Kamara, Caps are ahead of the class
Veteran has been perfect fit for basic offensive game plan based on finishing crosses
Headmasters usually don’t use such colourful language. But then again, most headmasters aren’t as colourful as Kei Kamara.
The ebullient Vancouver Whitecaps striker, dubbed “The Headmaster” for his ability to score with his head, had just struck for his third goal of the season Saturday in Columbus when he drew an imaginary rectangle in the air and said — words which we shall paraphrase, being a family-friendly media outlet — “You can kindly VAR this goal if you’d like.”
The goal came six minutes after Alphonso Davies had a goal overturned on yet another controversial video assistant referee call, but stood up as the winner in the Whitecaps’ 2-1 victory over the Crew. And it was doubly sweet for Kamara to score against the team that dropped him like an overheating Samsung Note in 2016 after he, erm, exploded at a teammate in the media, leading to a trade just five days later.
“It felt good. It’s always good to score goals. Some goals are special and tonight it was special because it brought three points,” said Kamara.
“It was a good goal and the team needed it after (Davies’ goal) got taken away from us … It was all about just getting another one and I told (Davies) we were going to get another one. It was the perfect delivery and the perfect goal.
“Scoring in Columbus is great and I cannot take that away. Columbus was my first team to give me the chance to be a professional and it’s always good to be back in this stadium. Every goal I score here, just like many other teams I have been on, ... it is good.”
The Headmaster has now scored twice off headers this season, building on his signature stat : With 21, he leads all MLS players with headed goals since 2015.
Five games into the season, the 33-year-old has come exactly as advertised, fitting into coach Carl Robinson’s basic, but effective cross-based offensive system. Both Caps goals Saturday came off of crosses with Felipe delivering the perfect ball that Kamara re-directed home in the 78th minute and Brek Shea capitalizing on a Bernie Ibini cross that Crew keeper Zack Steffan pushed into Shea’s path.
Vancouver kept it simple on the road yet again, packing the box and waiting for their chance to counterattack. An early goal off a Stefan Marinovic bobble didn’t change the game plan, but a little halftime chat from Robinson did add some urgencytoit.
“... In the first half, we knew we were playing OK. We weren’t doing
bad stuff. But we conceded a not good goal. And we knew we could be sharper in the second half. And we talk about that,” said centre-back Kendall Waston, who returned to the lineup after missing last week’s game while on international duty with Costa Rica.
“We got to play and believe that we can do something else and we can score ... be sharper and play with a little bit of risk, we can make things possible.”
The Caps snapped what was the longest unbeaten streak in MLS against a team that topped the Eastern Conference and was in the No. 1 spot in some power rankings. Columbus had twice the touches of Vancouver and 67 per cent of possession, including 149 passes to the Whitecaps’ 61 in the final third. But the back-line passing that had
pushed them to a 3-0-1 record this season didn’t materialize against the Caps, who are unbeaten in Columbus since 2011 (6-0-2).
“I think that we weren’t getting our fullbacks high enough,” said Crew coach Gregg Berhalter. “I think we were a little too cautious with that. I think our wide-attacking midfielders were coming too deep. So then we had no threat to get behind their line. We weren’t opening up any spaces . ... This is a wake-up call.
“I don’t think that we can play at 60
per cent of our highest level and win games at this league. I really don’t. So for me the wake-up call is, ‘OK guys, this is about every game us playing with a high tempo, us really trying to push our game on the opponent.’
“We can’t just play soccer with 10 guys behind the ball. In attacking positions, we need to be threatening the opponent’s back line. That’s what our game is about, putting players in position to get behind the opponent, and today we did a very poor job of that. I don’t know if it was a willingness to run. I don’t know if it was positioning. We’re going to look at it, but today was not good.”
The Caps have now played three solid away games this season, even counting the 4-1 loss to Atlanta that came with 10 men. They beat Houston, the best home team in MLS last
year, at the beginning of the month, and have now knocked off the previously unbeaten Crew.
They now look ahead to another road game against Real Salt Lake next Saturday, then return home to host L.A. FC the following weekend. With 10 points, they’re tied for the conference lead.
“It’s another away game and we have done really well, even last year, on the road and this was a big, big win for us,” said Kamara. “Two big wins against Houston, who was the favourite for a long time at home, and Columbus now and it just shows that we can play as long as we believe in ourselves. (Real Salt Lake) had a tough game yesterday (3-1 losers to TFC), so they will be ready to win in their house, but we got to be ready for it.”