Robinson vowing to put best lineup on pitch tonight
Robinson going with prime-time performers with season on the line against Earthquakes
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, costing the Caps first place in the Western Conference. Now, with the Whitecaps about to face San Jose in an elimination playoff match at B.C. Place Stadium on Wednesday night, 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 on 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 Montero-Yordy 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, while 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 landed him in a substitute 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. Wednesday night, 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 is Montero and Reyna, the dynamic duo who 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, on Wednesday. He’s also anxious to deliver the first playoff win in the Whitecaps’ sev- en-year MLS history.
“We’re ready to change history,” Montero said, before adding. “Mentally, I’m (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 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 that, 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 stakes are 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.