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2021 Whitecaps
- Thread starter Regs
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Just saw these highlights.
theprovince.com
White’s first goal was a result of a great cross, yes, but also his movement off the ball. He’s always shifting.
Second goal by Calceido, I think it is White up top, he shifts to the attacking left to draw defenders away and open up space for the run through- or to open himself up, either way allows Calceido to take advantage.
Cavalini‘s off-the-ball movement sucks. He’s way too stationary. you can still be a target man and make good, smart runs. White is quite good at phantom runs to draw defenders. It’s the stuff coaches love.
I can’t believe I’m saying it, but becoming a believer in White.
Whitecaps 3, Timbers 2: Comeback for the ages ignites Vancouver's playoff push
With the win, the Whitecaps (11-9-10) vaulted past Real Salt Lake into seventh place and the West's final playoff berth
White’s first goal was a result of a great cross, yes, but also his movement off the ball. He’s always shifting.
Second goal by Calceido, I think it is White up top, he shifts to the attacking left to draw defenders away and open up space for the run through- or to open himself up, either way allows Calceido to take advantage.
Cavalini‘s off-the-ball movement sucks. He’s way too stationary. you can still be a target man and make good, smart runs. White is quite good at phantom runs to draw defenders. It’s the stuff coaches love.
I can’t believe I’m saying it, but becoming a believer in White.
Rangerforever
Well-Known Member
He links up way better with Gauld.
I hate to say it too.
I hate to say it too.
aww man, they deleted the tweet!! I guess it was kinda offside. it said something like:
Left foot right foot, header, Brian White finishes everything. He even finishes while thinking of the Queen.
And it had a photo of him with a goofy grin on his face.
Anyways, now at a desktop. There are a few things I tried to watch very closely last night....
- Backline, especially Jake. There is no doubt the three back formation suits him better. I've been vocal that as a back in a back 4, he's frequently the worse player on the park. He's constantly burned and caught flat footed, and unable to jockey if his life depends on it. Tucked in as a piece of the back 3 simplifies his game, and relied more on his physical attributes than- dare I say- skill and IQ. Vaselinovic has also reduced, drastically, those moments when he shuts off. He's a good player, except in those moments he'd be on the pitch and forget he was supposed to be playing in a match. For me, there is no doubt this improvement to the backline is directly related to Jungwirth. He's an intense leader back there, and the lads dare not shut down around him. Either him, or Crepeau need to wear the armband, not Tiebert. The wingbacks were both flying last night, really like both Brown and Gaspar.
- Creapeau...guy is a boss back there, and everyone knows it.
- Midfield: well, we nearly bypassed it completely yesterday. Don't know what to make of Owusu, except to say he's a bit of a spazz. It's almost like he needs to slow down at times and take in his options around him. He always seems to be chasing the play a bit, but he has no issue getting into a challenge. I suppose he is a good second option to Bikel for me, as I feel Bikel plays a far more polished game as the holding midfielder. Far calmer in possession, and last night I loved a little kick he got away with behind the play to wind up the Minni player. Made me laugh He'd have gotten away with it had he just walked away when the handbags came out.
- Tiebert....watched him vary closely, at about 35 minutes I'd counted 2 backwards passes, one horizontal, and commented as much to my buddy he was quite invisible and the midfield was totally ineffective in controlling any possession. It was bypassed constantly, and hardly even effective in regaining lost possession. I mean, you need to be good at at least one critical aspect of the game, right? Then, almost on cue, RT delivered a beauty of a forward pas on receiving the ball in flight, one touch to control, and a great pass over the top to Dajome, who had a golden chance he narrowly missed the target on. For the rest of the match, RT had a few moments like that, where you saw the tools. A great pass to White to create the OG late in the half. One really nice give & go in tight slightly before that. Overall, not a guy I want running the middle of the field, and again, the dagger for me is simply not enough time as a midfield controlling play. That's on him, and Owussu's inability to regain and retain, and deliver....but those little moments really drive me mad, because they were skilled plays, and done with quickness and precision.
