The Vancouver Whitecaps (4W-5L-1D) took a step back last week with a 1-0 loss to 10-man Minnesota, and look to bounce back tonight when they host the Houston Dynamo (3-3-2) at B.C. Place. Both The Eagles (playing all their musical hits next door in Rogers Arena) and the Caps should have Desperado on their minds. The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. and will be televised on TSN 1, 4 and 5 and carried on TSN 1040 AM radio:
The Big Matchup
In desperate need of some offence trailing the Loons last week, the Caps inserted Kei Kamara into the game after he started the Major League Soccer contest on the bench in his first game back from a groin pull. He was a big, dangerous target, coming close on four opportunities, but the rust of a three-week layoff was evident.
Another solid week of training should help Kamara round back into form for the goal-starved Caps, and be a handful for Adolfo Machado on the Dynamo backline.
Five things to watch
IN NEED OF A BLONDELL MOMENT
The Caps have scored just three goals in their last give games, of which they’ve lost four and been shutout three times. Last week with the man advantage, they had 19 shots, the third highest total in a game they were blanked.
Robinson said after the game he could have tried pairing Kamara with Anthony Blondell, a combination we haven’t seen this season but could this weekend. Both players are strong in the air and can hold up the ball, though Blondell might do well to calm his game a bit and opt for placement over power.
THE SHORT STUFF
The short pass has been a problem for WFC, which hasn’t been able to string much together in tight quarters. The Caps are last overall in total passes per 90 minutes (350.9), 18th in overall accuracy, and have the most inaccurate short passes per 90 minutes in the league. Even if you’re not trying to dominate possession, doing something with the ball when you have it is key for an offence predicated on service to its target players up front.
THE SHORT WEEK
It’s a busy schedule for the Caps, who host the San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday night before travelling to Texas to face FC Dallas next Saturday (May 19) afternoon. Their depth at each position is going to be in high demand this week, especially on a team that has five key contributors 30 or above. I’d expect the Caps to field their No. 1 lineup against Houston, then rest some starters against the Earthquakes (1-5-2), who are last in the West and have the league’s second-worst record.
“I don’t mind the short weeks, so you can just focus on the game, recover, then play the next game. You don’t have to think about it too much, you can just play,” said 31-year-old fullback Marcel de Jong, who started five straight games before sitting the past two, giving way to youngster Brett Levis.
“It’s always good to have a team with a lot of good players, so we can help each other when we need, and rest players. When injuries happen, you can still have a strong squad. Obviously after last week, the pressure’s on. But every game is going to be tough and going to be hard for us, but especially in home games, we need to get results.”
BY THE NUMBERS
At 1.22, the Whitecaps are better than seven other MLS teams in terms of expected goals, but that hasn’t been borne out by their average of 1.0 goals per game. In their last four losses, you can point to several different factors — poor finishing in Salt Lake, a game plan destroyed by a late injury to Kamara against LAFC, poor adapting to a new formation and a hot goalie in Kansas, another heroic keeper in Minny — but PDO, which calculates finishing rate vs. save percentage is a good indicator of how much is skill, and how much is luck.
At 898, only three teams are lower than Vancouver, and they have 21 goals combined and are below the Caps in the standings.
QUIOTO PROBLEM
When it comes to offensive affect, the Dynamo’s answer to Kamara — who’d figured in all but two of his team’s goals before being injured — is Romell Quioto. A pre-season illness hampered his start, but since getting his first start on April 14, he’s figured in Houston’s last nine goals. The dynamic winger has two goals and four assists, but his effect has kick-started the offence, like a 90th-minute shot against the L.A. Galaxy that hit the crossbar and led to the game-winner from Memo Rodriguez.
They’ll need all the offence they can get tonight, as they have yet to win a road game this season, a streak stretching past the last nine away games.
Working in their favour: Houston has 11 first-half goals, tops in MLS, while the Caps have conceded the fourth-most in MLS (7).
Predicted Starting 11
Whitecaps (4-4-2)
Kamara — Blondell
Davies — Felipe — Reyna — Ibini
De Jong — Waston — Aja — Nerwinski
Goal: Marinovic
Dynamo (4-2-3-1)
Manotas
Quioto — Martinez — Elis
Ceren — Alexander
Beasley — Fuenmayor — Machado — Wenger
Goal: Willis
Sick bay
Whitecaps: Jordon Mutch (hamstring); Dynamo: A.J. DeLaGarza (torn left ACL), Juan David Cabezas (quad), Philippe Senderos (hamstring/knee), Dylan Remick (concussion), Kevin Garcia (hamstring), Jared Watts (hamstring).
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