Home Opener Saturday!

[johnnybluenose]

So a new season is right here and about to kick off.

Who is all going to the game?

For those interested the Southsiders will be having a bit of a BBQ pregame in the Park by the picnic tables off the parking lot to the east side of the stadium.

Weather looks a touch dodgy for Saturday evening, but that is just the long range forecast for now. I can't remember the last H.O. that had poor weather.

 

[Kevin Hector]

I can it was freezing the first year they used the whitecaps name after being the 86'rs. or it was the last season they where the 86'rs. I can't remember becasue I was pissed.

 

[italian_stallion21]

I'm pretty sure I'll be there. And by pretty sure it's because I'll be pissed up and may not remember

 

[kjohnsob]

I'm pretty sure I'll be there. And by pretty sure it's because I'll be pissed up and may not remember

I'm still looking for a ticket!

But my BBQ will be there with bells on.

 

[johnnybluenose]

I have your ticket you knob... I told you I'd get you one.

 

[johnnybluenose]

Marcus Haber to start along with Charles Gbeke

 

[SoccerPaper]

What were people's thoughts on the game?

I thought it was sort of a boring game overall... scoring chances were mostly for the 'Caps.

The 'Caps played with a lot of individual flair but they don't seem like a cohesive team yet. I liked some of the pace, but they lacked the finish of last year's team. They'll have to score some goals, obviously.

GRADES FOR TONIGHT:
1.Jay Nolly; A+ - didn't have much to do, but he got a shut-out so I can't take any marks off.

The defence: A - solid.

22.Takashi Hirano; B - Some nice rushes up the wing. During the game, it's often easy to forget that this dude is playing and then out of nowhere, he has the ball. I'd like to see him looking for a goal more instead of always making the safe play. I mean, he ALWAYS makes a good safe pass, but sometimes you need to score.

23.Vicente Arze, A - Had his eyes set on the net several times and had some nice patient plays as well as dribbling skills. He got a yellow card for whining too much, but I liked his attitude all game, playing hard and swearing in spanish at the officials.

7.Martin Nash, A - looked a little lost without his former team-mates. Seemed a bit impatient sometimes to get something going. Positionally seemed to be bumping into teammates who didn't know where to be a bit too often.

18.Mason Trafford, ?? - Can I grade a guy if I didn't notice him all game. I looked at the roster list after the game and I was like, "TRAFFORD? He played the whole game?"

16.Ansu Toure, B - While he was an important part of the attack, he flubbed a lot of kicks, in particular sending one shot from close range soaring high over the net. You gotta hit the net. Also, he frustrated Gbeke all game by trying to dribble to the net instead of crossing it in. I guess it's sort of a lack of playing together. He ended up getting subbed out at the 80th minute.

14.Marcus Haber, A - Hit the post at the beginning of the game. Some decent chances, but lacked finish.

98.Charles Gbeke, B - Had a decent game and didn't do anything WRONG necessarily. Ran hard and had some decent chances, particularly at the end of the game. That said, when you're the #1 man, you gotta knock one in when your team has 70% of the offensive possession.

 

[Toze]

thanks for the report SoccerDude.

I take it the score was 0-0?

 

[johnnybluenose]

Yeah, it was a game that had surprisingly little going for it considering the play by both teams with the ball.

0-0

 

[canucklehead]

What were people's thoughts on the game?

I thought it was sort of a boring game overall... scoring chances were mostly for the 'Caps.

The 'Caps played with a lot of individual flair but they don't seem like a cohesive team yet. I liked some of the pace, but they lacked the finish of last year's team. They'll have to score some goals, obviously.

GRADES FOR TONIGHT:
1.Jay Nolly; A+ - didn't have much to do, but he got a shut-out so I can't take any marks off.

The defence: A - solid.

22.Takashi Hirano; B - Some nice rushes up the wing. During the game, it's often easy to forget that this dude is playing and then out of nowhere, he has the ball. I'd like to see him looking for a goal more instead of always making the safe play. I mean, he ALWAYS makes a good safe pass, but sometimes you need to score.

23.Vicente Arze, A - Had his eyes set on the net several times and had some nice patient plays as well as dribbling skills. He got a yellow card for whining too much, but I liked his attitude all game, playing hard and swearing in spanish at the officials.

7.Martin Nash, A - looked a little lost without his former team-mates. Seemed a bit impatient sometimes to get something going. Positionally seemed to be bumping into teammates who didn't know where to be a bit too often.

18.Mason Trafford, ?? - Can I grade a guy if I didn't notice him all game. I looked at the roster list after the game and I was like, "TRAFFORD? He played the whole game?"

16.Ansu Toure, B - While he was an important part of the attack, he flubbed a lot of kicks, in particular sending one shot from close range soaring high over the net. You gotta hit the net. Also, he frustrated Gbeke all game by trying to dribble to the net instead of crossing it in. I guess it's sort of a lack of playing together. He ended up getting subbed out at the 80th minute.

14.Marcus Haber, A - Hit the post at the beginning of the game. Some decent chances, but lacked finish.

98.Charles Gbeke, B - Had a decent game and didn't do anything WRONG necessarily. Ran hard and had some decent chances, particularly at the end of the game. That said, when you're the #1 man, you gotta knock one in when your team has 70% of the offensive possession.

You give Nash an "A" but you point out 3 negitives and not one positive.

 

[ghouse]

Classic Kick and run Canadian soccer. To feet I tell you, to Feet. Way to many long balls and crosses in the air where Charles was out manned. Cant blam him as they double teamed the center of the field knowing all we do is kick it in the air to him.
The few chances we had earler in the game were when we attacked on the ground with Marcus.
We had so much of the play yet instead of takeing our time and keeping more control guys would just dump it into the middle hopeing to get lucky instead of just holding longer and being more patient and waiting for a Charelston defencive breakdown and then attacking. and on the frickin ground.
I for one was disapointed as we clearly were the better team yet a few guys on the field were clearly not ready for this league yet. (Ansu for one)
And which defence of guy for us kept passing the ball directly to their strikers in the midfield. (2nd half outside right D) sorry i didnt catch his name.
brutal!

 

[SoccerPaper]

Yeah well, I gave them higher marks because
a) they didn't lose
and
b) it was their first game together in season play. If this was a game 5 games in... they'd all be getting C+'s.

Also, if you read the stuff on Nash... not all that stuff was his fault. When I said he was bumping into other players, that was also because often the other guys didn't seem to be running in the right direction.

 

[SoccerPaper]

As for GHouse's comment... I was actually impressed with how much one-on-one dribbling guys like Toure and Arze did. I liked the spunk and take-it-to-the-net instinct they showed up front. That said, the team just lacked finish. Gbeke had no chance on most of the balls given to him, and mid-field seemed not to exist, as you pointed out. Part of that had to do with weather though... the ball was doing some strange things, and in rain the temptation is just to boot it. This team in general had a lot less kick-and-run than previous incarnations of the team, I thought... even if that was definitely the made mode of the game.

Fantastically, at half time, I was talking to a woman who said, "I LOVE it when they kick it in the air and head it over and over to each other."

AND I WAS LIKE: "That's popcorn-ball, not soccer."