SANDY, UTAH – Vancouver Whitecaps FC claimed their first-ever win at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday night, defeating Real Salt Lake 1-0 to stay atop the Major League Soccer table.
Here are three things that stood out to me.
MIXING IT UP
It’s safe to say Carl Robinson caught us all off guard on Saturday by veering from his standard 4-2-3-1 formation in favour of a 4-3-1-2.
On the one hand, the 4-3-1-2 is a more defensive approach with three midfield players shielding the back line rather than just two. At the same time, having two strikers on the pitch over one creates more options in the final third. In fact, Robinson said one of the reasons he made the switch was to isolate his two forwards with RSL’s centre backs, since their fullbacks tend to play higher up the pitch.
Here’s more from Robinson on the tactical switch:
"We could go gung-ho, but we've been here before and we've played with a diamond, we've played with a 4-2-3-1 but as everyone keeps telling me, we never win,” Robinson told TSN 1410 radio. “It was an adjustment that's been made based on how best we could win the game today. I hit them with this [on Friday] … for them to take that on board within 24 hours, without really doing much work on it, they showed today they're smart footballers as well as talented footballers. They should be given a lot of credit for that.”
I think the player who benefited most from this new formation was Russell Teibert. When the ‘Caps were out of possession, he was his usual disruptive self in midfield – along with Matias Laba and Gershon Koffie, who I thought quietly put in solid performance.
When Vancouver had the ball, though, Teibert had a much bigger role going forward. Without a winger in front of him, it was up to him to get up the flank to support the attack. And that he did (let’s not forget he had nine assists a few years back playing predominantly as a winger, so this isn’t necessarily unchartered territory).
Look at his average position on Saturday compared to his last start two weeks ago against LA.
After the game, Teibert said the new system was "a lot of work." I can understand why. He covered a ton of ground and had a big part to play offensively and defensively.
Furthermore, the ‘Caps were attacking down the left all game long (53 per cent of their attack came down the left flank as opposed to just 22 per cent on the right, according to whoscored.com) and it finally paid off in the 80th minute when Teibert whipped in a pinpoint cross to Darren Mattocks, who finished off the play with a perfect header.
MAKING HIS MARK
Speaking of Mattocks, that was quite the finish wasn’t it? It was really his only chance of the game and he made it count.
The Jamaican international now has two goals in his last three games – or, if you count international duty, four goals in his last five. He also continues to work hard defensively and is looking more and more dangerous with his movement in the final third.
“He worked his socks off today,” Robinson said after the match.
ROAD WARRIORS
That’s now three road wins in four matches to start the season for Whitecaps FC, which is really an incredible feat – in this league especially. To put that number in perspective, the ‘Caps only had three road wins all of last season (and they still made the playoffs and finished with the most road points in their young MLS history).
All three wins away from home so far this season have been 1-0 results. What does that tell me? This team can defend. Here are a few examples of that from the final 10 minutes alone (click to start and stop).
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