Issue #22 - Der Raumdeuter
Guest writer Jordan analyzes the 'Good, Bad, and Ugly' from Vancouver Whitecaps FC's recent matches.
Hello!
If you recall, I shared last week I’d be away on vacation through the Okanagan and Kootenays. And while I thought I might have an opportunity to watch both the CPL away leg against Forge FC and the home match against Houston, longer travel times and difficult hotel Wifi made that near impossible.
Thankfully friend of the newsletter, Jordan, stepped up to pick up my slack this past week to ensure y’all received your weekly hit of Vancouver Whitecaps FC action.
So let me pass it over to him.
So, it’s been a week, eh ‘Caps fans? Let’s start with a quick “Good, Bad, and Ugly” from Wednesday night’s CanChamp tilt against Forge FC (amazingly, the first all-time meeting between the clubs.)
The Good:
We’re not losing the tie
The Bad:
We’re not winning the tie
The Ugly:
Bjorn Inge Utvik’s disasterclass performance in the first 45 minutes
The match was 2-2 in the first half, but really, honestly should have been 2-0 for our ‘Caps. Utvik put in a performance that I likened to some of Pa-Modou Kah’s vintage in the mid 2010s where he’d score a goal but give away two more with defensive blunders. Because that’s basically exactly what happened on Wednesday - Utvik played a perfect knock-on header in his own box to a Forge player for them to go up 1-0, hit a second-phase freekick cutback for Tristan Blackmon for the 1-1 goal, then mishandled an easy pass from Yohei Takaoka, panicked, tried to dribble out of trouble, got stripped and gave up the 2-2 goal minutes after Brian White scored his 101st career goal to make it 2-1.
And that’s all that happened. I don’t even remember the second half, it was that uneventful. White came off with some tightness that lingered into Sunday, which naturally worries everyone. More on that shortly.
Thursday? Müller-mania everywhere. His reveal presser, then videos from training Friday, the hype building…
To Sunday. CEO Axel Schuster said somewhere that our new German star would play 30’ in this game. I was hoping for more but realistically 30 makes sense. Another Good, Bad, Ugly!
The Good:
Brian White scored a goal
Thomas Müller debuted and hit a wundergoal
Ali Ahmed came back from injury
We didn’t lose
The Bad:
We didn’t win
Müller’s goal was offside by the width of Brian White’s arm
We gave up a late goal from 20-25 yards out
The Ugly:
Tristan Blackmon went down with a leg injury and came off at halftime
Daniel Rios snatched at a chance that was falling right onto the boot of Müller that felt like it was a SURE game winner
Let’s get one thing perfectly clear though - Thomas Müller has legs under him still. The way he moved and found so much space to operate, you really do see why they call him “Der Raumdeuter.” He also put in an inch-perfect slide challenge defensively, clearly showing he’s not your average DP-level signing. Imagine a side with his and Ryan Gauld’s productivity and understanding of space and timing. If the rest of the younger ‘Caps start to pick up on his on-field cues and guidance, this team’s ceiling is very, very high.
That being said, you can tell that the rest of the players aren’t used to having a player of this level of football IQ on the field with them. They just look a step slower by comparison, and they don’t naturally lift themselves to the same level yet. It will come with time but I hope that time is sooner than later.
Having witnessed Messi’s insane no-look backheel assist to Suarez during Saturday’s games as well, plus Son Heung-Min’s selfless assist for LAFC while watching MLS360 on the weekend, it’s hard not to feel like Vancouver is going to be on a lot of highlight reels to close the season out as well, if things click for us and our new superstar. (To be honest they almost did just watch the offside goal. My goodness what a strike.)
Saturday against STL can’t come quickly enough now!
Around the Pitch
It’s Chris again. For “reasons,” we have yet to see an “Inside Video Review” from PRO for the Week 28 match.
But that didn’t stop PRO from sharing a few thoughts on Tim Ford’s officiating, specifically the PK call in the second:
This was a subjective decision. On one hand, the Low-End Zone angle shows a pushing action by the defender, but when viewed from the Left18 and Tight angles, Blackmon’s arms appear to be on Costa’s body to brace and not to push. After evaluating all the considerations, PRO would have preferred no penalty to be awarded on the field.
If you’re interested in watching an audio-free version of the different camera angles supporting the call from PRO, it’s down below.
I’ll be back in my usual seat this weekend to get my own view from 231 of Müller. Not sure it will match the level of hype this past Sunday did, but I ain’t passing this opportunity up.
Will I see you there?
From my seat to your browser!
If you enjoyed this, please consider sharing on social media or forwarding it to someone that you think would love it just as much! ❤️
-Chris (@lyteforce.ca)