Benjamin Massey

Normal Vancouver Whitecaps service has been resumed.

FC Dallas is a good team; they’ve won four more games than they’ve lost and are healthily placed in the MLS playoffs. The Vancouver Whitecaps had just played Wednesday at home before heading to Frisco, Texas’s Pizza Hut Park: not the most comfortable itinerary. Vancouver tried a bit of squad rotation: out came Alain Rochat and Camilo Sanvezzo, in went Shea Salinas and Mustapha Jarju. Michael Boxall also replaced the injured Carlyle Mitchell. It didn’t work.

The Vancouver Whitecaps will conclude their first Major League Soccer season without a single win on the road. That’s not what upsets me; what upsets me is that the Whitecaps are probably the first MLS team ever that didn’t deserve a win on the road.

Vancouver did all right for about forty-five minutes. Martin Chavez’s goal came on a quick break, one made easier by mediocre marking, but all the same Vancouver was in the game for the first half. There weren’t many decent chances: a Camilo free kick that was almost quality, Shea Salinas playing typical Shea Salinas soccer by getting into good positions and wasting them. Nizar Khalfan had the best shot of the bunch and Kevin Hartman stopped it. Vancouver at least saw the ball and looked like they might be able to put it into the net, given time.

They didn’t have time. At half it was like Tom Soehn spoke to the troops and said “remember, you’re an awful team that’s even worse on the road!” And the players said “oh, right”, staggered back onto the field, and got beat up like Duk Koo Kim.

The less said about that second half, the better. You know every single horrible Whitecaps game you’ve seen this season? The second half was like all of them. It would have been hilarious if the Whitecaps had snatched an equalizer against the run of play in such circumstances but, alas, Brek Shea volleyed a shot past Joe Cannon before the hour mark and the rest was details.

Who should be blame for this awful loss, this destruction of Vancouver’s historic two-game winning streak? I suggest Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman for not having the courtesy to rest a few of his best players. Beyond that, it was simple the usual story of a demoralized, mentally battered team which never looked like they thought they could win and didn’t. Of the fringe players which made Vancouver’s life so exciting in the past two weeks a few (like Tan and Mitchell) weren’t in the starting lineup and others, like Nizar Khalfan or Jordan Harvey, simply didn’t have the old spark. Put at left back, his alleged best position, Harvey looked as bored as ever. It was like a switch had been flipped, or like playing in front of Alain Rochat gives Harvey super powers.

Naturally, scorn has been heaped on Tom Soehn for his lineup choice. Playing Mustapha Jarju, the Gambian Scapegoat, is always an unpopular move. Popular Canadian midfielder Philippe Davies spent another ninety minutes on the bench and is still waiting for his first career MLS appearance, leading to Whitecaps fans starting a #BigPhilMustPlay campaign on Twitter. Then again, we don’t know how much blame Soehn deserves: Colin Miller picked the starting elevens in Vancouver’s previous two games and, while Miller hasn’t conspicuously taken credit for Saturday’s lineup, he probably wouldn’t.

Players like Jarju, Salinas, and Harvey (and Davies) need to be assessed for the 2012 season as much as Tan and Khalfan. It’s important to determine not just what players are definitely good enough, but which players definitely aren’t. I think the jury’s still out on Jarju and he’s still waiting for a run in his native position, but if Salinas and Harvey both fall out of the back of the plane on the way to Vancouver I won’t be too upset.

The Vancouver Whitecaps have set an ignominious road record in their first season. But even if Vancouver beat Dallas 15-0 it would still have been awful; that ship sailed long ago. Vancouver still has a chance to finish not-last in the league, to put a little lipstick on the 2011 pig, but that’s not ultimately what matters.

What matters is that this team be as good in 2012 as possible. So yes, Tom Soehn (and Colin Miller), play Jarju. Play Salinas, play Brovsky, play Big Phil, hell, even play Bilal Duckett. Fans will forgive any loss this coming Saturday if it makes for a better team this coming season.

In the time-honoured tradition of crummy teams everywhere, the Vancouver Whitecaps, now that their best doesn’t mean anything, are saving their best for last.

Individual players have a lot on the line. Long Tan, John Thorrington, Jordan Harvey, and other strong performers are trying to win contracts in 2012 as much as they’re trying to win games in 2011. As a team, the Whitecaps still have a very good chance of dodging the Wooden Spoon (and, indeed, are in not-last place for the first time since the Regency). They are just ahead of the points-per-game figures for the 2007 Toronto FC side, meaning that they need just one point to become the most successful Canadian expansion team in MLS history.

To such ignominious milestones are the Whitecaps faithful reduced. But there are those of us who are as happy to not be in last place today as we would have been to make the playoffs back in March.

The Whitecaps 2-1 victory over DC United was far from beautiful. DC United was without Dwayne De Rosario, front-runner for the MLS MVP award, after he wore himself out running aimlessly for his country on Tuesday. American international Charlie Davies, another key contributor, started on the bench. It wasn’t Real Salt Lake, where pretty much every player of significance was out of the lineup for one reason or another, but it was something.

