“All good teams are alike; each bad team is bad in its own way.”
And the Whitecaps have taken Tolstoy’s memorable quote about football to a new level. For they somehow manage to be bad in a slightly different way in each game.
In the 3-0 defeat to San Jose, for example, they pressed well in the first half and looked capable of causing the hosts problems as the game went on.
Well, the game went on, but the Whitecaps didn’t. Not really.
Sloppy defending gave away an early goal in the second half and then Andy Rose, included in central defence for his experience and calm head, picked up a silly second yellow card and the game was essentially over.
Apart from two more goals and Erik Godoy being harshly red carded for what looked like a minor, if somewhat foolish, kick to an ankle.
In truth referee Alan Chapman probably did Marc Dos Santos a favour with that decision; allowing him to talk about bad officiating rather than the way his team, once again, fell apart at the first sign of adversity.
But, as Tolstoy also said, “Every coach thinks of changing the team, but none thinks of changing himself”.
Time for the Soccer Shorts player ratings.
Bush-5, Nerwinski-4.5, Adnan-3, Rose-2, Godoy-4.5, Owusu-3, Baldisimo-4, Teibert-5, Dajome-2, Ricketts, 3, Montero-5.5*
Soccer Shorts (The Director's Cut) 