ROAD GAME A PERFORMANCE TO BUILD ON
Not that it will be of much consolation to Whitecaps fans, but the worry among L.A. supporters after Saturday’s scoreless tie at the StubHub Center will surely be greater.
This high-priced, high-powered Galaxy team continues to sputter along. They have one loss and five ties in their last six and can’t turn possession into goals.
The Caps, by contrast, are in desperate need of points to reach the playoffs. They only claimed one on Saturday but played their best road game in months.
For the first time in a long time, it’s possible to claim they actually have some momentum, if you believe in such stuff.
Six of the players who started Tuesday’s 3-0 CONCACAF Champions League win over Kansas City started again Saturday, and coach Carl Robinson finally seems to be pushing more of the right buttons this season.
Perhaps it’s sheer desperation bringing the best out these guys. Only seven games remain now and the Caps (8-12-7) will need one heck of a run in to reach the playoffs.
They have to pass Seattle, San Jose and Portland. At least San Jose cooperated and lost in Columbus.
Seattle and Portland square off Sunday, and the suddenly-hot Sounders are without Clint Dempsey, who is being evaluated for an irregular heartbeat.
Switching to 4-4-2 seems to have helped the Caps, too. Robinson went with the two-forward setup both Tuesday and Saturday with Erik Hurtado as the common denominator.
In L.A., Hurtado and Giles Barnes were unlucky not to have something to show for their work, especially in the first half when the Caps were clearly the better team.
The defensive midfield tandem of Matias Laba and Russell Teibert has been excellent these last games, also. Pedro Morales played out wide Saturday, with Fraser Aird’s enthusiasm appreciated on the other flank.
After almost an entire season of trying to figure out who to play at right-back, Robinson’s settled on using both Jordan Smith and Aird in the same lineup. It’s working — for now.
David Edgar’s shaken off the rust and he and Kendall Waston were strong Saturday. So was Marcel de Jong at left-back. It was easily his best game as a Whitecap.
David Ousted didn’t have to be outstanding in goal. Just sharp. L.A. had 69 per cent possession, led by an excellent Sebastian Lletget in midfield, but the Caps were just as dangerous, if not more so, in transition. Hurtado somehow missed a glorious early chance, heading the ball into the ground from in close and then watching in agony as the it bounced up off the crossbar then back down off the goal-line.
That was the best look either team had all night, although Alan Gordon came close for L.A. 20 minutes before the end.
For Vancouver, it was certainly something to build on. It was a performance they could be proud of. The kind that’s been missing far too often this season.
Whether this night will be remembered as a crucial point on the road back to the playoffs, or two points gone begging, or just too little too late, we’ll have to wait and see.