Article author:
The Canadian Press
Jim Morris
VANCOUVER — Playing the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday night at BC Place in a quick turnaround will The match could be the best medicine for the Vancouver Whitecaps after looking anemic in their last loss.
Head coach Vanni Sartini called the Whitecaps' 5-2 loss to his Galaxy in Los Angeles on Saturday a "failure," Hopefully Colorado will "bounce back" as his team continues to hunt. Major League to his football playoff spot.
"Honestly, the worst thing about Los Angeles was that they didn't beat us for a tactical masterpiece, or that we didn't know what to do. "We made a lot of individual mistakes," Sartini said after training on Tuesday.
"We didn't have a lot of time to prepare [for Colorado], but we don't need to make any big changes in terms of tactics. We know what our strengths are. We have to work on our strengths from the beginning.”
The Whitecaps (8-11-6) and the Rapids (8-9-7) are the leading players in Major League Soccer. A group of 6 teams vying for the playoff line in the Western Conference. Nashville holds his seventh and final playoff spot with his 33 points. Galaxy also has 33 points, but is 6th with 2 more wins.
He is just three points behind Portland in 8th place and Vancouver in 11th place. A win over Colorado would make the Whitecaps leap past Nashville.
The Rapids are smooth sailing here, with just one loss in seven games (3-1-3). I'm coming to The Rapids have struggled on the road, going 1-7-3. His 5-4 win over the Red Bulls on August 2 in New York ended his 10-game unbeaten streak.
Striker Diego Rubio leads the Rapids with 12 goals and six assists. His goal on his penalty kick in his 1–1 draw with Columbus extended his scoring streak to his eight game streak (5 goals and 5 assists).
"They're a very aggressive team and really hard to physically break down," Sartini said. “They are kind of very aggressive, almost man-to-man defense, so we need to be very intelligent in our moves and move a lot.
} "The more you move, the more space you have and the more opportunities you have to break them down."
Defender Ranko Veselinovich said the Whitecaps were unlikely to fall behind early on. I said I can't. Vancouver has conceded the first goal in six of their last seven games. With seven minutes remaining he had three goals scored. In those games, the Whitecaps have him 1-3-2.
"His last three games had a slow start. He had a bad first half," Veselinovich said. "We need to be better prepared to start on the front foot and score first."
The Whitecaps have played three games in his eight days, two of them away. I'm under the strain of playing at After Wednesday's game, Vancouver will face Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto's stadium on Saturday night.
Given his race in the close playoffs, a good result against the Rapids would facilitate a trip to Salt Lake.
"Going to Salt Lake with your mind focused on grabbing something instead of going into emergency mode because you need results is huge. said Sartini.
COLORADO RAPIDS (8-9-7) at VANCOUVER WHITECAPS (8-11-6)
BC Place Stadium, Wednesday at 10pm. ET
Injury reports: Striker Brian White (rib) and forward Daver Caicedo (out of the season after meniscus surgery in his right knee) are heading to Vancouver.
Back-in-the-Fold: Striker Lucas Cavallini returns after missing the last game on his yellow card. Cavallini, who leads the team with eight goals, has scored in his last two MLS games, his third-highest in the league with his four goals in a win.
SEEING YELLOW: Vancouver forward Christian D'Ajomé and Colorado defender Lucas Estevez have been suspended for yellow cards. The MLS Disciplinary Commission also found Dajomé guilty of failing to leave the field in a timely manner in the 79th minute of the game against the Galaxy, and issued an undisclosed fine for his actions.
Top Streak: The Rapids are undefeated in their last three games against Vancouver (1-0-2). Colorado also had his third straight win in 2016 and his 2012-13 against the Whitecaps. Colorado has never gone undefeated in his four straight games against Vancouver.
GO 4: His 5-2 win against the Galaxy for the Whitecaps was only the fourth time in club history that he allowed at least five goals in an MLS game. Three of his four games have been in Los Angeles, where he has faced LAFC twice and the Galaxy once.
Pitch-in: Whitecaps goalkeeper Cody Cropper said he assisted Ryan Gauld's goal in Saturday's loss. He is his third Whitecaps goaltender to record his assists in the primary, after David Ousted in 2014 and Brad Knighton in 2014.
This Canadian Press report was first published on August 16, 2022.
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