Wizards vs Whitecaps Report

By: Morpheus | April 4th, 2011

A 10 game road trip is not an ideal way to start a season! But, the Wizards scheduled this on their own. They knew they would have to travel to some hostile environments and need to get points pick up points in order to avoid falling too far back in the standings. After picking up 3 points against Chivas and almost stealing a point against Chicago while playing down a man I expected a positive result from the trip to Vancouver. Vancouver has been the most hostile environment so far. They harassed Teal Bunbury every time he touched the ball. And the Wizards were lucky to come away with 1 points after a 3-3 draw after an amazing showing by the Whitecaps and the poor defensive effort by the Wizards.

I am not sure how to start this report. Should I start with the fact that Jimmy Nielsen single-handedly kept SKC in the game? Or should I start with Teal Bunbury showing why he should be considered one of the best young players in the MLS? But, I think I will start with the weakest spot on this team and that is the defense.

Defenders

Micheal Harrington made his first start in his usual right back spot. Roger Espinoza was able to move back to his left back position while Matt Besler and Julio Cesar were paired back up in the the middle. I believe this group is Vermes first choice defensive group and we will see a lot more of them this season. But, after this game I am a little worried how this group will play together. Besler and Cesar looked to have trouble following Camilo and Harris. Too many times Camilo and Harris were given too much space to turn and face the goal. Espinoza was probably the best defender for SKC but that isn’t saying much. Espinoza had a lot of problems with Leathers making runs in behind him. Harrington was probably the worst of the defenders but part of that could be the fact he is just coming back from injury. I was surprised to see Harrington as a starter this game, but I was even more surprised to see him play 90+ minutes. Harrington did really well for the first 60 minutes of the game, but when Nizar Kahlfan came into the game in the 63rd minute his speed and fresh legs caused Harrington problems. Which resulted in the Kahlfan assisting on 2 of the goals. This could have ended differently if Harrington wouldn’t have had to play for the whole game, but with so many players having problems with cramps and/or pulled muscles. But, I will talk about this later.

Midfielders

This was the most odd selection I have ever seen. Davy Arnaud and Milos Stojcev played on the outside which isn’t surprising. But Vermes started Birahim Diop as the central/holding midfielder. I don’t know where this idea came from but having a forward playing as a holding midfielder was not what I would have tried. I think this was a major reason for the problems that Besler and Cesar had. Diop did pretty good when it came to distributing the ball but he was a liability when it came to tracking back and clogging the passing lanes. This made it too easy for Vancouver to get the ball to Camilo and Harris. Arnaud didn’t have the same impact on the game that we have come to expect from him. He seemed to get lost in the game. The biggest positive out of the midfield was Milos Stojcev. He is really starting to find his place on this team as an attacking mid. His pass to set up Bunbury’s second goal was beautiful and I hope it is a sign of things to come.

Forwards

Teal Bunbury got his first start of the season and showed that he should be considered one of the best in the MLS. If I had one complaint it is that Bunbury needs to work on playing with his back to the goal. But when he is facing the goal he is the most dangerous player on this team. Kei Kamara was back on the right side and he did really well. His goal required a lot of skill to control and direct the shot back across the goal from an ackwardly bouncing cross. C.J. Sapong played on the left in place of the suspended Omar Bravo. I know Vermes thought that Sapong was going to be able to use his size and speed against the smaller and slower Johnathan Leathers. But, Leathers kept Sapong out of the game minus the one cross to Kamara that was SKC’s 3rd goal. I am really excited to see what happens when Bravo, Bunbury, and Kamara get to play together.

Overall

The Wizards didn’t play well in this game despite putting in 3 goals. The first 45 minutes was Vancouver taking the game to SKC with lots of possession and pressure on Nielsen. It was only the amazing display from Jimmy Nielsen that kept the Whitecaps from taking the lead. Vancouver then slipped and Bunbury took advantage of it to put SKC up going into the half and open up the scoring for SKC. Bunbury and Kamara continued the scoring in the second half as SKC started to control the game more. But, then the cramps started. I don’t know if it was the colder weather, the altitude, or the players being dehydrated but at one point there were 3 Wizards laying on the field trying to stretch out their muscles. This was the point when the Wizards fell apart and the Whitecaps take advantage of it. Vancouver should incredible determination to not give up when they went down 3-0. And the Wizards showed terrible resolve in not putting their foot down and ending the game when they were winning 3-0. In my opinion this lack of defense throughout this game came from Vermes’ choice to start 4 forwards and 2 attacking mids and to expect the back line to keep a very good team from finding the back of the net.

Here is the scoring summary.

SKC – Teal Bunbury 2 (Roger Espinoza 1) 46+
SKC – Teal Bunbury 3 (Milos Stojcev 1) 58
SKC – Kei Kamara 1 (C.J. Sapong 1) 62
VAN – Atiba Harris 2 (Nizar Khalfan 1, Camilo 1) 73
VAN – Camilo 1 (Davide Chiumiento 3, Terry Dunfield 1) 92+
VAN – Camilo 2 (Nizar Khalfan 2, Atiba Harris 3) 93+

And here is the highlights for those that didn’t see the game.