Caps try to shake TFC loss before Timbers tilt
Vancouver eyeing first win over Portland expansion cousins to tighten grip on playoff spot
John Spencer knows the Vancouver Whitecaps are down after losing another Canadian championship final this week to Toronto FC.
But the Portland Timbers head coach doesn’t count them out, not by a long shot.
“You can never predict what the score will be in derby games,” he said in an interview Friday, when contemplating tonight’s Caps/ Timbers clash at Jeld- Wen Field.
“We expect a really tough game.”
The Whitecaps have to pick themselves up physically and emotionally in Portland just three days after that devastating 1- 0 loss to TFC that gave the Reds their fourth consecutive Canadian title.
The 5W- 3L- 3D Caps sit in fourth place in the Major League Soccer Western Conference — a position that would get them in the playoffs if the season ended now. The 3W- 5L- 3D Timbers are in eighth spot, six points behind Vancouver.
Caps head coach Martin Rennie stressed the importance of making the playoffs just minutes after his team’s Canadian title hopes were dashed at BMO Field, talking of the need to “dust ourselves off” and play well in the Rose City.
If making the playoffs isn’t enough incentive, simply beating the Timbers must be an enticing goal.
The Whitecaps have never defeated their expansion cousins in MLS, dropping both matches to Portland in the inaugural season for both longtime rivals last year.
Rennie has lots of lineup options for his club’s eighth game in a hectic month of May and might try to squeeze a little more from veterans such as Jay Demerit, Young- Pyo Lee and Sebastien Le Toux, as the club won’t play again until June 10.
They face a Timbers squad that hasn’t won on the road this season and is just a game above .500 at home, usually one of the most intimidating atmospheres in MLS for visiting clubs.
A 2- 1 Portland home win over Chicago last weekend broke a three- game winless streak and gave the Timbers their first goals in nearly a month.
Spencer admitted his club hasn’t had an ideal start this season but isn’t overly concerned about the team’s attacking play.
Designated player Kris Boyd — on a streak of five games without a goal — and second overall 2011 Superdraft pick Darlington Nagbe lead the Timbers with three goals each and have played together up front recently.
“I think if we get Boyd the right chances, he’ll score goals,” Spencer said. “We’ve lacked a little bit of creativity the last couple of games but we’re getting some players back, like Kalif Alhassan, Sal Zizzo and Franck Songo’o, who can help create something up front for us.”
He said Boyd, a prolific Scottish Premier League scorer who will make $ 1.5 million this year, has often been contained this season by opponents who “double- team” the 6- 1 striker.
“We need to get our other forwards scoring goals because when that happens, it should free up a little space for him in the box,” Spencer said. “If you give him half a yard, he’s going to punish you.”
Caps winger Omar Salgado and Nagbe, the top two picks in the 2011 draft, could start against each other for the first time.
Spencer said Nagbe often plays as a striker now but is probably best suited to becoming an attacking midfielder over the long term.
“Ability- wise, he’s up there with the best of them but talent alone in the modern game is not enough any more,” he said. “You have to have that work ethic and desire.
“Work rate is never a problem with him. He just doesn’t believe in himself as much as myself and the coaching staff do. Once that switch finally turns on, we’re definitely going to have one great player on our hands.”
SIDE KICKS: The Canadian Soccer Association wouldn’t officially comment Friday on Rennie’s complaint that Toronto- area referee Silviu Petrescu shouldn’t have officiated the Canadian Championship final between Toronto and Vancouver this week. Rennie felt a referee from a neutral location would have been more appropriate but the CSA noted the Whitecaps did not lodge a formal complaint.
The CSA said Petrescu is one of the most experienced officials in Canada and lives more than 150 kilometres from Toronto.