One final regular season home game for the Vancouver Whitecaps was on the schedule.
Originally supposed to take place in late August, the match was postponed to Thanksgiving Sunday due to LAFC making the Leagues Cup final. Games against LAFC were always tough. Since they arrived in MLS in 2019, they have had the Whitecaps number, including in the playoffs last season.
The Whitecaps were heading into the match without Ryan Gauld, Andres Cubas, Pedro Vite, Fafa Picault, Sam Adekugbe and Ali Ahmed due to international duty. Only in MLS, matches are played on international duty. It was also reported before the match would not play due to a calf strain and he was day to day. So for the Whitecaps, when the tough gets going, the tough gets going.
And the tough just keeps going. The slide continues and it is close to hitting the centre of the Earth.
Match musings
LAFC did their best Brentford impression.
In the first 30 seconds, David Martinez played an excellent long ball to Mateusz Bogusz. Bjorn Inge Utvik was clearly left in the dust by Bogusz and he lobbed the ball over Takaoka from a tough angle. Well, that escalated quickly and it was not great Bob!
The Whitecaps to their credit did get back in the game slowly. However, their attack lacked creativity once again. It was kind of like watching a kid at Hogwarts trying to do spells for the first time or something like that.
Vancouver only managed one shot on target but there was an easy one from Sebastian Berhalter from distance. It was easy for former Tottenham Hotspur and French national team goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to handle.
The other goalkeeper, Yohei Takaoka, faced three shots and one of them included a header from LAFC defender Eddie Segura on a corner kick.
LAFC still looked dangerous and carried the bulk of possession and their midfield of Bogusz, Timothy Tillman and Lewis O’Brien made it difficult for Vancouver to start their build-up.
In the second half, the Whitecaps came to life. The magic was restored. It was like they found some magic gold dust that made them come to life.
This was the kind of soccer head coach Vanni Sartini lives on High pressing, lots of intensity, quick transitions and quick passes.
Vancouver hemmed LA in their own half. The midfield of Berhalter, Alessandro Schöpf and Ralph Priso turned on their A-game. Adding Deiber Caicedo into the fold made the attack more creative and lively.
They made sure LAFC couldn’t break out. Former Arsenal, Chelsea, AC Milan and France national team all-time leading scorer Olivier Giroud was kept in check. It was like the Whitecaps were tying him to chains.
You just had to ask: Where was this in the last few weeks? Maybe the week off really was beneficial.
The Whitecaps got their goal. Berhalter whipped in a free kick and it looked like Tristan Blackmon flicked it in. It must have gone off the spikes of his hair. It was later turned into an own goal from Sergi Palencia. But to me, it will be Blackmon’s goal.
However, the Whitecaps had chances to take the lead. Brian White in particular had at least two to three headers that missed the net. Crosses were coming in but they were either right at Lloris, too far or the headers were right at Lloris.
But of course, disaster struck. Getting a point would’ve been fine. Given the bad form, that would’ve been huge. It was like a shark came out of the water and attacked the Whitecaps boat.
But this is so Whitecaps and so Vancouver sports.
After an unsuccessful corner kick, LAFC went back the other way. Nathan Ordaz sliced Utvik alive like he was a pumpkin going to be turned into a Jack O’ Lantern. Of course, it had to be Kei Kamara, the ex-Whitecap. He made a good spin to get around Berhalter and found Ilie Sanchez…who beat Takaoka cleanly.
Cue the shocked Walter White scene from the Breaking Bad episode Ozymandias or any other reaction scene that got turned into a meme.
And that was all she wrote. Another home game, another dropped points. The slide to the playoffs continues.
Stat of the match
Expected goals were 1.18 to 0.92 in favour of the Whitecaps according to FotMob. Ouch.
What was said
In my three years covering the Whitecaps, I have never, ever, seen Sartini this angry after a match. Yes, not even after the playoff loss to LAFC last season. He was very, very angry and rightfully so.
It’s very frustrating but it’s frustrating also to give a goal after 25 seconds, so it is what it is first of all,” said Sartini. “At this moment I’m very disappointed, so I cannot think about next week.”
“They played fantastically,” he said “We shouldn’t have lost and I’m incredibly disappointed. If you ask me now I don’t want to be a coach anymore in my life, at this moment. That’s because I’m so disappointed, that I’m really down. I just want to go home and sleep for 37 hours because I’m so down.”
Now that is a quote.
Berhalter was the only media member to speak to the media and he just looked sad and frustrated.
“I think in the second half we had fight,” he said. I think you saw that clearly. It’s tough to come out of the game with nothing. It’s tough. I think we worked and created the chances and you know it’s one of those days it just doesn’t fall that way.”
“There’s one more game left and we still are in the playoffs,” Berhalter also said. “we need to do the best we can in this last game to put ourselves in a good spot for the playoffs.”
Best of Twitter
Best state of the scene
It’s crazy to think that in early September, there was talk of making the top four of the Western Conference. As it stands, the Whitecaps sit in eighth and the play-in round looks likely. It’s not looking good bruv.
Best home is not where the heart is
A story of this season is the poor home record, which is a shame considering the Whitecaps had good crowds all year.
The Whitecaps end 2024 with a 6-4-7 record. That is not good enough. There were losses against good teams such as LAFC, LA Galaxy, Seattle Sounders, Real Salt Lake, Houston Dynamo and Inter Miami.
There were frustrating draws against Austin and FC Dallas that come to mind.
Would the same fans show up next year? It’s looking doubtful.
Best sums it all up
I’ll just combine the two here.
If I were a Whitecaps fan, I would be crying too. They would be tears of frustration and anger.
This was after White hit the post after Ilie’s game-winning goal. “Oh come on” is the unofficial slogan of the Whitecaps since 2011.
Wrap-up
The Whitecaps travel to Salt Lake City to face Real Salt Lake on Decision Day. It is this Saturday at 6:00 pm Pacific.
Can the Whitecaps salvage something before the playoffs? Right now, they just feel like a bunch of dead men walking.
As for me, it’s getting late here in the press box. Like Sartini, I want to go home and not think about soccer. I want to lie in my bed, watch a movie and then go to sleep.
Happy Thanksgiving to all our readers and listeners! LAFC should be thankful for the Whitecaps giving them three points.
