VANCOUVER, B.C. - The sky isn't falling in Vancouver, it just appears like that because of recent Whitecaps FC results. Scoring has dried up, defending has gone a-miss, and discipline along with the kitchen sink has gone out the window. There is however optimism, it's still early in the season. The 3-4-1 Caps have plenty of time to right the ship.
It starts with playing to the whistle. Vancouver can't afford to mess about and get into handbag altercations with opponents. Everyone knows that the Caps buttons are easily pushed. Vancouver has to take a step back, and play football, strictly football.
Whitecaps FC will likely be without Yordy Reyna and Efrain Juarez when they host 3-3-1 Real Salt Lake on Friday night at B.C. Place. They were both given straight red cards against Sporting Kansas City on Friday night as Vancouver and Sporting kicked off.
Vancouver Coach Carl Robinson isn't quite sure if the club will appeal either red card.
"I don't know." Robinson told reporters following training on Monday. "I'll leave that to the powers above. At the time, I asked for explanation, and sometimes what you get is different. If they're red cards, they're red cards. Irrelevant of if they're red cards or not, we need to be better at keeping eleven men on the field. In the two games that we've lost men, we've conceded a number of goals. We make it a lot more difficult for ourselves, and that's where we've got to learn. We're not a team of stars, we're a collective team. When the collective is shortened by one or two, then it becomes even more difficult."
Going down a man or two, is never a recipe that leads to earning results. You can't dictate play, morale is down, and you're always chasing the match. Veteran midfielder Felipe, gets it. He knows that Whitecaps FC have played a string of poor matches, and now is the time to for him and his teammates to step up.
"I think if you're not embarrassed or you're not mad about the result, then you shouldn't be here." Felipe said honestly. "I think now, everyone needs to man up, re-group, and everybody together. It's not only one or two guys that are going to do it, it's everyone. Everyday in training, everyone needs to show up, show life, heart. That's what we've got to do. This is unacceptable. It cannot happen anymore."
It's refreshing to see a player like Felipe speak so open and honestly. Not only does Felipe want his teammates and himself to be better, but he also understands where fans are coming for. Vancouver hasn't scored a home goal in 200 minutes. If fans aren't seeing goals, they at least want to be entertained, and that's not happening either.
"The fans should be mad." Felipe said. "That's their job, but it's also time to support us in difficult moments. It's easy in tough moments to scream at us, and say things about us, but no-one knows how much we put into it, and no-one knows how much we work hard for this team. Let's show everyone on Friday. It doesn't matter if we have five fans or twenty-thousand, we're going to win, and bring the fans back to our stadium. We're going to show how good we are."
When Whitecaps FC do step on the pitch on Friday, you can be assured that it won't be with a three at the back-formation. Vancouver has been found out in both matches they've gone with three defenders. It's an ambitious tactical strategy, but it's clear that Vancouver does not have the player personnel to pull off a such a high tempo formation.
"The two games I've played with three at the back," said Robinson. "We've ended up with nine and ten men, and lost four and six goals. It's a great decision that, isn't it... We'll see. It depends on personnel. We've got to be better defensively, whether we're playing three or five at the back."
Although supporters once longed for a more offensively minded formation. Whitecaps FC's bread and butter is 4-2-3-1. It's what Robinson, his staff, and players appear to be most comfortable playing. It's a formation that's earned results. Without tipping his hand, Robinson weighed the possibility of going back to a 4-2-3-1 formation.
"Yeah possibly," said Robinson. "We have been succesful with the 4-2-3-1, but I felt with the turnover of players and the different types of players we had in, we'd look at something different. We've been semi succesful in certain games with the 4-3-3. Will we look at the 4-2-3-1, yeah, we played it twice this year. It comes down to your players. Yeah, there's a possibility."
Striker Kei Kamara could return to the Vancouver lineup. The Caps leading scorer has missed the previous two matches with an adductor strain. Vancouver could use a boost in the scoring department, but it all depends on the health, and recovery of Kamara.
"I think there's a possibility he'd be okay for Friday," Robinson said. "We'll have to wait and see. I want to try and push him, but again, we'll have to wait and see. I think the physio's will push me back on that one."
Whitecaps FC have started a different starting lineup in every match this season, and they're still looking for the right formula that will help them get on a positive run. It starts with going back to the basics and earning a result, any which way vs Real Salt Lake.
|