Post Match: Whitecaps Fall 3-0 in First Game of Post Robbo Era

Fans of the Vancouver Whitecaps didn’t know what to expect going into the Craig Dalrymple era. One might expect that he would make some big changes to stamp his authority on the squad. If you thought this, you thought wrong! Dalrymple made only 3 changes, two of which were most likely forced on to him by injury. The L.A Galaxy on the other hand put out a very attacking lineup in the formation you switch to in the last 10 minutes of a game in Football Manager when you desperately need a goal.

It was a disastrous start as Marcel De Jong brought down Romain Alessandrini and gave away a penalty after two minutes. Zlatan Ibrahimovic stepped up and smashed it into the bottom corner past Stefan Marinovic, who guessed correctly.

The pressure continued as in the 7th minute Ola Kamara headed just wide of the post. Then again in the 13th minute Ibrahimovic smashed a free kick just wide of the post.

In the 20th minute it was Zlatan again putting pressure on the backline but Alphonso Davies made a last ditch tackle to put the ball out for a corner. The Whitecaps were floundering and seemingly had no answer to the quality of Zlatan.

The Whitecaps came into the game a bit more in the second part of the first half but their attacks were generally to slow and lacking in imagination. highlights included in the 29th minute when Kei Kamara almost managed to beat Bingham with a cheeky long range shot but it was tipped over the bar and in the 41st minute when Marcel De Jong put a half chance just wide of the post.

The second half opened with the teams trading half chances. Russel Teibert looked to have found some space but lost the ball and Emmanuel Boateng hit a shot into the side netting.

in the 55th minute Ibrahimovic put a diving header wide of the post. The big Swede was not to be denied though as in the 57th minute he jinked past Aly Ghazal (who had a nightmare of a game) and rifled a shot into the roof of the net to make the score 2-0.

in the 68th minute Davies weaved through the entire LA defence and laid the ball off to Kamara but his shot didn’t trouble Bingham.

In the 75th minute the Whitecaps once again conceded a penalty, this time with Doneil Henry bringing down Ibrahimovic in the box. It was Alessandrini who took the penalty and he to made no mistake to put the Galaxy up 3-0.

There were some half chances for both sides the rest of the way but nothing to get excited about. 3-0 was how the game finished. The Whitecaps players looked generally disinterested and frustrated except for a few flashes from Davies. Far from firing the team it up, it looks rather like firing the coaches has only increased the team’s case of senioritis.