- White. This guys works his ass off. Off the ball, he's making intelligent runs to open channels. He's placing himself in tough areas to win challenges, and create chances. His skill on the ball is nothing to write home about, but here he is sitting on 12 goals, and yesterday instrumental in the OG with a great chest to control RT's pass. Well deserved of the full house of 850 giving him a standing ovation as he exited. I'd like a skilled, pure striker, but having White on board makes it easy to say goodbye to Cava.
- Vanni....how can they not give him the job at this point? Seriously, this guy is doing everything MDS was supposed to do. Players love him. Fans (for now) love him. Except for last night, playing an attractive brand, but hey, I was happy when I left the building because I saw an effort that closed off with 3 points and got us firmly into the playoff picture. If you've ever seen the movie Chasing Mavericks (as I have, 253 time or so), there is a great line: "If you are going to slay a dragon, you need a sacred spear". Vanni dropped in on a 70' widow maker, and is riding this mother fcuker out, with speed.
This guy is playing all the right notes, eh? https://www.whitecapsfc.com/video/p...2021#post-match-vanni-sartini-october-27-2021
the backwards passes still had me drunk by halftime, but at least I wasn't buying...
Cavallini is just fine to bring on in about the 70th minute to hold the ball, absorb some contact, win some free kicks, and generally help lock down wins. At $250k or thereabouts I love him.
However...
Cavallini is just fine to bring on in about the 70th minute to hold the ball, absorb some contact, win some free kicks, and generally help lock down wins. At $250k or thereabouts I love him.
However...
Cava…..when the ball was on the last corner, I saw Cava was hanging out top of the box expecting a delivered corner kick. I actually yelled from the Southside, “Make yourself useful Cava and go hood up that corner!”
Sure enough, someone heard me, and relayed message to him. He moped over, and did as asked.
Wish they listen to me more often.
Sure enough, someone heard me, and relayed message to him. He moped over, and did as asked.
Wish they listen to me more often.
Todays match showed that Sartini needs to teach Nerwinski how to pass and teach Gutierrez how to defend or keep them off the field. Today was Owusu's worse game. LAFC were better by leagues. But Crepeau had a good game, or the score would have been 5-1.
- Jake is consistently the worst player on the pitch, yesterday not the worst but his skillset is limited. At this point can't be taught, maybe age / experience helps him learn how to be more effective w/ his limited skillset. He's a spare, needs to be behind Godoy and Vaso, maybe behind Rose as well.
- Gutierrez, prior to injury, showed he was an intelligent, aggressive defender. Good at ball winning, better in possession once gained. Needs time to find his groove after very long layoff. Keeping him off the field is totally counter-productive. He needs games to find game speed, if you believe he can get back to pre-injury level.
Once the ball would find the attacker's feet, it looked better, but getting it to their feet (specifically, to Gauld's) was rare. This needs to be placed firmly on Tiebert and Owussu. Our attack now relies on the wingbacks distributing up the flanks, or the ball over-the-top. It's predictable, low percentage, and relies on the smallest man on the pitch winning a 50/50 aerial ball. It's madness not to make every effort to get the ball into his feet. The balls over-the-top need to be less frequent to be more effective. Going to it on 2/3rds of advancements up the pitch is bad strategy.
Having Gauld out there masks his deficiencies... I'll concede he's had some better games, but fcuk me he's still miles below what they need in the middle of the park if they're to have any hope of winning anything...
This.
He's been better, yes, but I'd argue he's been better due to the instruction specifically to look for the ball over-the-top. It's almost automatic. Many blind.
If the coaching staff were instructing him to look to carry the ball and look for opportunities to look forward, isolate defenders, split the lanes, or spray the ball in-flight? Different. I'm not seeing that. You know who was good at this? Koffie. I'm also not seeing RT be effective as a ball winner, or even one-vs-one man marking. Late to the party, every time. Absolutely committed to marking space, no matter what. Tells me again, he's following instruction, not thinking for himself out there. The only MFer clearly very good at marking and ball winning this on the squad is Bikel. Owussu...I struggle to see exactly what he's very good at as an MLS player. Covers a lot of ground, and can play with some decent pace in the middle, so I expect more.
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