‘WE’VE GOT TO BE UP FOR A FIGHT‘
Rivalry games are tense affairs, but Caps-Timbers is always on another level
How much of Saturday’s game comes down to the Whitecaps’ best players being better than the Timbers’ best players?
“Everything,” Caps coach Carl Robinson said after Thursday’s practice at B.C. Place. “That’s it.
“You want all your players to play well, and usually if seven or eight play well then you win the game. But in tight games, and in this league especially, as we’ve seen in the first 10 games, it comes down to your bigtime players.”
And through 10 games, the opponents’ big-time players have decided more games than the Caps’ bigtime players.
The story of week one? Ignacio Piatti’s brilliance.
Week two? Dom Dwyer’s two goals.
The Salt Lake game was decided by designated player Burrito Martinez, who buried his chance, set up by Joao Plata.
Last weekend, away to New York City, it was David Villa’s two goals that turned around a 1-0 Caps’ lead.
Pedro Morales — one of the Caps’ three designated players — had a good start to the season then missed three games to a hip injury.
He returned to play 54 minutes at home to K.C. two weeks ago then skipped the New York trip to do more rehab work in Vancouver with Rick Celebrini.
Not since John Thorrington’s time here has Celebrini had such a fulltime Caps client.
Morales was back in practice this week and you’d expect him to start Saturday at home to Portland (2 p.m., TSN1, TSN 1040).
DP forward Octavio Rivero, who scored his first goal in 15 games last weekend before leaving with an ankle injury, was also back training Thursday, and the head-to-head matchups in this rivalry always tell an interesting story.
Fanendo Adi has seven goals for Portland. Who’ll give his team a bigger contribution up front at B.C. Place: Rivero or Adi?
Will Morales be fit enough and sharp enough to out-play his counterpart, Argentine Diego Valeri?
Valeri returned from injury last weekend to score a wonderful freekick winner against Toronto, and he has more goals-per-90-minutes (0.30) and assists-per-90-minutes (0.46) than Morales does in MLS (0.20 and 0.35).
Can the Caps’ other DP, defensive midfielder Matias Laba, come out on top Saturday when compared with Diego Chara?
Will Cristian Techera and Christian Bolanos give the Caps more in attacking positions than Darlington Nagbe and Lucas Melano will give the Timbers?
Will Kendall Waston have more to say about the outcome than Liam Ridgewell?
It’s generally a safe bet that David Ousted will out-perform any opposing goalkeeper, although even Ousted would want the 3-2 goal in New York back, and he’s had two costly mix-ups with Waston through 10 games.
Who have been the best Caps so far this season? Jordan Harvey? Nicolas Mezquida?
It’s not enough for the Caps to have their role players step up. This team is built for its spine to win them games — Ousted, Waston, Laba, Morales, Rivero.
“Everyone needs to play well,” said Robinson, “but when things aren’t going your way, you expect your big players to step up.”
And in this league, where attacking talent is paid 10 or 20, or sometimes 100 times the defenders they’re going up against, that skill has to shine through, or it’s lights out.