Jekyll and Hyde effort earns draw
Playoff spot remains well within sight after another uneven, yet dazzling, effort
Saturday’s 2-2 draw for the Whitecaps with the Colorado Rapids was a fine representation in 90 minutes of Vancouver’s season so far.
There were some truly dazzling attacking stretches. There were plenty of fine — even intricate at times — passing sequences. There were two nicely taken goals. There were a couple other should-havebeen goals, including one that surely would have been but for an overeager Brek Shea being caught offside.
But, of course, there were also the two goals conceded, both off moments of inattentiveness.
“It was an entertaining game, credit to both teams. They tried to attack, it was a little bit more open for my liking,” Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson said after the game.
He said he saw a lack of concentration on the goal before halftime. After the team fell behind 2-1 early in the second half, the Caps seized the initiative. Teams that fall behind generally have the balance of play, but the Whitecaps were truly the dominant squad and probably should have come away with a win.
“We took the game to them and great character shown by the guys today,” Robinson added.
It was a case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for the Whitecaps.
Let’s be honest, the Colorado Rapids aren’t a great team. They’ve got some fine players, but their results this season speak for themselves: no wins on the road. They’ve managed just 22 goals in 21 games on the season. All six of their wins have come at home, where the altitude always plays to their advantage, Real Salt Lake excepted.
At 5,280 feet above sea level, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park has been the Rapids’ ace in the hole for years. So for the Whitecaps to fight back, that probably is a fair statement about character.
Nonetheless, we saw two sides to the Whitecaps on Saturday, a microcosm of their season in so many ways.
As the numbers go, this team is tied for the third-best points per game in the Western Conference. Sure, they’re sitting seventh in the West at the moment, but they’ve also got at least two games in hand on every team ahead of them, save FC Dallas. Five of the six teams ahead of them are three points or less in front. Sporting Kansas City, who’ve played two more games, are six points up.
The turtle derby that the West has proved to be could very well play into the Whitecaps’ hands.
And they’re playing well enough at both ends of the pitch in the shot-quality game: they’re not blowing anyone away, but they’re not getting left in the dust, either.
In their Jekyll form, like when the Whitecaps were pressing for a tying goal in the second half, the Caps are a flashy, creative side. They’ve been playing for shot quality over shot quantity all season and they’ve stayed in the playoff mix because of it. And now that the attacking group is finally at full health, they’re actually stringing some aggressive passing sequences together.
You’d assume their attacking form will continue to improve as the skill sets of their attackers continue to blend together; remember five key players have been added in 2017 alone.
And defensively they’ve done well enough, most of the time. But they’ve had Hyde moments, too, like both goals on Saturday: the first came when the Caps left giant Rapids centre-back Axel Sjöberg all alone, the second when the backtracking Whitecaps were caught out, leaving a loose ball dead in front for striker Kevin Doyle to hammer home.
Both could be chalked up under “these things happen,” but for a team with title ambitions, those are the sorts of things that must be cleaned up.
“There is a long way to go. We know where we are, we got points on the board and we’ve got really big games coming up, so we just got to keep ticking away,” Robinson said. “If you look at the last two years, teams that have just sneaked into the playoffs have gone on to make MLS Cups. You got to keep going, you got to keep grinding and if you get a little luck along the way, you can probably sneak in, but there are 21 other teams trying to get in.”
It was an entertaining game, credit to both teams. They tried to attack, it was a little bit more open for my liking.