CAPS NEED THEIR BETTER 11
Coach vows A team will see Quakes
Three days ago, in the Vancouver Whitecaps’ biggest game of the Major League Soccer season and one of the biggest in club history, Carl Robinson fielded a lineup that could be described in a number of ways.
Surprising is one way. Unorthodox is another. Eccentric? Yes, that works. So does unconventional, idiosyncratic and offbeat. Are we painting a picture here? But there was one term that couldn’t be applied to the configuration that fell 2-1 to the Portland Timbers and cost the Caps first place in the Western Conference. Now, with the Whitecaps about to face San Jose in a singleelimination playoff match at B.C. Place Stadium tonight, Robinson promises he’ll put his “best” lineup on the pitch.
True, that concept isn’t as colourful as the bizarro formation employed in the Rose City, but with the season on the line it does strike at the heart of the matter.
“There will be a couple of changes (to the lineup), but there won’t be wholesale changes,” Robinson said Tuesday.
“It will be the best team that can go out and win the game; in my eyes at the moment, my strongest team.
“These guys are on the team for that reason. In big games, you need big players to step up. If my big players step up, we’ll win the game. If they don’t, there’s a chance we might not win the game.”
And really, it’s that simple. So why did Robinson make it so complicated Sunday?
The indication from the Whitecaps’ training is the lineup that will face the Earthquakes will be more orthodox, less eccentric and on the beat. That means the return of the Fredy MonteroYordy Reyna attacking partnership. That means the return of dynamic wing man Cristian Techera. That means the return of Tony Tchani to midfield.
In all likelihood, it also means Marcel de Jong will start on the backline and Stefan Marinovic will start in goal over David Ousted.
Marinovic is a different animal, but Montero, Techera, Tchani and de Jong didn’t start against the Timbers; Nosa Igiebor, Bernie Ibini and Brek Shea did.
Sunday’s lineup, in fact, marked the first time all season that group had played together and they were exposed against a tough and talented Timbers side. As for the why? There were a number of factors.
Concern over Montero’s health demoted him to a substitute’s role. Robinson also wanted to get Igiebor and Christian Bolanos up to game speed and he wanted a stronger defending team against the Timbers.
That, at least, was the plan. Tonight, there will be a new plan.
“I’ve got experienced players in my lineup,” said the coach. “I’ve got international players in my lineup. I’m very confident with the group I’m going to put out tomorrow.”
Central to that group are Montero and Reyna, the dynamic duo that helped transform the Whitecaps in mid-season. Against the Timbers, Reyna was effectively neutered without his running mate, who had been nicked in training last week.
But Montero, a 30-year-old veteran of many MLS playoff wars, said he’s now match fit and ready to play 90 minutes or more tonight. He’s also anxious to deliver the first playoff win in the Whitecaps’ seven-year MLS history.
“We’re ready to change history,” Montero said. “Mentally, I am (prepared for San Jose). Physically I’m working hard because this is the game I want to play. I’m going to do my best to play 90 minutes.
“The team needs me the most in this kind of game.”
As Montero was speaking to a lone reporter, Kendall Waston
Canada has never missed the World Cup, but has also never been ranked this low.
Should the Canadians lose to Uruguay, there will be one more opportunity to qualify via a repechage.
“I’ve got my eyes wide open. I know what it is,” said Jones. “If I didn’t think we could (make the World Cup), I wouldn’t have taken that option. I’d like to think I can help. I’ve got a short space of time. If I tried to come in here and reinvent the wheel, we aren’t going to improve anything.”
Jones will get his first in-person look at Canada as head coach Nov. 3 at B.C. Place against the Maori All Blacks.
He’s been engrossing himself in his new team since taking the job by breaking down hour after hour of video.
stopped by and planted a kiss on Montero’s cheek.
“I love this guy,” said the big defender.
“I prefer him kissing me to hitting me,” said Montero. “It hurts me when he hits me.”
It figures if any of the Whitecaps were going to be loose before the showdown with the Earthquakes, it would be Montero and Waston. Both have played in big games all over the world.
Both are team leaders. And both can strike that balance between playing with intelligence and playing with emotion when the table stakes are at their highest.
“If you want to play sharp, but you don’t have the heart, you’re going to lose papi,” Waston said. “You have to be emotional, but you have to be intelligent. If you run crazy, you can leave space behind and they can punish you. In these games, we win or lose in the little details.”
But he doesn’t see the Whitecaps losing this one.
“I’m just imagining hugging all my teammates,” Waston said.
And his teammates would prefer that to the alternative.
“I’ve watched the last 16 games,” said Jones. “Six or eight of those games, I’ve watched in total detail — first about the team pattern and then about individuals.”
Anscombe’s test record with Canada was just 2-11-1 in his 16 months on the job, but he never really got a chance to field his full team because of injuries and club commitments.
Jones wants to make sure there’s no debate where allegiances lie.
“You can’t select when you want to play for your country,” he said. “I’ll be finding players that will walk to Georgia to play. It can’t be a comfort zone for people. Give people and easy option, they’ll take it more often than not.
“You have to make sure the players are on their toes. No one is guaranteed their place.”