2021 Whitecaps

[Regs]

 

[Gurps]

Subbing out baldy and tiebart and the Caps looked like a brand new team.

Still lost but at least the effort was much better last 20 mins and held way more possession.

 

[mtkb]

had the A's not shite the bed against the Rangers last night, my $20 bet would have returned $400. The Galaxy paid 2.05 to win - which they almost screwed up but God bless the Caps for finding new and inventive ways to lose... the "Scottish Messi" didn't like the hype he got in Scotland and fcuked off to Portugal - he's going to come here knowing full well he's expected to be the saviour for this mess of a roster? Can't see it...

 

[dezza]

 

[PV]

Global aired an interview with shuster today, and shuster was non committal, but he did not say MDS is doing a good job.

 

[mtkb]

Global aired an interview with shuster today, and shuster was non committal, but he did not say MDS is doing a good job.

can't see them paying two coaches at once... sort of goes against their business model... besides, the team is clearly going nowhere this year (Schuster predicted as much last year which was a wild admission but here we are), so why bother? Let him go down with the ship and then haul it up from the ocean floor in the off-season.

bottom of the table as of this morning...

 

[Dude]

For those looking to torture yourselves... game day vs LA Galaxy.

If/when they lose, does MDS get the hook? How would that even work out, I mean they would have to replace him internally, no?

Knowing this fcuked up club, they would announce the replacement being a player coach: Ali Adnan.

….for the first time since maybe early days of the '86ers, I completely checked out on the Caps. Even in the past, when I've said that I'm out, I'm always still a bit in, checking up if I deliberately miss a match. This one? Totally forgot, and no attempt to PVR.

Judging by that...whatever it was...match Saturday (which I watched yesterday escaping heat by being inside w/ A/C), I may be best remaining ambivalent.

Yesterday, I was really only impressed w/ Dahome. Maybe Creapeau. Alexandre looks exasperated out there. I can't believe they drew Seattle- in Seattle- and were at one point looking to steal all three points. Then, reality and the clown car act came back into play at the top of the 18. Amazed they didn't kiss away the point in stoppage.

Rayan Gauld....if it does get over the line, Caps have a great way of fcuking up talent. If they get him over the line, I'll reserve judgement on if he actually can contribute. The franchise is way too fcuked up.

And yeah, time to hand over keys to Daso.

 

[Gurps]

Nice turnover by Baldy on the first goal. He will get the captain Arm band from tiebart and a 400k salary if he keeps this up.

 

[Dude]

Nice turnover by Baldy on the first goal. He will get the captain Arm band from tiebart and a 400k salary if he keeps this up.

Not until he triples the number of backwards passes.

OK, I’m a believer in him. I’ve voices that. Bad turnover. Same sort of turnover we all made when moving up to a level that challenged us more, especially being young. So I don’t judge him on that. He’ll learn.

Cava also made a stupid one late in the match tied at 2 nobody jumped all over.

That being said, as my favourite commentary guy Terry Dunfield likes to say, Baldi wasn’t experiencing a lot of joy in the midfield Saturday.

 

[mtkb]

I hate that phrase "a lot of joy"... right up there with "successful dribbles".

Baldy's soccer brain isn't the best, frankly. Having him and RT in there together, well... says all it needs to about their residency program...

for too long it just seems like they sign anyone they can actually convince to come here, and then put them all out on the field and hope for the best... if there's a vision or plan for how they're going to build their roster so that they can play a particular way, it's escaped me...

 

[Rangerforever]

Yesterday, I was really only impressed w/ Dahome.

It's Dajome.
But you got it right phonetically.

And yes, I've mentioned before he is the one thing in this organization I rate right now.
He's intense and hungry, and I like that.

 

[dezza]

did someone say D. Homey?

 

[Dude]

It's Dajome.
But you got it right phonetically.

And yes, I've mentioned before he is the one thing in this organization I rate right now.
He's intense and hungry, and I like that.

Jo eat a bag of dicks, would yah? Cut an old guy a break. More and more I feel like I’m jablind writing on this jucking iPhone.

 

[Gurps]

Baldy also cost a goal last game when he didnt pick up his mark. Had this been the first time for sure but two games in a row and two goals both the result of him.

He just doesnt seem to have the fitness to play at this level.

At younger ages being able to to hit long balls and switch the play works and looks great and can mask other issues.

Pro level is different as guys can exploit your weakness and its pretty obvious he doesnt have the soccer IQ or fitness to play the position he does. Putting a guy in the middle of the park that cant dribble out of pressure just doesn't make any sense to me.

Even in our local leagues we all know your center mid has to be the pressure release valve and work his tail off. Show for the ball and be the link between the back line and strikers.

I have never seen him come back for the ball, turn and dribble up the field giving time for the back line to get up the field.
When he gets the ball if his back is to the other goal he touches it wide or just turns and hits a long diagonal ball.

That's a great skill to have but you also need to be able to move with the ball at your feet.

Once MLS teams know that's all you have your days are numbered and you saw it with the first goal.

 

[Dude]

Baldy also cost a goal last game when he didnt pick up his mark. Had this been the first time for sure but two games in a row and two goals both the result of him.

He just doesnt seem to have the fitness to play at this level.

At younger ages being able to to hit long balls and switch the play works and looks great and can mask other issues.

Pro level is different as guys can exploit your weakness and its pretty obvious he doesnt have the soccer IQ or fitness to play the position he does. Putting a guy in the middle of the park that cant dribble out of pressure just doesn't make any sense to me.

