Caps centrebacks aim to be adaptable
Ideal profile is one who likes to play the ball and is able to help the buildup, says assistant coach
First disappointment first. There was no Alphonso Davies for Bayern Munich in their Champions League clash with Liverpool on Tuesday.
And while the waves of dismay reverberated across Canada from its epicentre in Vancouver, the rest of the world was left wanting by a much-ballyhooed clash that ended in a flat, scoreless draw, completely bereft of the frenetic helter-skelter Liverpool offence that has rampaged through the Premier League.
The latter sat just fine with Vancouver Whitecaps assistant coach Vanni Sartini. He was busy geeking out on the Reds’ remarkable defensive performance.
“I’m very focused on the defensive part of the game,” he said Tuesday from Los Angeles, where the team watched the game after training, part of their pre-season bonding.
“So when it’s a goalless draw, everyone is bored, but I’m pumped up.”
He watched as Fabinho, a defensive midfielder, stepped in for the suspended Virgil van Dijk in central defence, putting in a superlative showing on a makeshift and injury-riddled back line against one of the top strikers in the world in Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski.
“The performance of Fabinho … he had a fantastic game,” said Sartini. “Sometimes we take video of highlevel teams to show to our players what they have to do, and there were two or three sequences from Liverpool that I will definitely use in our video session.”
So that means more film work for his (current) quintet of central defenders in Derek Cornelius, Doneil Henry, Erik Godoy, Jasser Khmiri and Brendan McDonough.
Henry is one of just three defenders from the team that gave up a team-record 67 goals last season, and the only centreback. It’s a near-clean slate to work from, and it’s going to be an entirely new system. The Whitecaps will generally operate out of a 4-3-3 formation, but will also turn to a 3-5-2 at times, depending on the circumstances, and will be prone to giving up crosses because of their defensive philosophy.
“The guys will have to be adaptable to different situations and different systems of play, but always keeping the same principles,” said Sartini. “Our profile of a centreback is one who likes to play (the ball), is able to help the buildup. He doesn’t have to be as skilful as a No. 10 or a winger, but he needs to be able to make some passes and keep composure.”
He pointed to Cornelius’s strong left foot and comfort on the ball as a strength for buildup down the left. Henry’s prowess in the air — he was second in aerial battles per game (5.1) last season, second only to target striker Kei Kamara (8.0) — will be crucial for a team suddenly lacking size compared to previous Whitecaps teams in defending set pieces and crosses. Godoy, who had his first full training session, and Jasser Khmiri, who’s yet to, are both physical, ground-covering centrebacks.
Last year’s defensively
porous team gave up goals every way possible, with only one common thread: loose marking. Whether the goals were from distance or on the doorstep, almost all came from a breakdown in positional awareness — and that includes the 11 penalty kicks conceded (nine converted) that led MLS.
The Caps had just two shutouts, fewest in the league, and far behind the Tim Parker-led New York Red Bulls that paced the league with 17. It wasn’t a centreback problem, but a team problem — including goalkeepers Brian Rowe and Stefan Marinovic, who combined for just 94 saves, second-fewest in MLS.
But the 2018 Caps and 2019 edition can’t be compared, with just six regulars returning from that team.
“It’s incomparable with the team of last year — a totally different team — and also in the way we’re playing is different of last year,” said Sartini. “It’s very important to us, the positional defending … the pure zonal defending.
“The idea is that they’re not going to think of themselves as a single defender, but always thinking of themselves as a unit, not only with the other central defenders, but with the fullbacks and the midfielders.
“The main characteristic is about the defending part; we want to be a dynamic team, one that is very, very comfortable, even if we don’t have the ball. We don’t want a static line, we don’t want a line that is dependent on the movement of the opponents, but is much more concentrated on the movement of the ball. For this reason, we scouted defenders that are able to cover ground, are very agile and mobile.”