Report Card: Whitecaps Leave us With Much to Consider

The Vancouver Whitecaps played to a somewhat emotionally confusing draw with the San Jose Earthquakes. Nothing happened in the first half and then in the second half there were 6 goals with the Whitecaps coming from behind multiple times (truly the spirit of Carl Robinson lives on). With this in mind, let’s take a look at how the individual players got on.

Cody Cropper: 6.0

Cropper played extremely well in the first half, coming up with one particularly big save off a header. I don’t blame him individually for any of the three goals conceded but, taken as a whole, I think it’s fair to say sometimes you need a save. Taking those things together I think 6.0 is a fair rating

Javain Brown: 7.0

I thought Brown looked a lot closer to his old self in this game. Yes there were still a few chaotic moments (he is still Javain Brown) but he was quite active defensively and did a decent job of getting forward. If he can do that consistently then he can get back to being one of the team’s key contributors.

Florian Jungwirth: 4.0

Jungwirth did a lot to stabilize Vancouver’s defence last season. But so far this year it seems father time has caught up with him (maybe he should change his name to Altwirth). He was caught ball watching on San Jose’s second goal and didn’t look super comfortable tracking runners.

Erik Godoy: 7:0

He scored a goal which was nice. I came down quite hard on the other centre backs but I thought Godoy looked quite good. He was mostly well positioned and looked comfortable on the ball

Jake Nerwinski: 3.0

Nerwinski was torched on the first goal, wasn’t able to track the runner on the second goal, and failed to cut out a pass on the third goal. It just wasn’t a good night for him.

Russell Teibert: 3.0

It was another not great performance from Teibert, who was subbed at the half after receiving a yellow card. He didn’t manage to do much in his 45 minutes on the pitch to make an impact

Sebastian Berhalter: 7.0

I think Berhalter has done remarkably well for a guy who had less than 1000 pro minutes before this season and isn’t exactly getting a lot of help from his fellow midfielders. He’s not quite Diego Chara yet but he was able to slow down San Jose’s counters a little bit and he showed a good range of passing.

Cristian Dájome: 8.0

Dájome didn’t seem like the most natural fit in the world as a quasi #10 but he did manage five key passes so that’s a win in my book.

Ryan Raposo: 7.5

Did not create quite the same volume of shots as Dájome but he did manage to score again which was very nice to see. Once again he looked dangerous going forward and helped out a bit defensively, making him a good fit in the 4-2-2-2. I think you could argue Raposo has been Vancouver’s best player this season.

Lucas Cavallini: 9.0

El Tanque has caught a lot of flack, including from me, but he looked every inch of DP tonight. He had seven shots. Seven! Even his roaming around the pitch was relatively effective. I think if Gauld can finally get healthy this season then Cavallini might have a very productive back half of the season.

Brian Whte: 4.0

We’ve seen both the best and worst of White under Sartini. He is one of the best goal poachers in the business but without Ryan Gauld firing on all cylinders he doesn’t offer much more than grit and hard work. Those things are nice but don’t help with breaking down defences.

Subs:

Michael Baldisimo: 5.0

We have seen some great performances out of Baldisimo but he’s a really bad fit for Sartini’s system. Both central midfielders need to do a lot up and down running and that just isn’t Baldisimo’s game. A Derek Cornelius style value building loan might be best for all involved.

Deiber Caicedo: 7.0

Caicedo came off the bench and managed two assists. He had a dreadful start to the season but the switch to a 4-2-2-2 seems to have really benefited him. He does a lot better when there are more players around him to combine with, it seems.

Cristian Gutierrez:

He didn’t really play long enough to get a grade but remember in preseason when I wrote he might really excel as a wingback? And then he played there for the first time all season and immediately created a huge chance for Cavallini? Maybe the ‘caps should do that more!