CAPS FACE CHALLENGE
Laba’s absence leaves big hole
As the Vancouver Whitecaps contemplate the six months that have brought them to this place, there is one word which describes their 2017 season thus far.
Meh.
At least we think that’s a word. The Caps haven’t been terrible this year. But neither have they been very good. Their record is 9-9-4, which, you have to admit, is pretty average. They’ve scored 32 goals on the season and they’ve allowed 32. Their longest win streak is two games. Their longest losing streak is — you guessed it — two games.
On the road, they’ve recorded a respectable 4-6-2 mark. At B.C. Place Stadium, they’re an unimpressive 5-3-2. This year, there just seems to be an unseen force pulling the Whitecaps toward mediocrity and now that they begin their stretch drive it can fairly be asked: Will their concluding act to 2017 be any different?
“Obviously, this is the position you want to be in,” keeper David Ousted said. “These should be the moments when you thrive. I’m really looking forward to this.”
Uh, did we mention they’ll be without their best player, Matias Laba, for the duration of the season? Still looking forward to this, David?
“This is why you coach and why you play,” the ever-feisty Carl Robinson said. “If you don’t and you’re scared about it, let me know. You shouldn’t be here. Everything ’s against us, but I like that. I like proving people wrong.”
So prove it.
The Caps still have 12 games to play, but given their position — they’re one point out of the playoffs in MLS’s Western Conference — and given their schedule over the next month — six of their next seven games are at home — the upcoming stretch of matches represents a proving ground.
With their depth and balance, they were supposed to be built to withstand the withering demands of the league’s eightmonth schedule.
But, while they’ve been close a couple times, they’ve yet to sustain meaningful success and now face this critical juncture without Laba, the defensive conscience of the team.
Laba — who Robinson called “arguably our best player for the three-plus years he’s been here” — was lost for the season during Saturday’s loss in New England when he suffered an ACL tear in his right knee. As it happens, the Caps have any number of options to replace Laba as the sheriff of the midfield. But whoever gets the call will have a tall order replacing the Argentine.
“I think it has to be by committee,” Robinson said. “Mati is
a fantastic player. We all know that. But everyone will get a chance. It’s down to them to take their chance. I can’t take it for them. What I can guarantee is I’ll give them a chance. At the moment I’ve got 22-odd players who are making a case to play. They all will at certain times.”
He doesn’t exaggerate. Robinson will be looking at a dozen or so players who offer viable options in the midfield. There are big guys (Andrew Jacobson, Tony Tchani and Brek Shea) and little guys (Nicolas Mezquida and Yordy Reyna). There are old guys 36-year-old Mauro Rosales) and young guys (16-year-old Alphonso Davies). There are veteran Whitecaps (Russell Teibert) and new Caps (Egyptian international Aly Ghazal and MLS veteran Aaron Maund). And that still doesn’t cover all the midfielders at the Caps’ disposal.
“We’ll see now if we’re as deep as we like to think we are,” Ousted said. “I do believe the guys who’ll step in are ready. It’s up to them to show and up to the team to make sure they’re successful.”
Robinson said he’s leaning a couple of ways in his lineup selection for Saturday’s meeting against Houston, the first-place team in the Western Conference. One of his early selections is likely to be Jacobson, who has played the holding role this season. Ghazal, who’s still not matchfit, is another name to keep in mind. Robinson and the Caps’ brain trust constructed this team around depth and internal competition. The next two months will serve as the ultimate test for that vision.
“Mentally, players have to deal with (internal competition) and the ones who can, (it) will make them better,” Robinson said. “The ones who can’t — well, if we want to get to where we want and achieve things in pressure situations, they’re probably not the people I want.”
They’re facing that pressure situation now. We’re about to find out if they have the right people for the job.