Vancouver instantly seized on some hilariously poor marking; Camilo strolling by a flat-footed Marc Burch and knocking in a picturesque Jordan Harvey cross. In the second half, Long Tan headed home an Alain Rochat cross under similar circumstances. It’s like the Whitecaps wanted to stick it to the late-arriving fans who miss the kickoff because they need to spend $12 on a Budweiser; naturally, I approve.

Between early goals there was a relatively competitive game. DC United wasn’t eager to repeat Real Salt Lake’s mistakes: they harried the Whitecaps’ ball carriers and put on some pressure of their own. Neither Long Tan (goal aside) nor Nizar Khalfan got the space they had against Salt Lake, meaning that they weren’t able to slice through their back four with such impunity. Both players were effective thanks to shoddy marking but neither was the the dominant force we saw last week.

When Brandon McDonald got a first-class header over Jay DeMerit and into the goal, DC came on hard and had a good shot at equalizing. The balance of play leaned Vancouver’s way but the game was in doubt almost until the final minutes. It was reminiscent of many a blown Whitecaps lead this season, except of course the Whitecaps didn’t blow this one.

The reason Vancouver held on was discipline: they mostly avoided costly fouls and kept their shape. Jordan Harvey and Shea Salinas coped with their defensive responsibilities on the wing; Salinas in particular made some key challenges and interceptions. Up top, Eric Hassli proved that he can kill time with a lead as well as any man; holding the ball up, fending off DC United defenders, dragging the ball into their half and eating precious seconds. It was a plucky team effort which held DC United at bay and gave Vancouver three points.

Any of that story sound familiar? I didn’t think so! Imagine, the Whitecaps holding their shape, making it difficult for DC to advance down the field. They’re still not the most competent team on twenty-two legs but, by keeping their heads about them and playing cool, counter-oriented soccer to the best of their abilities the Whitecaps fended off the desperate DCers. There were a couple close calls but nothing unusual.

Assistant coach Colin Miller picked the Whitecaps’ starting lineup against Real Salt Lake and, given that it was the same lineup last night, his input was presumably valuable. He must get a lot of the credit for these two consecutive victories. Then again, it was the players who did the work: who would have imagined the previously petulant, ineffective Jordan Harvey winning balls, hurling crosses, and generally owning the left wing? Or Shea Salinas coming on as a substitute and not merely contributing his usual speed and counter-attacking punch but making some key defensive plays?

Fans are too quick to criticize a losing team for “lack of effort” sometimes. It’s only human nature that, during tough times, morale gets low, feet drag, and the best-intentioned athlete struggles for energy. Not Wednesday. Something lit a fire under those Whitecaps and they played like it was a beautiful March evening at Empire Field again.

So I guess that makes the Whitecaps even on rain-outs.

Thanks to an Ontario storm, Toronto FC got to push the “reset” button on the last match of the Voyageurs Cup against Vancouver. And thanks to rain making the temporary grass pitch at Empire Field unplayable for Real Salt Lake’s visit back in July, the Whitecaps benefited from a Salt Lake team missing one of its leading scorers due to suspension, the other one of its leading scorers as well as most of its decent midfielders to international call-ups, as well as a player who couldn’t cross the border and one who had to leave the team due to a death in the family. The only way Vancouver could have been any luckier would have been if the referee gave them two penalties and sent a Salt Lake defender off on questionable hand balls.

The soccer gods smiled on the Whitecaps last night, all right.

Not that Vancouver didn’t make their own luck. A hand ball is much more likely if the other team is effectively moving the ball around the box and the Whitecaps sure put Salt Lake into a position to make mistakes. They arguably earned penalties when Camilo was bowled over in the first half and Long Tan had his legs cut from under him in the second; neither was called. Salt Lake never seriously tested Joe Cannon, barely had effective position in Vancouver’s half, and played their worst soccer when they had eleven men. Their midfielders played like they’d been lobotomized. If the Whitecaps played like that… correction, on the many occasions when the Whitecaps have played like that I’ve whipped bottles of Crown Royal at the television.

Both teams had scrubs on the field; the difference was that Vancouver’s scrubs played like they had something to prove. Nizar Khalfan made a rare start and pulled the long-dormant Good Khalfan out of the trunk. Khalfan tore Real Salt Lake to ribbons, and since he couldn’t be everywhere at once it was a good thing Long Tan was around; playing clever through balls, beating defenders on the dribble, occasionally turning the ball over but bringing infinitely more to the table than he took away. Carlyle Mitchell, making his MLS debut, never put a foot wrong, wasted time like a champ, and by his very presense freed Alain Rochat to play left back, where he is Thor the god of thunder.

Real Salt Lake fans will feel hard-done-by, and I can’t really blame them. Neither of those two penalties should really have been called. The second penalty was the most defensible, since the ball clearly hit Chris Schulter on the hand after deflecting off Ned Grabavoy. It was clearly ball-to-hand and Schulter’s arm was parallel with his body, but that penalty gets called more often than not in Major League Soccer by any referee. On the first occasion, a John Thorrington shot hit Collen Warner on the shoulder while he was laying on his back. Had Warner not gotten in the way it would have been a goal, so had the ball hit Warner on the arm the red card would have been justified; unfortunately for Warner, the ball did not hit him on the arm but he got sent off anyway.

