We beat Dallas! post-game thread

nice to know that coach rennie takes heed to my wise advice and benches Mr. Eric --

i'm not sure how a coach makes a player have more courage inside the 18 yard box, especially with headers

a coach can develop fitness, skills and tactics... but courage is up to the player and i am not convinced any longer that hassli wants to pay the price to get the job done that he is paid very well for-- his tatoos, shaved head, beating of his chest and talk aside, he is underwhelming since august of last year... something is seriously wrong and i am not sure what it is

but its all to do with committment and courage inside the box- and that's his responsibility

 

I thought Hassli had a great 15 minutes when he came on - holding up the ball, distributing to teammates, hassling the FCD backline, working his *ss off. Once he gets his goal it'll break the ice and he'll get a few more.

I'm glad Rennie took MY advice and benched Thorrington, who's been horrible pretty much all year. I don't believe Watson is all that much better, but Davidson is certainly an improvement and Watson at least has some bite to him. (Can't wait until Robson gets here to shore up the midfield.)

The Whitecaps won this game in the first 15 minutes when they came out looking really sharp and got their reward with the goal. Then from about the 15 minute mark to about the 70 minute mark of the 2nd half they looked pretty bad - at least going forward - hardly able to string more than 2 passes together; but at least their backline held up well and fortunately Dallas didn't take the few chances they had that went begging.

The 'Caps perked up again in the last 20 minutes and could have easily added to their lead, though Castillo for FCD was wrecking havoc at the other end and the Caps are fortunate he is so poor with the final pass.

A great 3 points though and a very important win against a classy Western Conference opponent. The Caps may look back at this win at the end of the season as one of the key "6 pointers" of the year in their bid to ultimately make the playoffs.

 

all peripheral stuff-- he gets lost and non-existent inside the box, which should be his first focus- omar, camilo, tan, harris and le toux all have a lot more drive inside the box than he does
he needs to be an impact in-the-box player, not a peripheral outside-the-box player
if and when he does decide to show grit and courage inside the box, the goals will come
until then,the benching-- rennie is running out of patience no matter what + spin he tells the media and fans

 

Not to tug your chain but I think you've become obsessed with this "Hassli lacks complete and total grit and courage inside the box" business. While it possibly has some truth to it from a nuanced viewpoint, it's not nearly as black and white - or true - as you paint it.

Just to make one note: without Hassli in the lineup last night for 80% of the game, the Whitecaps created a whopping 2 shots on goal. It's not just Hassli's "guts in the box" that have led to the Whitecaps' offensive shortcomings.

 

I also found our possession without Hassli and Chiumento to be shocking last night. Pretty much every ball forward was a through ball for Camilo to run on to, which has its place, is exciting and in the end generated the win, but we were unable to hold on to the ball for extended periods of time.

I'm obsessed too, with getting Harvey off the park. I hear Rochat will be starting to practice again this week?

Really liked what I saw from Omar Salgado, uses his new found size well, and played well defensively. Thought he was starting to make some great runs in the 2nd half, and was disappointed to see him subbed off first for Harris. He seemed pretty upset about it as well. I think he has earned the right to start there again.

How good has Cannon been this year?? Almost let a bad one in with a miscommunication with our defense and hesitation coming out on a ball, but man he has been solid between the pipes.

 

Omar has definitely shown huge improvement, he is much more physical, players were frustrated not to knock him off balance and had no choice but to foul him. Would love to see him have opportunities to shoot next game.

Camilo for me is the best performing forward in the team right now. Rennie had taken the consequence of the 3-1 lost to KC by benching Camilo. I am just getting more impressed with Camilo every game. At first I have an impression that Camilo is a player with huge ego that he thinks Whitecaps isnt the place he want to play for. As the games goes by last year, hes shown more commitment to the team and scoring for us on a regular basis. Scoring off headers, left foot, right foot, freekicks, ultimately in anyway for the Caps. The fact that he loves the city and the club earns my respect no doubt. I jumped off my seat last night when he almost headed the ball in later in the first half. For a man that is 5'6 - 5'7, he jumps really high and his ability in the air is just as good as anyone else.

I agree with most of your point unfortunately about how underwhelming Eric has been since August of last season... however I really do think that because of his physical presences in the game, he is naturally going to be marked tighter by defenders, and having sometimes been fouled but the decision always goes the other way, its tough for players like him (brings his confidence level down). And also perhaps quality of service from the midfield wasn't provided enough for Eric to make something out of it. We cannot always rely on the long boot upfield and hope for a right bounce (its the sole reason why Eric is constantly getting fouled and no decision was called).

Thorrington is horrendous, while i was listening to the pre-match show on 1410, i still have no clue why people are regarding so highly of him. I mean this guy is apparently doubt since half-time in match againts KC, it's ridiculous. I'm just tired of knowing that he is going to be injured again. Worse of all is his performance was bad. He has no vision and does not hold the ball well. His miss against SJ in the first half was horrible. I have to also agree with Flashman that Watson isnt much better, he isn't comfortable with the ball, he tries to be physical but fails when FCD players knits the ball away from him. His passing isnt accurate and he worries me whenever he gets the ball. IF He plays a role more of a defensive midfield to disrupt FCD's attacking flow then his physical plays might be much more effective.

Finally with Davidson back in the line up to protect the back four was huge for the clean sheet we earned last night. He filled in for Harvey while Harvey was drifted away out of LB position again. He makes smart passes and smart dribbling move away from the FCD players. He helped closes down Brek Shea, Castillo and other FCD players trying to break through. With his defensive presence in the midfield department and the way he helps distributes balls is exactly what the Caps have been missing. I'm just glad that he can fill that position in. Definitely one of the important wins we earned in our playoff bid!

 

FCD's possession after the first goal was extremely worrying, we gone off literally 30min without actual possession. If they were a better team like LA or even KC, we would have conceded with the amount of possession they have. Like I said earlier, Watson isnt good enough in the midfield, though Koffie and Davidson was solid performer last night, if Watson been more comfortable on the ball and could play the passing game, we would have looked much more comfortable.

I still don't like what I'm seeing from Harvey, the fact that he just look so uncomfortable in the LB position makes me worry. Not to mention he was drifted into the middle of the park almost in front of Bonjour (I was literally like WTF is he doing there go back to the left side!!). Though he did crossed the ball into the box a few times last night but he was not impressive in my opinion. So glad to hear that Rochat is back soon!!

 

Actually, didn't Ferreira recover from his "Vancouver-related excuse" and at this point it's an "Orlando City-related" excuse? I mean, Ferreira was fine in the pre-season for a game and a half before Orlando City beat him to a pulp and the ref didn't protect him. So I don't think it's any longer a Vancouver-related problem (unless I have my medical facts wrong).