Whitecaps will lean on their bench strength in fight against Red Bulls
Dem’s the breaks. The international breaks, that is.
When the Vancouver Whitecaps and New York Red Bulls clash Saturday at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J., both Major League Soccer sides will be missing key players to international duties.
The Caps will be without midfielder Christian Bolanos and centre back Kendall Waston, called up to the Costa Rican national team, while Yordy Reyna will earn his 18th cap with Peru (first since 2015) and goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic answered the All-Whites’ call.
Vancouver coach Carl Robinson also convinced Canada manager Octavio Zambrano to keep his hands off the Canadian Caps as they look to lock up at least a No. 2 seed in the MLS Western Conference.
“It’s not ideal, losing players, but it is what it is. I spoke to Octavio, and obviously the Canadian boys stay with me, which is really important,” said Robinson, who will turn to his bench this weekend, including midfielder Nosa Igiebor, who has yet to see game action since being signed in early September. “I’ve said that 11 players aren’t going to win you the MLS Cup. It’s going to be 20-plus players. I need the whole squad.”
Cristian Techera will join the team in New York from Uruguay, where he’s been with family after welcoming son Bastian to the world earlier this week, while Andrew Jacobson will remain in Vancouver, with his wife who’s expecting their second child.
The Red Bulls had previously been able to schedule their league games with little concern for international call-ups, but nondomestic additions to the roster this year means they ’ll be without Panamanian defenders Michael Amir Murillo and Fidel Escobar, as well as Kemar Lawrence and Derrick Etienne, who will join Jamaica and Haiti, respectively, for friendlies.
The Whitecaps, who are 5-1-1 in their last seven matches and 9-3-3 since July 5, remain in first place in the West with three games remaining. A win Saturday would clinch at least the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye, while a single point over the last three games would ensure a home playoff date.
The Red Bulls have had a rough September, going 0-4-2, and while they haven’t won at home since Aug. 12, they are unbeaten there in their last six matches, and a win on Saturday would secure a postseason berth.
“It’s not a must-win in terms of we have one win out of three. If we can get a win here then we can start to think about ‘Maybe we can inch our way up the placing a little bit.’ But, it’s a mentality move for our group,” said New York coach Jesse Marsch.
“As it has been a difficult stretch ... there’s no looking back right now, there’s only looking forward.”
While Marsch looks ahead, let’s take a peek in the past. The last meetings between these two teams came in the spring, when Vancouver tied 1-1 in Jersey and then won 2-0 at B.C. Place Stadium as they eliminated New York from the CONCACAF Champions League in the quarter-finals.
The key to getting a road win is to score first, but doubly so against the Red Bulls, who are 6-0-2 when scoring first and 5-0-1 when leading at the half. In Vancouver’s last visit, Kekuta Manneh gave the visitors a 39th-minute lead, and they held on for the tie with David Ousted turning aside a penalty and surviving a red card to Techera in the 70th minute.
“It’s a tough place to play in. When they’re at home, they’re very aggressive, very offensive, and will try to go and get early goals. We’ll have to weather the storm, and hit them on the counter,” said Ousted, whose Caps will face the team with the league’s third-highest home possession percentage.
“Going away, in tough places, you’re not going to see a lot of the ball a lot of the time. Being defensively sound, and good at hitting the counter is an art in itself. Especially away from home.”
Around this time last year, Ousted was feeling the frustration of a season gone awry, as tempers flared in a loud and public shoving match with Pedro Morales at practice. It was understandable given the team’s 9-15-9 record, and the fact they had won only once in league play since July.
But now the team is occupying the rare air atop the West, and closing in on several team records. Their 51 points is two short of the team record. High-water marks for wins (15, club record 16), away wins (six, club record seven), home wins (nine, club record nine) and goals (48, club record 53) are easily attainable.
“I don’t think it was just last year that guys were pissed off and fighting. It was the year before, and the year before (that),” said Robinson. “That happens at football clubs. But it gets magnified when you don’t win games.
“Now it’s the fun part. It’s three key games against really good teams and lots to play for. We’ve done one step, which is reach the playoffs, now we want to get a home playoff game.”