Whitecaps can't catch a break in St. Paul
After the final whistle had blown and the result was sealed, Vancouver Whitecaps coach Marc Dos Santos gathered his team to give them a message: this is how you lose.
The 1-0 defeat at the hands of Minnesota United was a painful one, as it came despite some of the best soccer the team had played so far this year.
“It was a game where we had our best moments this season. Not only in big chances created, but also in some spells of the game, or reactions to the loss of possession or ball movement,” said Dos Santos. “We deserved more from this game. What I told the guys on the field is this: If the Whitecaps are going to lose games, lose like this. Lose where you fought, you were exciting to watch. Losing happens, but when it does, you have to do it in a way where you don't give up.
“It sucks for me to speak about so many positive things in a one-zero loss, but I told the guys they have to have their heads up because there were so many good things. We played a good away game. I know of some (chances) that are now getting into my head that I don't know how we didn't score. There's just nights like that.”
The win ended Minnesota's four-game slide to start the season, but extended the Caps' skid at Allianz Field, where Vancouver has never won.
Minnesota's Ramón Ábila scored in the 72nd minute, his first MLS goal, just seven minutes after coming on as a substitute.
Here's what we learned ...
OPEN PLAY
No open-play goals, but at least it was an open game.
Cristian Dajome had two glorious chances in the game to change his team's offensive fortunes. He put a Deiber Caicedo cross over the bar in the first half, then had a stinger of a shot bounce off Minnesota keeper Tyler Miller and over the bar in the second.
Lucas Cavallini had two powerful headers that nearly found the back of the net in a one-minute span, and both Jake Nerwinski and Ranko Veselinovic came close in their own late-game attempts.
“I'm not a big believer of things like luck or superstitions. I don't want to say that,” said Dos Santos. “We've been working a lot on creating chances, we've been working on analyzing how we could be better offensively and create things, and we did this tonight.”
Vancouver had just 45.6 per cent possession, while getting outshot 16-12 by Minnesota.
The Loons aggressive pressing kept the Caps on their heels as they were held to a season-low 79.5 per cent passing accuracy and just 67.3 in the final third.
Minnesota had a 2.0-1.1 xG advantage over the Whitecaps.
SQUAD ROTATION
There was only one change from Saturday's win over Montreal, with newcomer Bruno Gaspar getting the start at right back over Nerwinski in the now-eternal 4-4-2.
But the compressed schedule took its toll on the Caps. Centreback Andy Rose had to give way to Derek Cornelius at halftime, and the heavy legs were apparent when Cavallini was caught from behind and dispossessed on a second-half breakaway.
The Whitecaps had to fly in and out on the same day, as per MLS COVID regulations, and Dos Santos conceded it had an effect on his young team but it couldn't be used as an excuse.
“I'm bleeding from my eyes. You don't see?” he joked when asked about the long day for the team.
“I don't want to talk about it … because the more we talk about it, the more we tried to defend ourselves with it. It is what it is.
“It just disrupts so much the order of everything. Physiologically, we shouldn't do this in sports, but it is what it is right now … so we tried to push ourselves physically. I don't think maybe that Andy would have got injured in a normal day, or even the way Caio was cramping or Bruno was having a hard time.”
FULL ROSTER, 1
The Whitecaps had everyone healthy and in training this week for the first time this season. That is all, save for leftback Ali Adnan, who remained in Vancouver, still awaiting approval of his U.S. visa.
On Wednesday, news broke that the Iraqi international would be joining his national team for some international friendlies at the end of the month as well as a trio of World Cup qualifiers.
Iraq warms up with a pair of internationals against Tajikistan on May 24 and Nepal on May 29, before playing Cambodia (June 7), Hong Kong (June 11) and Iran (June 15), meaning the Caps might not see their Designated Player until the end of June.
“What I know right now is ... we're still waiting on the visa, that it's totally out of our control, and it's frustrating,” said Dos Santos. “You're talking about a DP, you know? You have players in the league that all have their visa and are in”
OFFICIAL, OFFICIAL
There was a moment of hand-wringing anticipation in the days leading up to the game when the MLS website had referee Allen Chapman listed as the fourth referee.
Coach Marc Dos Santos had sounded off on the longtime MLS official after their 1-0 loss to Colorado last week, a game Chapman worked as the VAR and played the main role in a late penalty call being overturned.
“I think that the penalty shot on Caio (Alexandre), the foul on Caio that led to the call on the penalty shot is, a little bit disturbing,” Dos Santos said. “It's Allen Chapman that called it. He said it was a clear and obvious error. We don't see that at all. The rules are clear, it needs to be clear and obvious. It's not the first time that we have incidents like that with Allen. I just think that right now it was time for me to say something publicly because it's not the first time.”
Dos Santos indicated there was a history of Chapman's calls going against the Whitecaps, and was fined an undisclosed amount by the league for his comments.
But the drama of a potential Chapman-Dos Santos encounter was avoided, with journalist Har Johal reporting that the PRO (Professional Referee Organization) moved the 46-year-old Chapman out of Wednesday's assignment to another game.