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October 13, 2015 |
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VANCOUVER B.C - The walking wounded Vancouver Whitecaps landed in Dallas, Texas just after another Canadian franchise played some successful long-ball in the 'Lone Star State'. Carl Robinson and the Whitecaps aren't in Texas to capture the hearts of Canada. Earning a result and inching closer to an MLS Western Conference first round playoff bye is the task at hand, but it won't come easy.
Vancouver has an injury crisis going on at the moment and Carl Robinson will look to his bare bones squad to field a competitive lineup on Wednesday night against FC Dallas, at Toyota Stadium.
Cristian Techera (Hamstring), Mauro Rosales (Groin), Pa-Modou Kah (Groin), and Octavio Rivero (Achilles) all boarded the Whitecaps flight to Dallas. Nicolas Mezquida (Hamstring) and Pedro Morales (Hamstring, Back, and Knee) did not. Morales has also been ruled out of the Whitecaps final MLS match of the season on Sunday, October 25 vs Houston. Vancouver will try to get Morales healthy for the playoffs.
With an infirmary list growing by the day, who exactly will Carl Robinson call on against FC Dallas?
"Everyone that's able to walk is going to Dallas. There's a couple of guys that I left behind, obviously a couple of key pieces for us, but we'll move forward with the group that we've got. Without giving too much away, we've probably got sixteen, seventeen healthy bodies leaving."
There was an assumed assumption that Kendall Waston would sit on the bench and not play for Costa Rica against the United States on Tuesday. This suggestion has gone out the window and Waston indeed will start at centre-back against the U.S. at Red Bull Arena, in Harrison, New Jersey. If Waston plays a significant amount of minutes, Carl Robinson won't risk playing him the next night in Dallas. At a crucial juncture of the season over-playing a player can cause injury and that's not the risk or reward.
Despite the poor timing, Robinson is pleased to see Waston earning a call-up to Los Ticos.
"Players when they go away on international teams, are always fighting for their places and there's no guarantee that anyone's ever going to play and I accept that because I've been in that same boat myself. We did ask that if he wasn't going to play could we have him available because he's a big, big player for us. At the time, they (Costa Rica) said, No they want to try and keep him. I think there's enough respect between us and Costa Rica that they understand the situation. We want to have a good relationship with them because Kendall's a big player for us and hopefully he'll be a big player for them."
The Whitecaps also contacted Canada Soccer to see if Marco Bustos, Kianz Froese, and Sam Adekugbe could possibly be released earlier to join the Whitecaps in Dallas if they weren't going to play vs Ghana. Bustos would have started at attacking midfield if he was not currently with the national team. All three Canadians are expected to play vs Ghana at RFK Stadium, in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday night.
"We did ask if they weren't going to play then could we have the guys there (Dallas). The feedback we got was that they're going to be involved and going to play in the game against Ghana, which is great. I want my young players to play and experience that, so I hope they play."
A formation change could help the Whitecaps injury woes in the short-term. The 4-2-3-1 has been a staple for the Whitecaps ever since Carl Robinson became manager. It's proven that it works and gets results. Moving to a different option could help a player like Robert Earnshaw earn some minutes when the Whitecaps depth is shrinking. Robinson wasn't overly keen on the idea of changing formations.
"No, probably not. It's been successful all year for us. I think on Wednesday was a perfect example of a 4-2-3-1 playing against a 4-2-3-1 (with) two very good transitional teams. They had a corner, we broke and probably had one of our best chances from it. We had the same corner, literally on that play and they broke and had one of their best chances from it. I think that's what the neutral wants to see and managers probably don't."
On the defensive front the Whitecaps are seemingly set with Matias Laba, Gershon Koffie, and Russell Teibert all candidates to play in a holding midfield position against FC Dallas. Up top and in between the holding mids remains the big mystery. Rivero looked great for 45' minutes vs FC Dallas, while Rosales, and Techera ran out of gas and ended up injured. Kekuta Manneh should also draw in on Wednesday.
The Ghanaian roster that Coach Avram Grant has brought with him to Washington, D.C. features four players who play in Major League Soccer. Noticeable absent for Whitecaps fans is Gershon Koffie. Whitecaps supporters have long hoped that Koffie would one day obtain Canadian citizenship and proper eligibility to represent the Canadian national team. This belief is Thanksgiving pie in the sky at best.
Koffie will have an eye on the Canada vs Ghana match and hopes to be able to pick up the Canada Soccer live stream from Texas. When asked which country he plans to cheer for, he smiled before answering.
"It's tough, I don't know. I just want them to have a good game."
In terms of playing for Canada or Ghana at the international level, Koffie isn't all that concerned with what the future holds. The Whitecaps confident and quiet leader puts it down to first come, first serve.
"Whoever calls me up first, I'm going to play for them."
Koffie has yet to talk to Coach Avram Grant, who took over as the Manager of Ghana on November 27, 2014. Koffie has however been in touch with members of the Ghana coaching staff.
"No, I haven't talked to him at all. I spoke to one of his assistants. He just asked me how I'm doing. They've been watching my games, and I should keep doing what I'm doing and I shouldn't stop."
The 24 year-old Koffie keeps in touch with some players who could find themselves on the pitch against Canada on Tuesday night.
"Yeah I do keep in touch with a guy from Columbus (Harrison Afful) and one guy in Chicago, the striker (David) Accam. I've talked to them and they're doing good."
Until Gershon Koffie switches to an address not in Canada or gets called up to play for Ghana, fans will always hope Canada Soccer comes calling. However, the bottom line is quite simple, really. Gershon Koffie was born in Koforidua, Ghana and did not run around in a team Canada kit as a youth player. It's only a matter of time before his home-land comes calling and that is who Koffie should represent.
Notes: Darren Mattocks will not be available for the Whitecaps in Dallas on Wednesday night as he is on international duty with Jamaica in Seoul, South Korea.
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