CAPS AIMING TO BEAT TEXAS HEAT AND RESTED FC DALLAS
The heat is on the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Not only is the Major League Soccer team feeling the pressure of finding a win for just the second time in eight games, but the dry Texas heat will be pounding down on them this afternoon in Dallas, where it’s expected to be in the mid-30s for kickoff.
It’s an extreme test for any team to play in Dallas — the Toros are 3-0-3 this season at Toyota Stadium — but Vancouver is coming off a compacted schedule seeing them play their third game in nine days, and fourth in two weeks.
“It’s challenging. But you have to deal with it, you’ve got to accept it, and you have to embrace it,” said Caps’ coach Carl Robinson. “It’s always difficult going down to Dallas. They’re a good team, but so are we.”
And a few of the players on that “good team” have reportedly stayed behind in Vancouver to rest their legs. Fullbacks Marcel de Jong and Sean Franklin have been given the weekend off, along with forward Eric Hurtado, while goalie Stefan Marinovic and midfielder Jordon Mutch are still rehabbing their respective injuries. Youngsters Simon Colyn and David Norman Jr. were also left off the roster.
The Caps (4W-5L-3D) should field a drastically different lineup than the one that played to a 2-2 tie against San Jose Wednesday, including Brett Levis and Jake Nerwinski taking the places of de Jong and Franklin, respectively.
“There will be a little bit (of team rotation). There’s some boys who are banged up. I’ve got freshness in the squad, and some of the young legs want to play. They will get the opportunity. I won’t tinker with eight or nine changes, but there will be a couple,” the ever-cagey Robinson said after Wednesday’s draw at B.C. Place Stadium.
Nerwinski should slide into the starting lineup for the first time in five games. His absence from the starting 11 had been noted, as he’d started and gone the full 90 minutes the first seven games of the season, and mostly acquitted himself well. Robinson insisted his benching had nothing to do with falling out of favour.
“I decided to leave Jake out and give him a break, because it is his second year and the second year is always the hardest year for any player, especially coming from college,” said the coach.
He also pointed to Franklin rounding into health after being injured in pre-season as another reason for the lack of minutes.
“(Franklin) has been excellent since he’s come in. It took a little bit of time for him to get up to speed, and Jake was doing very well,” Robinson said of the veteran, whose 267 career MLS games is second only to Kei Kamara’s 295.
“Sean stepped in and has done really well. The last two games he’s shown what he brings to the table. His experience is vital.
“It’s good competition, but (Franklin and Nerwinski) get on great. It’s important because you need senior players helping younger players.”
The Whitecaps have surrendered 22 goals this season, second only to the Montreal Impact’s 26, but it should be noted both teams have been short-handed numerous times, with both teams having a league-high three red cards on the season — not including Kendall Waston’s subsequently rescinded ejection against Atlanta in Week 3.
Dallas is at the other end of the spectrum, having given up just nine goals — a league low — and shut out teams three times in their nine games this season. Their lone loss of 2018 came on the road (April 29) and they ’re 4-0-4 in their other eight games, but aren’t about to sleep on a team that beat them 4-0 in their own house last year.
“It’s always a dangerous thing having a team coming off a midweek (game), because depending on the result, they could be very hungry, and we have to be wary of that,” Dallas centreback Matt Hedges told reporters this week.
“We seem to play pretty well coming off mid-week games because the turnaround is quick and you’re not thinking about it as much. But every team has dangerous players, so we can’t switch off for any game.”