Mr Whitecap goes to Washington

Tomorrow the Whitecaps face DeRO and DC United. And we have our winning streak on the line.

Whitecaps

Coming off our third win of the season, the Whitecaps have to look at this game as one of the few winnable games left.

Our attacking force has never been stronger, and while DC are better than Chicago, their defence isn’t. LA kept us off the scoresheet, but we had our chances, and we should have chances again in DC. Hopefully Hassli and Camilo can put a couple away.

Thorrington came into the side and did well, though didn’t add much going forward. Vagenas and Koffie are doing well together in the middle; look for Koffie to continue to push forward as he goes for another goal.

We’re missing key defender Alain Rochat (adductor/groin), but DeMerit is healthy after playing half a reserves match. I hope we aren’t forcing him back if he’s on the cusp of being healthy. Harvey’s turn in the centre was pretty bad against Chicago; if DeMerit has to come out early I hope Soehn uses his actual centre back sub, Janicki.

DC United

DC are a middling team in MLS, on the cusp of the play-offs with a few games in hand, and are on pace to finish 11th. They don’t have a stellar home record, with just two wins; also four losses and six draws. They’ve done well recently, a 2W-2D-1L record in their last five.

DC recently brought in Dwayne De Rosario, and he’s been on fire, scoring six goals in six games, including a hat-trick in their last game, a man down against Toronto. Hah! (I take back that hah if he scores against us.)

DC also have diving and scoring phenomenon Charlie Davis. He has 8 goals in 15 games and is the proud owner of a $1000 fine for a blatant dive. Watch for him to flop around and shoot at will. Josh Wolff and Chris Pontius may also likely feature, and both can score.

Defender and possible Whitecaps pick (he went third overall) Perry Kitchen has featured in 17 matches and by most accounts is a solid player. DC were poor defensively last season, but to walk into a starting role as a rookie is pretty impressive.

Possible line-up

Jarju may start ahead of Chiumiento, and Salinas maybe ahead of Thorrington. Three hard-working midfielders (Thorrington, Vagenas, Koffie) is too many, to my mind. Salinas provides some needed creativity.

Prediction

Well, I couldn’t have been much more wrong with my last prediction, a very-wrong 1-1 draw. I’m going to try again, though. A 1-1 draw.

Category: Match preview, Team News