Then again, if Real Salt Lake wanted to win they shouldn’t have been so passive, shouldn’t have let Vancouver dictate the tempo of the game for seventy minutes before getting desperate and showing decent possession when it was too late. Even without the penalties, Vancouver scored in open play: Khalfan’s sublime half-volley past Nick Rimando, a sure Goal of the Week candidate for the underused Tanzanian and a vivid advertisement to retain his services in 2012.

All of this happened on the same day as the Canucks’ first game of 2011-12, which should have been a mortal blow to the crowd. Instead, 20,000 Whitecaps fans packed BC Place and made the place rock. Not merely the chanting but the cheers, the applause, the general energy of the crowd were up to the highest of this season’s standards. It was like, weeded of fair-weather fans, the building was able to rise to the energy of the players.

It wasn’t a perfect night. It was a cathartic release, a game where everything went right and the underdogs came out on top for once. Never mind the flukey parts; Vancouver beat Real Salt Lake and they totally deserved it.

Every team deserves to look on the bright side once in a while.

Empire Field, BC Place, road games… the Vancouver Whitecaps can be disappointing anywhere.

Vancouver’s 1-0 loss to the Portland Timbers yesterday at newly-renovated BC Place was a generic 90-minute slab of Mediocre Whitecaps Soccer Product, which I promise is harder to write 750 words about than it seems. We didn’t learn anything new: this team is long on offensive creativity and has some fine finishers but can’t link those two pieces together. The defenders, even the decent ones, are accident prone. There were a few interesting wrinkles like “Peter Vagenas playing really well for about an hour” but nothing revolutionary.

After the game Tom Soehn criticized his team for lacking energy. They weren’t as enthusiastic as the occasion seemed to demand, with $500 million worth of concrete and tarp surrounding them at a new home which surpassed all my expectations as a soccer venue. But neither were they all lazy: players tracked back, raced their opponents for the ball, and seemed almost as enthusiastic as a Timbers team fighting for their playoff lives. The energy level wasn’t great but it wasn’t the problem.

The problem is the team. They’re tired of their coach, they’re tired of this season, and increasingly they seem to be tired of each other. They were never all that good, always built too much like a fantasy soccer team and not enough like a real one, and now they’re discouraged as well. Every cross wildly missed its mark, every through ball went to a defender, every shot was either wide or an easy catch for Troy Perkins. Late in the game, the team’s “last-minute attack” was more a “last-minute kick the ball haphazardly and hope a wormhole sends it into Portland’s goal”. The surprise isn’t that they didn’t show enough fight, the surprise is that they showed as much fight as they did.

Joe Cannon called out his teammates to the media for not realizing that they’re playing for their jobs. I’d expect a lot more hustle from Jordan Harvey given that he’s now listed in the Whitecaps program as “Expansion Draft Fodder”, and it’s getting harder and harder to tell the difference between Shea Salinas and a piece of wood with a frustrated expression painted on it.

But in general the fringe guys like Vagenas, Jeb Brovsky, Long Tan, and John Thorrington put in the most dedicated efforts. It was Eric Hassli, Davide Chiumiento, and Jay DeMerit who looked least interested. DeMerit was still active, still challenging every attacker with the intensity of a wounded grizzly, then he’d win the ball and whack it to the nearest white thing he saw. DeMerit could kill attacks from either team; he was like an oil slick on a race track. Soehn’s criticism of DeMerit last week was out of line but the captain responded by playing petulant.

Result: another ho-hum lousy Whitecaps game. Eric Hassli beating four Timbers defenders in the box with time running out and not mustering a shot on goal. Shea Salinas and Davide Chiumiento missing golden chances while true finishers Camilo and Hassli were left starving. Long Tan charging onto the field in the eightieth minute, adding heaps of energy, and not actually doing anything even moderately helpful with the ball. Mustapha Jarju completing pretty much all of his passes in the middle of the park except for the one which might have sprung somebody, then moving forward and seeing as many chances as the rest of the forwards did all afternoon. This is not a recording.

The stadium was a bright spot. Renovated BC Place has its flaws: the beer’s expensive, mediocre, and the lines are too long, the bathrooms are crowded and dirty after a game… in short, it’s every large sports stadium in the world. The sight lines for soccer aren’t great, though I’ve been places where they were a lot worse (right now my fellow Edmonton natives are nodding grimly). But with the extensible seating out, the white drapes partially concealing the upper deck, and the new turf, it winds up looking like a lovely soccer venue.

Obviously it’s not a soccer specific stadium and there’s no way to hide that, but BC Place comes close. I’d say it’s a better place to watch soccer than any non-SSS I’ve been to and even better than a few of the specific ones. Not worth $500 million public dollars, maybe, but still a great place to watch soccer.

It’s a pity the soccer doesn’t rise to the same heights.