ORLANDO, FL – Vancouver Whitecaps FC edged Orlando City SC 2-1 on Saturday night at Orlando City Stadium. Here are three thoughts from the match.
BOLD MOVE FROM THE BOSS
It’s safe to say some heads were turned when Vancouver’s lineup was revealed an hour before kickoff. Seriously, you should have seen some of the comments on social media.
I would include them here, but most probably aren’t appropriate for this space.
Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson made nine – that’s right, nine – changes to his starting lineup after a midweek draw vs. Seattle and long travel day to Orlando on Thursday. The only two players who started both matches were Kendall Waston and Jordan Harvey (more on them later).
Entering the XI for Vancouver were goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic, defenders Jake Nerwinski and Aaron Maund, midfielders Marcel de Jong (a natural fullback who started in midfield for the first time this season), Russell Teibert, Bernie Ibini, Nicolas Mezquida, and Brek Shea, and striker Erik Hurtado.
And, if you go through the list, each had a massive part to play in this victory.
“We’ve got a very strong squad and we’re together,” Robinson said. “You see every player on that pitch fighting for each other, whether they’re starting or whether they’re coming off the bench.”
It was a bold move leaving the likes of Fredy Montero, Yordy Reyna, Cristian Techera, and even Alphonso Davies on the bench to start, but it paid off a in a big way. It was also a bold move to bring on Davies, Montero, and Reyna as second-half subs when the ‘Caps were protecting a lead, but I – for one – was certainly not complaining.
BIG MEN IN THE MIDDLE
According to Opta, Orlando City SC attempted a whopping 40 crosses on Saturday, which was the most of any team this season. At times, it almost seemed like the ‘Caps were inviting them.
If that was the case, it proved a shrewd strategy.
Only three of those crosses were successful on the night, thanks largely to Vancouver’s centre back duo of Waston and Maund, who had 27 clearances between the two of them (as you can see below).
“I think there’s a few better decisions that could be made in the attacking third so that we’re not looking at a stats sheet that says we crossed the ball in there a 1,000 times to two giant centre backs,” Orlando City SC head coach Jason Kreis noted after the match.
It wasn’t just the big men who came up big on Saturday, though.
A number of ‘Caps came up with key defensive plays, including this Harvey block in the second minute of stoppage time. That’s what you call putting your body on the line.
MAKING A MOVE?
The ‘Caps will enter the FIFA break fourth in the Western Conference with an 11W-9D-5D record. And they still have games in hand over two of the three teams above them.
Even more impressive?
Vancouver’s 11 wins, and five away from home, are more than they had in all of 2016. And there are still nine games remaining, including four straight at BC Place in the month of September.
Game on.
