The Whitecaps hit the ground like sacks of wet cement

So we can at least agree that soccer makes no sense?

In the first half of the 2-2 tie with Cincinnati the Vancouver Whitecaps were mostly awful as Vanni Sartini deployed a brave line of magical thinking by believing that a midfield two of Teibert and Jungwirth would be adequate cover for the absence of Andreas Cubas.

It was not adequate cover for the absence of Andreas Cubas and Vancouver were lucky to go into the break only one goal behind.

They were also unlucky again with injuries, although one does begin to wonder if so many injuries is related to the way they train and if so many freak accidents is related to a lack of cohesion on the field.

It could all just be the role of the dice (memo to self: leave “role” in there as is, it’s pleasingly pretentious) of course so no definitive answer will be forthcoming.

In the second half the Whitecaps were much better defensively (maybe they had lulled Cincinnati into a false sense of security?) but the game really turned with the arrival of Brian White, who provided some energy up front and particularly Michael Baldisimo, who provided some forward passes to a front line desperate for even the smallest sliver of hope.

By the end of the game it was the Whitecaps who looked the more likely to grab the winner and while a point isn’t a season changing tally it does at least keep them ticking along just when it looked as though the season may fall away from them.

It may still do just that of course but, for now, they are still a viable option to sneak into a playoff spot.

Time for the Soccer Shorts player ratings!

Cropper-3, Raposo-4.5, Dajome-4.5, Brown-4, Godoy-3.5, Blackmon-4, Teibert-2.5, Jungwirth-2, Vite-2, Gauld-5.5*, Cavallini-3 (Boehmer-5, Nerwinski-4, Baldisimo-5, White-4.5)