Déja vu – Whitecaps 1-2 Carolina

By: Lee | July 17th, 2009

So I didn’t actually get a chance to watch the game (damn you TVU only being available for Windows!); I could only follow a live-blog of it. This post is going to be light on the recap and heavier on the analysis.

The Whitecaps lost 2-1, again. This one could have been a lot worse as well, if it weren’t for some ineptitude on Carolina’s part and good goaltending by Jay Nolly (though he did have one costly mistake)

The Whitecaps seem to be following a pattern this season, especially on the road. The team creates a lot of attacking movement and some chances, but doesn’t finish them. Their opponent creates a quick counter opportunity that catches our slow, aging backline off-guard. Rinse and repeat, and all of a sudden we’re down 2-0.

At half-time, we make some substitutions that inspire some attacking football. We create some more chances, showing some fighting spirits, but fail to score until its too late (or almost too late in the case of the Cleveland game). And so the game ends 2-1 for the opposition, a scenario that has happened six times this season!

So what does this all mean? We have a team that is mix of young, talented players who are just emerging and veterans who are aging. Most of the young players are attackers who play with a lot of energy, creating chances, but because of their inexperience miss that killer pass or touch. Most of our aging veterans are defenders, many of whom are not so speedy and are prone to get caught on the counter attack.

We are team that is going through going pains. Hopefully, we see some residency defenders make it to the men’s squad as well. The reward will be when we join MLS and challenge for the playoffs right out of the gate.