfoot queasy!). Their reputation as a business to deal with is in the shitter too , so it will be hard to attract quality manager unless you overpay to get him.

    If Axel flops that may be the end of the MLS in Vancouver. Their season ticket base is tanking severely and that is not because of Covid. It was already happening and on the heels of the women's scandal you get the 1-2 punch of the appalling Davies negotiations and the Pannes sacking. Another bad season or series of under performing signings and there won't be enough paying customers left to justify the operating expenses.

    Sad but like I have said before, perhaps that is a path we must take to make the pro game fun again in Vancouver with an outdoor CPL team with an ownership team that wants to win. We have had many versions of professional soccer in our city, multiple leagues, team names, etc. We can certainly have healthy environment even if we switch leagues out of necessity. It is not doom and gloom from my view if MLS packs its bags due to failing economics in our market.

    On a side note, I am worried about the BC Lions too. With all the insane amounts of money Trudeau is giving out to support Covid economics, I was really troubled that a repayable loan of $30 million (a grain of sand in this year's spending numbers) was rejected. |It was a good deal for both sides and the economic activity for Winnipeg would have been great. I love the CFL and it seems Vancouver may be in for some serious market corrections in the next 5 years with our professional sports. The Canucks are on the cusp of being a very good team for the next 5 years which makes it even harder for both the Caps and Lions. Its strange how they all were awful around the same time period. I would have like to see the Aquillini's buy both teams but without a low price on a BC Place purchase ( a non starter at this juncture) it would not be viable for them to take it all on without that full revenue stream.
     
  20. Kingston

    Kingston Member+

    Oct 6, 2005
    I think this point is really important. I've been a TFC fan from day one. TFC was terrible for many years. It wasn't because they were unwilling to spend money but rather because they made poor choices on how to spend it.

    Ultimately the Caps are going to have to spend more if they want to be a competitive team. (I think signing Cavallini is an indication that they are at least open to that.) Until they put the right people in place in the front office, however, they could have a TFC-size payroll and they'll still be doing poorly.
     
  21. OldFan2015

    OldFan2015 Member

    Nov 29, 2015
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    I would caution you to think Cav is an indication of them wanting to spend more. His transfer fee was paid by Davies money (which they have to use they can't pocket it) and his salary is not particularly high and MLS also had some mysterious undefined help to teams bringing Canadians back as DP level players (which the Caps turned down for Atiba but took on this case). Beyond him, they have continued to make signings that are within MLS money, allocation funds, with minimal out of their own wallet.

    But if Axel wants to lay claim to being competent, he needs to prove it. He is a yes man for the ownership message, but he still has to deliver within that budget a much better team. I am tired of these rookie MLS coaches that are brutal at signing international players. Let's see something different.
     
  22. hot potato

    hot potato Member+

    Feb 21, 2014
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    cavalinni is having the same look of frustration and hopelessness that rivero had

    with any type of quality in the MF, we could have won this game, but its the same old, the same old

    time for the axel schuster show to begin- a coaching staff change -- and i have stood with MDS since the beginning, but looking at his new replacements this year, they are no better than 2019

    interesting to note that yordy reyna wasnt with the team- trade/selling coming ??
     
  23. BearcatSA

    BearcatSA Member

    Jan 15, 2008
    Canada
    Sent to the pressbox for breaking team rules (I guess he was late), but he'll be gone far sooner than later. I'm sure his and Adnan's agents are trying to get some transfer interest revved up.
     
  24. OldFan2015

    OldFan2015 Member

    Nov 29, 2015
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    I agree there is an unfortunate similarity to how his career is going here in Vancouver to what happened to Rivero.

    Fans are starting to shit on Cavallini which is unfortunate because I do not feel it is him. He has to deal with a defeated team, a 3rd rate midfield, and a coach in disarray; all surrounded by morale sucking scandals from the club since he got here. Not a good situation for him at all. Unfortunate because he is a legitimate signing and should be a 15+ goal per season man in this league and would be on many teams.

    At least he has October to look forward to and the first world cup qualifiers and the chance to frolic and "pad the goal totals" with David, Davies, Arfield , etc. in this ridiculously weak group(if he gets called up which may be questionable considering his form!)
     
  25. Kingston

    Kingston Member+

    Oct 6, 2005
    I get that the owners seem uninterested in spending. So Vancouver's model is not going to be that of TFC or one of the other higher spending teams. The key then is to become a team like RSL that manages to perform well on a lower budget by making wise player choices. That is the path to some kind of success for the Whitecaps since they aren't going to get there by breaking the bank.

    So the question is, can the Whitecaps find the right people off the field to make those choices?
     

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