We’re starting to see the best of Bolanos
Creative Costa Rican midfielder set the tone in Saturday’s crucial 2-1 victory over Portland
The question has been asked since the day he joined the Vancouver Whitecaps in training camp: How long until we see the best of Christian Bolanos?
He answered that with an exclamation mark on Saturday.
In a vital 2-1 home win over the Portland Timbers, the two-time World Cup midfielder showed exactly why Carl Robinson was so keen to sign him — first, a couple of years ago; and again this off-season when Bolanos became available from Saprissa in his native Costa Rica.
Against Portland, Bolanos controlled the tempo, created chances for himself and others and was central to the best combinations the Caps have pulled off this season.
He scored the winning goal, too, even if it was a gift from Timbers’ goalkeeper Jake Gleeson. It was the third straight game Bolanos has scored.
“Like I said many times, players need time to adjust,” said Bolanos, who looked to be in pre-season mode still through March and most of April. “It’s not like you go to sleep and in the morning you get the results. It’s not easy.
“We have many good players here. We have a strong team and we can perform like (Saturday). We have to practise hard and when we play at home, we have to create chances and play with the ball all the time.
“I’m comfortable right now because all my teammates know the way I’m playing. But it’s not about me. It’s about Whitecaps. Everybody knows how they have to play, knows their role.”
More accomplished players than Bolanos have taken much more time to adjust to MLS, so his slow start was hardly a surprise.
It’s a fast, physical league with demanding travel. Caps newcomers have the added wrinkle of getting used to the feel and speed of the turf. And on a team that skews young, it’s also about Bolanos’s teammates learning to see the game the way he does.
He loves to toy with tempo — slow things down, survey, then speed it up. Deceive. Keep opponents guessing.
Too often, MLS resembles a track meet.
“I think in football you have to change the way sometimes,” Bolanos said. “It can’t be physical all the time. “If you drop down the tempo and take the ball and move the ball and find the space, I think this is the right moment to make problems for the other defenders. If they know the player is coming straight, they have already moved. But if you stop and look around and then play the ball behind them, that makes problems.”
The passing sequence the Caps produced in the ninth minute was better than anything they’ve played this season.
Nicolas Mezquida laid the ball back to Pedro Morales, who played it quickly to Bolanos. Bolanos played a one-two with Mezquida, then tried another with Masato Kudo, except Morales stepped in front of the return pass and zipped a low shot just wide from 22 yards.
“We have to do more of that,” said Bolanos, 31. “We try.”
Bolanos finished with 77 touches, second to Morales’s 87. He completed 94.3 per cent of his 53 passes and created four chances, second only to Cristian Techera’s five.
Morales also created three chances and that trio of midfielders, along with Mezquida in the No. 10 role, controlled the ball better than the Caps ever have against Portland at B.C. Place.
Matias Laba, as usual, provided the defensive platform in midfield. He made a game-high seven tackles.
Bolanos, who set up Mezquida and Techera for terrific chances late in the first half, missed his best chance of the game in the 55th minute when he drove a shot inches wide of the far post.
But he scored shortly after that thanks to a goalkeeping gaffe from Gleeson and a distracting run from substitute Blas Perez.
Bolanos was trying to pick out Perez for a header.
“He moved very good,” Bolanos said. “He didn’t touch the ball, but I think Blas made problems for the goalkeeper. I think this goal is 95 per cent for Blas.”
Bolanos might not want the credit, but his overall performance was as encouraging as anything that came out of Saturday’s win.
Robinson brought him here to create and score, essentially as a replacement for Mauro Rosales — a younger, more potent version of the classy Argentine winger with all the same leadership qualities.
“I’m happy today because of the performance,” Bolanos said. “We deserved to win the three points and we played well.
“We win this derby for the fans, so it’s good right now. And next game, we have to do the same thing.”
“Like I said many times, players need time to adjust. It’s not like you go to sleep and in the morning you get the results.” — Christian Bolanos