It’s probably more of a blessing than a curse that the Vancouver Whitecaps didn’t follow up last week’s thrilling 4-3 win in LA with a similar performance at BC Place in their final game of the MLS season.
After all, that could have left too many people thinking “Hmm? Maybe there isn’t too much wrong this team.”
But nobody could sit through the 1-0 defeat to Real Salt Lake and think such Pollyannaish thoughts because the game, and the Whitecaps, were dreadful.
On the plus side Marc Dos Santos did get a glimpse of the kind of team he should be building on the budget he will be given.
Salt Lake passed well and pressed well. And while neither of those traits scream startling tactical innovation they were enough to win this game comfortably.
It’s somewhat baffling as to why Dos Santos hasn’t got his team to press in any meaningful way this season. If your team aren’t effective with the ball then at least make them effective without it.
But it’s even more baffling why a succession of MLS era Whitecaps’ coaches have been either uninterested or unable to get their players to move effectively on the field.
Almost every time a Salt Lake player had the ball he was offered a simple pass because a team mate had moved into space.
Almost every time a Whitecap player had the ball he was offered either a long pass into the channels or the prospect of turning around and passing the ball backwards because nobody had thought more than one move ahead.
This isn’t rocket science people! This is one of the basics of the game.
No point in fretting over it now though as the club go into another off season of rebuilding once again hoping that changing the bricks will make the house more secure than finally fixing the foundations that have been rotting away for years.
But there will at least be intrigue in watching the comings and goings of players in the coming months and let’s hope that Dos Santos has learned the lesson that a massive overhaul of players makes getting things right a lot harder than he first supposed.
The Whitecaps simply can’t afford go into the first few months of next season still trying to find the best starting eleven or their best way of playing.
The vast majority of fans have no more patience left to give.
time for the Soccer shorts player ratings.
Crepeau-5, Godoy-4.5, Adnan-4.5, henry-4.5, Cornelius-4.5, Rose-4.5, Teibert-5, In-Beom-5, Chrinos-5.5*, Bair-4, Ricketts- 3.5, (Montero-4, Reyna-4)
Soccer Shorts (The Director's Cut) 
Well said. But remember MDS promised an attacking pressure team. Instead he just tried the Mourinho park the bus game plan. The last 15 were fun, because they started pressing. It’s going to be the same next year. Because the owners won’t give him the money needed. The bought the team for 35 million it’s now worth 345 million. At 400 million they will sell and move the team. Such a tragic end for our beloved Whitecaps. Greedy uninterested non football owners.
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