The Vancouver Whitecaps hope to beat a Cascadian rival this weekend, something they have yet to accomplish since they arrived in MLS. The match against the Seattle Sounders will be their ninth attempt in the last two seasons with three draws and five losses in eight games. Their last victory in a Cup match was 2009 against Portland and their last one against Seattle was in 2008 when both teams were at the division 2 level.
There could be a formation change upcoming against Seattle as their switch to a 4-4-2 at halftime against Colorado seemed to light a spark for the attack. The two strikers in this formation would be Darren Mattocks, who the Sounders had difficulty dealing with him in the first meeting of the season, and Kenny Miller.
In the midfield Barry Robson and Gershon Koffie will form the partnership in the middle while the wide areas have a few more questions to it. With Dane Richards serving a one game suspension due to yellow card accumulation the Whitecaps should go to a couple of players that will be able to serve the strikers and start Omar Salgado on the left while Russell Teibert on the right if both are healthy. If health is an issue then other candidates could be Camilo, Atiba Harris or John Thorrington to play the wing spots.
Early in the week the Whitecaps tweeted that Kenny Miller would score more goals if they provide more chances for the striker. While Camilo is a threat to score from the wing, he has very little ability to send in a decent ball into the box from open play.
The best options to provide service for the strikers are a couple of young players, Omar Salgado and Russell Teibert, who may or may not be 100. Both teenage players have the skillset to attack the middle and provide crosses from the wide areas which will keep the defenders honest in their play.
The backline needs Alain Rochat to return to the left back position and bring his skill and toughness to the wide areas. The central defending pair should be Martin Bonjour and Jay DeMerit, who needs to bounce back from a poor performance. While Rennie has claimed that the keeper position is undecided, there is no doubt that Brad Knighton has done nothing in the last two games to deserve to return to the bench for Joe Cannon.
In the last game the Whitecaps showed that they can be successful in creating attack chances if there is better service from the midfield. The two players that brought the creativity to the forefront was Robson and Koffie but if they don’t get help from the wide areas then the Sounders will just clog up the middle. They will continue to need their full backs to add to the attack something that has been lacking in the last few games.
While the Sounders are strong down the middle the Whitecaps have consistently suffered from open play crosses from mostly Mauro Rosales. It seems like the Argentine is always starting the attack from the right side and has created a nice chemistry with Eddie Johnson.
The Whitecaps need this win not only for the playoff run but also to prove they belong in the conversation with the Timbers and the Sounders. Except for a couple of flashes, Vancouver at this point has not been competitive against their rivals in head to head matchups which makes them an afterthought in the Cascadia landscape.
WHO’S ON FORM
The Caps needed someone to step it up last week against the Rapids and Gershon Koffie provided the spark in different ways. He made a fantastic move off the wing to set up the first goal and then played a great through ball from a deep position to Robson who found Miller for the second.
A thorn in the side of the Whitecaps Freddy Montero has been strong lately in the last ten games scoring eight times and assisting on two others. The defenders will have to pay special attention to the Colombian as he had great success against the Whitecaps with four goals and an assist in the last three games.
(image courtesy of whitecapsfc.com)
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