For the first half of the game against the LA Galaxy the Vancouver Whitecaps were bad.
You know what? Scratch that, it isn’t fair. They were worse than bad, they were awful. Lacklustre in their movement and thought, they somehow managed to to have three holding midfielders on the pitch without actually having a midfield.
They conceded early and, to all intents and purposes, they looked finished. Carved open at every opportunity they were lucky to go into the break still only trailing by a solitary goal.
For the second half of the game against the LA Galaxy the Vancouver Whitecaps were good.
You know what? Scratch that, it isn’t fair. They were better than good, they were impressive. Closing down the Galaxy at every opportunity and breaking with both pace and purpose.
Two goals fashioned from their own devices sealed a victory that was (kind of) deserved.
It was certainly needed.
And now they go into a game against Houston on Tuesday evening with the possibility (whisper it softly lest the gods be offended by our hubris) of putting together back to back wins.
That won’t salvage the season by itself, but it will put the season onto the standby by list for salvageability, hoping that some other team drops out leaving an unexpected late call to report to the ticket counter for a team that has never looked like getting off the ground up to now.
It’s a hope of sorts.
Time for the Soccer Shorts player ratings!
Hassal-5, Brown-5, Guttierez-5, Godoy-5, Veselinovic-5, Teibert-4.5, Bikel-5.5, Baldisimo-3, Caicedo-5.5, Dajome-5.5*, White-5
Soccer Shorts (The Director's Cut) 