Report Card: Whitecaps Vs. Minnesota United

The Vancouver Whitecaps managed a 2-2 draw with Minnesota United thanks to a last minute Cristian Dájome penalty. Let’s look at how the individual players got on.

Thomas Hasal: 6.5

One flubbed cross but other than that not a lot to complain about. Since Hasal has been in goal the Whitecaps have switched from giving up tons of bad shots every game to being very stingy but gifting the opposition a couple of golden opportunities. The net result is about the same but it does make it kind of hard to evaluate the keeper. So Hasal had two saves on four shots on target. I don’t know you could really blame him for either goal and he came off his line well a couple of times.

Jake Nerwinski: 6.5

Nerwinski was a surprise start ahead of rookie Javain Brown. The commentary team indicated this was because of Nerwinski’s ability to defend 1v1 (it’s not clear if this was based on inside information of if it was just a thing they said). Nerwinski actually wins a smaller percentage of his tackles than Brown and went 4/7 on the night so I don’t know that it really panned out that way. Beyond that he was fine I suppose. He made three interceptions which was nice.

Erik Godoy: 5.5

Godoy got caught ball chasing on goal #1 and was dribbled easily on goal #2. He had a number of misplaced passes as well. A bit of an off night for the ‘Caps talismanic centre back.

Ranko Veselinovic: 8.0

I thought he was just fabulous. Maybe his best game in a Whitecaps shirt. He was a defensive wall all night. His passing was pretty bad but, hey, he’s still Ranko.

Cristian Gutiérrez: 6.5

Gutiérrez did Gutiérrez stuff. A couple of interceptions, a couple of crosses. No real defensive mishaps to speak of.

Michael Baldisimo: 5.5

The feeling on Twitter is that Baldisimo was not great. That feeling is kind of right. Baldisimo’s box score on the night has a lot 0s on it. Of course he still had a bunch of final 3rd entries because he’s Baldisimo but overall it was not his best night.

Janio Bikel: 5.0

Not his best night. Bikel started well, being involved in a couple of chances early in the match. But after that things went down hill fast. Here is every defensive action he had on the night:

Not great for a midfielder who’s main appeal is his defensive ability. His passes were mostly sideways or backwards and included a horrible giveaway for Minnesota’s second goal.

Russel Teibert: 6.0

One absolutely glorious moment aside it was pretty standard Teibert fare. This pass map on the MLS website is a beautiful representation of his game. One golden through ball in a sea of backwards and sideways passes.

I feel like i’m piling on but other than that assist there truly was nothing.

Cristian Dájome: 9.0

Dájome had a pretty huge offensive night with 2 goals, 5 shots, and 7 fouls won. He is now one of the top 10 goal scorers in MLS, though I urge people to factor in penalties before making any statements that are too bold. That one word of caution aside though, Dájome continued what’s been a really strong season for him.

Deiber Caicedo: 5.5

A bit of a quiet one for Caicedo. He didn’t have many successful dribbles and only created one shot. Those two things are most of what he does so if he’s not doing them then he doesn’t have much impact on the game.

Brian White: 6.0

Like Teibert, White had one golden moment that lead to a goal and a really quiet game otherwise. Whoscored.com credits him with 19 touches in 79 minutes of action. In fairness to him, being directly involved in a goal with only 19 touches is pretty good. White seems uniquely unsuited to the trials of Whitecaps striker Island. His lack of physical gifts makes it hard for him to carve out chances from foot races or physical tussles. But his goal rate in MLS is pretty good so i’m interested to see how he does once Ryan Gauld is on the pitch.

Patrick Metcalfe: 5.0

What do you want me to say? He made one tackle, got dribbled past twice, and his passing map looked like this:

That really is not very good. Metcalfe was subbed on ahead of Leonard Owusu, which seems to indicate that the Ghanaian’s time with the ‘Caps is all but over.

Ryan Raposo: 6.0

Raposo came on late, ran around a bit, and took one (1) shot from inside the 18 yard box. Not exactly awe inspiring but if you’re subbing Ryan Raposo on in the 79th minute that’s what you’re subbing him on to do. Maybe he should have come on earlier when the team was flagging and Minnesota was pushing for a second goal.

Javain Brown: 6.0

Brown injected quite a bit of energy into the match when he came on as part of a triple sub. He managed a shot, a tackle, and an interception in just under 15 minutes of action. Maybe he should have come on earlier when the team was flagging and Minnesota was pushing for a second goal.

Tosaint Ricketts: 6.0

He had three touches. But with those touches he managed a recovery and successful dribble so i’ll give him a passing grade.

Theo Bair also technically played but there was only one kick of the ball while he was on the field so I don’t think it’s worth giving him a grade. A+ for looking up for it, I suppose.