Report Card - Whitecaps FC vs LAFC

The Vancouver Whitecaps fell to the Los Angeles Football Club on Friday night, losing for the second straight match for the first time in over a year. The match was defined by a distinct lack of attacking prowess by the home side, which resulted in another dull affair. A rating of 5.0 is average.

Starters

Stefan Marinovic 4.5 - Stefan was beaten twice on the night. While the first wasn’t his fault, the second can definitely be viewed as mostly on him. Whether he failed to shout or not, he still needs to own his six yard box and punch that ball clear.

Jake Nerwinski 5 - Jake was okay on the night. He had no real glaring holes in any of his defensive play and got himself forward on the overlap when he needed to. Had a nice run across the top of the box early in the first half but the shot was a bit of a muffin.

Jose Aja 6 - Had one stumble which resulted in an LAFC chance early in the first half, but from that point on he was noticeably the Cap’s strongest defender on the night. Had the most clears and recoveries on the defensive side of the ball. Continued with his strong distribution from the back end. He appears to be rounding into decent form.

Kendall Waston 4.5 - Even with the miscommunication on the goal aside, Kendall had an off night. He was beaten in the air a few times on set pieces. Also seemed to have trouble controlling gaps against the crafty LAFC forward group.

Marcel de Jong 4.5 - Was beaten on the wing on a few occasions, was also out of position a fair bit from pressing up on the overlap. At one point near the end of the first half was positioned further up the pitch that Alphonso. This is a position the Whitecaps need to address in the summer transfer window as Davies should only be getting minutes at left back in emergency situations.

Christian Techera 4.5 - More struggling on set pieces and ineffective crossing from the bug this evening. He had very little link up play off the wing. Overall a disappointing outing from El Bicho.

Efrain Juarez 5 - Effy had a fairly pedestrian match. He didn’t do much to influence the game offensively. He did alright with his passing in midfield and made out okay with his defensive effort.

Russel Teibert 5.5 - The top performing midfielder on the night, Rusty had a solid game sitting in front of the back four. He made a few key stops and again provided a tireless effort. Played the ball nicely out of the back and was dependable in all situations.

Felipe Martins 5 - Was positioned a bit further up the park today as myself and a few others have been calling for; however, it didn’t produce any positive results on the night. Whether that’s down to the lack of a target man in front of him in the attack or he’s just not used to the role on this squad, I’m not certain. I’d like to see him there in a 4-4-2 where he can play into the feet of Reyna and Kamara. Was still solid on the ball when he had it and played a decent game defensively.

Alphonso Davies 5.5 - Fonzie was the most dangerous offensive threat on the night for the Caps, though that isn’t saying much. Needs to work on his cohesion with the rest of the attacking group. Looked out of place when he went to left back and it’s pretty clear he compensates for his poor positioning with speed. Did not bring much offense after switching positions.

Erik Hurtado 4.5 - Hard to judge the game of a striker when he gets so little service. Ranked just below average because I think he could have done more to get involved either dropping deep to provide a target when the ball was in the middle of the park or by getting outside to support and play 1-2’s with the wingers.

Subs

Yordy Reyna 4 - Raced around the park and got a few touches, however he looks like he is still struggling for creativity. Was largely ineffective with the possessions he had in this match.

Brek Shea 5 - The super sub couldn’t provide any magic in this one though he did have a chance late to claw one back for the good guys. Unfortunately tonight was not his night.

Nico Mezquida 4.5 - Nico had a shot on goal in 12 minutes on the pitch.

Manager

Carl Robinson 3.5 - We saw Carl again start his team and fail to make any tactical adjustments at the half. It’s pretty clear at this point that opposing teams have the book on the Caps. Robbo seems unwilling to change his tactics. The Shea for de Jong, Fonzie to left back experiment has got to end. It’s pretty obvious at this point that it’s not working. The purpose of professional sports is to win. It would be nice if the coach could focus his team on doing that rather than the goal being to play for a clean sheet and hoping the other team makes a mistake.

Agree? Disagree? Have something to add? Just want to moan about the lack of results? Let us know in the comments.