Reo-coker’s return boosts team’s hopes
Three tough away games ‘going to make or break our season’ says crucial midfielder
Nigel Reo-Coker was talking a good game at practice this week and, thankfully for the Vancouver Whitecaps, he’ll be on the field in Frisco, Texas, on Saturday trying to back those words up.
“I just think it’s about being realistic and honest,” said Reo-Coker, who missed the Caps’ latest disappointment, a 2-2 home tie with Chivas, because of suspension.
“I don’t like to sugar-coat anything. We have three tough away games and we have to face up to it. It’s going to make or break our season. As a team, we have to stand up and be counted as man and either say, ‘We’re going to achieve something great,’ or we’re going to let our season crumble.
“We have to put our chests out, work hard, and be mentally prepared for all these games and make it hard for every team we play.”
The Caps are not deep in midfield at the best of times and they clearly missed Reo-Coker against Chivas. He’d racked up too many yellow cards, an inevitable result of the passion he plays with.
Gershon Koffie’s been excellent of late and Matt Watson’s endless hustle created the Caps’ opening goal, but Vancouver’s a far better team, and a far tougher one to play against, with Koffie and Reo-Coker in the same lineup. Reo-Coker’s surging runs, and his leadership, should be vital as the playoffs near and the pressure mounts.
The tie against Chivas means that a point here and there on the road will not likely be good enough for the Caps (10-9-7), who are tied with Dallas (9-7-10) and locked in a four-way battle for the final two playoff spots.
Of their eight remaining games, five are away from home.
“He can be really crucial,” Caps coach Martin Rennie said of ReoCoker’s role down the stretch. “He’s got experience. He’s one of our best players. He really drives us on. He gives guys confidence. He’s very important and hopefully we can have him in all the games now.”
Watching the Chivas game “wasn’t nice,” Reo-Coker said, which might be the understatement of the season. What he saw was an inexcusably flat first half and a team that continues to give the ball away cheaply at times, which he’s also been guilty of this season.
“We didn’t seem like our normal selves,” he said, and that’s really the question now: Can this team quickly rediscover the confidence and class it showed from mid-May to midJune?
In Dallas, they have a good opportunity.
Russell Teibert, away with Canada, is a key absence for the Caps, but Dallas is without leading scorer Blas Perez and all-star goalkeeper Raul Fernandez to World Cup qualifiers. They’ll also play without forward Kenny Cooper, who was sent off last game.
And while Dallas is 7-1-5 at home this season, they’ve won just once in their last 13 games — against Chivas — following an 8-2-3 start.
In the early months of the season, Rennie was quick to say of Dallas: “We’ll see where they end up.”
He planted another seed of doubt this week.
“The game’s still going to be a hard game and we need to be at our best,” Rennie said, “but I think when a team’s missing those kinds of players then it can be a little lift for us and maybe a little doubt in their mind. Because those are certainly good players, and others, like (Zach) Loyd and (Andrew) Jacobson and (Eric) Hassli haven’t played too much (lately).”
Facing Dallas has almost always brought disappointment for the Caps, who are 1-5-1 against them, including a one-sided 2-0 loss in Frisco in April.
There’s never been a better time to turn the tide.