Pedro Morales should be ready to show he can play away from home this season.
Whitecaps need Pedro to spark in Chicago
by Graham Tooke, @chelskitooke
For 45 minutes at BC Place the Vancouver Whitecaps looked par for the win. But the following 45 were anything but. The team struggled for ideas and looked alarmingly short of fitness as the second half ran away from them. Missed opportunities in the first half allowed Toronto FC to retool at half time, learn from their mistakes, and go on to dominate the second half.
Michael Bradley shone, shutting down the creative force that is Pedro Morales. Without their talisman pulling the strings behind the front three the Whitecaps failed to create.
Just as worryingly was Carl Robinson’s limp attempt to turn the game back in the home sides’ favour. With TFC plowing through the ‘Caps backline and tapping in their second of the match, Carl went to his bench and replaced the lively and arguably more offense-minded Teibert with Gershon Koffie.
The Ghanaian has rarely been used off the match mainly because he’s usually out on the pitch from the get go. But the added pressure of coming off the bench to provide an impetus in attack saw Koffie fall well short. He failed to keep possession and his continuous lunging to collect a poor first touch resulted in numerous cheap fouls for the visitors, fouls that might have been applauded had it been TFC chasing the game.
Even in preseason Carl Robinson didn’t show much flexibility in his tactics. Mostly favoring the 4-2-3-1 formation which worked fantastically last season but from the looks of the second half with Toronto he may have already been figured out. TFC sat deep killing the Whitecaps flow as Morales could no longer hit hopeful long balls over the back of the defense that had worked so well earlier in the match. Squeezing out that space strangled Vancouver as they lacked inspiration in getting by the opposition.
The Fire could use a positive result in their home opener at Toyota Park.
It was a poor start for the ‘Caps but Frank Yallop’s Chicago didn’t fare much better losing 2-0 to the LA Galaxy.
Designated Player Kennedy Igboaninike pulled up short in the second half but should be available for Saturdays’ tilt. With Mike Magee already out for an extended period and DP forward David Accam still to reach full fitness Frank Yallop will be relieved his Nigerian hitman is able to go.
Former Celtic and Wigan Athletic midfielder Shaun Maloney is still finding his feet in MLS.
Their third DP, Shaun Maloney, is still acclimatizing to the league and has barely spent any time in Chicago since signing for the club. The Fire warmed up in England before the Simple Invitational in Portland followed by preparing in the warm weather of Los Angeles last week.
Only now has the newly acquired winger/forward/playmaker been able to see his new city. Mind you the team hasn’t even been able to get a feel for the pitch at Toyota Park as it’s covered under a tarp thanks to the frosty climate in Chicago.
Yallop may be getting a little carried away with the foreigners he’s bringing to the club with Levante winger Victor Perez arriving on a short term deal. The heavy influx of foreign talent in attack will only make it more difficult for this side to gel.
The Fire will need the defense to stand strong like they did last year claiming a record number of draws. Jeff Larentowicz has been asked to drop deeper from his holding midfield spot to pair with Eric Gehrig in central defense. And his replacement in the middle of the park, Chris Ritter, had a torrid time with Juninho last weekend. The Brazilian effortlessly floated around Ritter.
Matt Watson was a fan favourite in Vancouver.
That could mean an opportunity for ex-Whitecap Matt Watson to line up in midfield. Going up against former teammates is never easy, but these are the moments when former players find that little bit extra in their game and cause all sorts of trouble for their old team. Could it happen Saturday?
The biggest problem facing Frank Yallop is between the sticks.
Veteran goalkeeper Jon Busch was brought in from San Jose in the off season and probably thought he’d be warming the bench for most of the season, however, Sean Johnson won’t be making the match day squad as he overcomes an arm injury he sustained on the preseason trip to England.
Find Saturday’s match live on TSN 1/3/4 at 3 PM.
