In this article, you are going to see the words frustrating a lot because that is the type of match the Vancouver Whitecaps played.
Saturday night saw Sporting Kansas City march into town without Johnny Russell and Graham Zusi. The Whitecaps were three days removed from their 6-2 win over the Houston Dynamo and hoped to carry that momentum and climb the Western Conference standings.
But unfortunately, the word frustrating is being heard like a top 40 pop song you hear everywhere you go.
Quick thoughts
The Whitecaps started slow. They were not connecting their passes and they could not clear the ball very well.
Those mistakes cost them as Pedro Vite’s clearance (?) ended up going out for a corner and Alan Pulido’s header made no mistake on the ensuing corner. Seeing the Whitecaps in the first half being poor with their clearances in the box gave pretty much anyone who has been following this team since the beginning of the season flashbacks to the first five games.
I am going to talk about Ryan Gauld’s disallowed goal but that will come later.
The Whitecaps were lacking a spark in the first half. They were a lot of turnovers and that included them being very careless with the ball near their 18-yard box. They looked like they couldn’t connect more than five passes and were playing with guilty feet that got no rhythm.
It was a slow start, but like listening to Swans’ The Glowing Man, (The song) the slow start was worth it because things picked up. Well, unlike The Glowing Man, the ending left you wanting more, not satisfied.
Gauld and Julian Gressel are two of the best servicemen the Whitecaps have, without a doubt. However, it was frustrating to see no one was there to accept their packages.
Sergio Córdova in particular should be that guy, right? Well, he was trying to but again, we need to see more from him. He is one of their Designated Players after all.
The Whitecaps were better in the second half. VAR gifted Gauld a penalty after Deiber Caicedo went down in the box. The referee didn’t give it a penalty at first, which drew a very reaction from the players, Vanni Sartini and the coaching staff and the fans at BC Place. If VAR didn’t give a penalty, there probably would’ve been a riot and some fans probably would have
But there should have been more. Brian White had a great chance which was started by Andrés Cubas’ tackle and Ryan Gauld leading the charge. Unfortunately White hit the post. That would have been three goals in three straight games for him. Oh baby, (that would have been) a triple!
The Whitecaps got lucky to get a point. Actually, they deserved to have one but again, it is another game of coulda, woulda, shoulda
What was said
Sartini also believed the first half wasn’t very good and thought his team deserved to win the game.
“First half, we didn’t do very well, I thought we were too slow,” said Sartini. “Second half, we did very well…I’m very satisfied, I thought we deserved the point. I thought we deserved more to be honest.”
Sartini was asked about the officiating and VAR. But he didn’t blow his lid over the referee this time.
“I don’t know why he didn’t do the check right when the assistant called the offside,” he said. “I don’t think Tristan interfered or was offside…but what made me kind of angry was I got a yellow card when I was right.” (He was referring to the penalty given to the Whitecaps)
Brian White wasn’t in the mood to talk about the referee or VAR but wasn’t too happy that he and his team didn’t get three points.
“Frustrated we didn’t the three points but we’ll take the point but we’ll move forward to the Canadian Championship final,” he said.
Gauld also echoed White’s words.
“A little bit frustrating, we gave away a soft goal and second half we came away with a lot of possession, the boys are frustrated,” he said.
Of course, he spoke about his first-half goal being called off by VAR.
“It’s frustrating,” said. Gauld. “They said Tristan was in an offside position interfering with the goalie, that’s not on the ref but on the VAR.”
There’s that word again! Frustrating.
Stat of the match
Offsides were 6-0 in favour of the Whitecaps. It is such a frustrating rule.
Explanation of the disallowed goal
This is quite the subject. Many Whitecaps fans are still arguing Gauld’s goal should stand. In soccer, like any sport, some rules are hard to understand.
Here is my verdict on it: I think they got it right. Wait, Wait, Wait! Don’t throw your shoes at me yet, hear me out!
I think they got it right but I never liked the rule. I have clamoured that offsides in the box should not be a thing for years and this is one of the reasons why. I also understand why they make the goalie the last man back but that is a rule I never liked either.
So as Alexandre Gangue-Ruzic mentioned above, Blackmon is an offside position. But if you look at the clip, Robert Castellanos pushes Blackmon into an offside position. What makes this rule frustrating is that they don’t care if a player is pushed, punched, kicked, or WWE-Style slammed into an offside position. Offside is Offside.
So they got it right, unfortunately.
That’s not what you want to see in your DP
Córdova has shown glimpses but we need to see more than just glimpses. He needs to shine, especially since the Whitecaps are paying him $981,818 in base salary. They can’t be paying a guy that much money to not score goals.
Oh…Boy…
Look, I want Córdova to prove me wrong and show everyone that he is worthy of being a DP. It needs to happen sooner rather than later. But one shot on target in the entire season so far is not very promising.
Gauld is like the famous engine, The Flying Scotsman. He is the driving force offensively for the Whitecaps. But he is like if The Flying Scotsman had no stations to stop at.
This better not be a jinx
THIS BETTER NOT BE A JINX FOR WEDNESDAY. Also, I can’t believe Riverdale is still going. The first season was good but it fell off fast. Apparently, the multiverse is now involved in the show or something?
Blackmon interferes
You got to feel for Tristan Blackmon though.
Up next
The Canadian Championship Final is this Wednesday. The Whitecaps look to defend the Voyageurs Cup against CF Montreal. Kickoff is at 7 pm. Let’s hope that game isn’t as frustrating.