Even in our local leagues we all know your center mid has to be the pressure release valve and work his tail off. Show for the ball and be the link between the back line and strikers.

I have never seen him come back for the ball, turn and dribble up the field giving time for the back line to get up the field.
When he gets the ball if his back is to the other goal he touches it wide or just turns and hits a long diagonal ball.

That's a great skill to have but you also need to be able to move with the ball at your feet.

Once MLS teams know that's all you have your days are numbered and you saw it with the first goal.

Great post. Instead of basically saying "he's shite", you point out the deficiencies, and you are bang on correct. He relies heavily on his long range passing, and opposing midfielders are a quick read.

Always hard to groom a player in the CMF (That's "Centre Midfield" in Dude abbreviation).

I'm far from ready to say he doesn't have the IQ to progress. There have been plenty of players come through where it was crystal clear they did not have the IQ...I'm not seeing it here. That ball he coughed up at the top of the 18...the commenters pointed out it may have been a foul...foul or not, as you say, being that relief valve means in that situation you recognize the situation and move the ball along quickly out of danger. That being said, being the CFMer he's definitely under a hotter microscope than, say, Cava, who made an even more egregious mistake later in the match.

Fitness...yeah, that needs to be improved. That will improve, fitness can be trained in. Again, MOST young players stepping up a level, especially at MLS, will need time to let their fitness catch up. We all know young doesn't always equate to 90 minute match fitness. Doesn't help when for about a year, he got no time at any pro level, then pumped right into MLS. Not many players have that in them to have the fitness of a groomed pro as young as he is, especially with no stepping stone.

To that end, what I am 100% seeing is that, this is what we should expect when the club doesn't have an intermediary pathway for the players to groom themselves at. The club has nobody to blame but themselves for torpedoing their USL squad. It's frankly a fcuking miracle that ANY young prospect makes it through to the MLS squad, and then gets into the starting 11.

The Club is absolute shite at development from within. Don't know how else to put that one.

As the situation sits, Baldi will be getting starts for a while, and I guess we'll see. I guess if the Caps as somehow successful in signing Ryan Gauld, that could change. If they do, be prepared to see @LION make a TTP come back with first moan being we still have a midget army. I kinda agree with him.

On the topic of having more bite, size, and urgency in the midfield, should MDS be folding Owusu back in playing a box-to-box role? Would that help Alexandre get on the ball more? Also, Bikel out right on the back....thoughts? I thought he was composed and good in his role, but likely not what I'd want on the right side. If it means we never see Jake again though, excellent. I'll take three guys currently on the squad over Jake. He's terrible. Full stop. Talk about your low footballing IQ.....

 

[Gurps]

Great comments dude and your bang on. He may need time and he is young. The caps really are missing that middle link where a player can play a lot of minutes and get their fitness up and develop before being thrown into the track meet that is MLS. Baldy seems like a guy that needs more development at that level so he can get comfortable with the ball. This as you mentioned is the fault of the caps and how they develop players.

I have liked Bikel so far at right back thought he has played really well. Anyone is better than jake back there.

Will be interesting to see if Adnan ever comes back. Why not try and dump him and use the money to get a proper center mid? We have Gutierrez already at left back and he does well.

Good points on Owasu and Alexandre fully agree.

End of the day the middle of the park is a huge issue for the caps and if they can get someone in and fix that I think the team jumps up in the standings. I have no idea why they wont spend money on getting someone in that spot.

Dump Tiebart and adana and you have close to 2 million dollars a year to pay someone to play that position. Why is that so hard? I dont get it?

 

[dezza]

It's almost like the Caps would be best served making use of a nearby CPL team to loan young players to for minutes. What a novel idea!

 

[bulljive]

Who’s Baldi developing from? You need to be around better players then yourself day in and day out to raise your level. Who’s he learning from, who’s telling him what his deficiencies are and how to improve?
Look at Davies, yes he was good for the Caps but he was still a very raw talented athlete. His development has exploded at Bayern working with world class players and coaches. I don’t see a lot of development at the Caps. Players are what they are. Tiebert hasn’t changed a lick.

 

[Dude]

Who’s Baldi developing from? You need to be around better players then yourself day in and day out to raise your level. Who’s he learning from, who’s telling him what his deficiencies are and how to improve?
Look at Davies, yes he was good for the Caps but he was still a very raw talented athlete. His development has exploded at Bayern working with world class players and coaches. I don’t see a lot of development at the Caps. Players are what they are. Tiebert hasn’t changed a lick.

Yeah, another great point.

Higher end MLS clubs have made that investment in top-end players, so it's easy to argue that their young players have developed faster in a higher end professional environment. I completely agree here. Davies was an outlier, he proved he can succeed even with a club that is hopeless. Definitely the best thing to happen to WFC in the MLS era, arguably ever.

The sad part is that I don't see status quo changing significantly until we have a change in ownership. Either a change of approach, or simply sell-off to owners that will invest. I'd take the Aquillinis over this mob any day, if indeed that's on the table. May not be. But fcuk me, MLS is still ripe to be a huge success here. I truly believe filling the dome is a real possibility, but you need a dynamic, top end squad to do that. Apathy has set in huge for the Caps, they can't get any press these days, they are basically invisible. That's on ownership.

If you dismissed MDS and replaced him w/ Dasovic, there may be a slight improvement in culture and tactics, but I don't think he'd be armed to make a serious go. He'd be a dead duck manager, too.

 

[dezza]

Dasovic is more likely to be coaching in FVSL than MLS.

Seriously.

I'm not joking.