Injuries, fatigue and silly red cards are quickly becoming a problem for the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Because of travel issues, we arrived in Houston Sunday morning on three hours' sleep. Needless to say we were tired by game time. Although the Whitecaps can't use that as an excuse, it's obvious they were running on empty as well.
There are a number of reasons. Three matches in nine days, injuries to key players, and suspensions to others. Add it up, and throw in the small roster syndrome typical of this league and you have a loss waiting to happen.
We talked plenty about the heat and humidity in advance of this game, but in the end I don't think it was all that bad. Yes the temperature was in the high 20s, but it was mostly overcast, humidity wasn't severe and there was a brisk cooling breeze blowing.
Let's put it this way: Kansas City in late June will be much worse and I'm betting so will D.C. in the middle of August. No, this was more about lethargy, perhaps an inevitable letdown after such a rousing start to their inaugural MLS campaign.
Injuries have quickly become a problem however. Poor Teitur Thordarson, not that he's looking for sympathy. But he's been unable to send out the same four defenders in consecutive games this season. That's five in a row, and with Jay DeMerit aggravating his groin injury, it looks like that trend will continue. Throw Greg Janicki, Terry Dunfield, John Thorrington, et al., onto the limping pile and it spotlights the importance of the silly red cards they've received.
Before the match I asked Thordarson if there was anything at all that he has been unhappy with during this dream start to a rookie season. The only thing he could come up with was the mental mistakes leading to bookings, which in turn leads to red cards, which in turn leads to suspensions. If they can fix that, this team might have a chance. They'd better fix it because the way it's going in the infirmary, they can't afford any more brain-cramp sending-offs.
On another note, the more we see of Camilo, the more we like him. Three goals for the tricky Brazilian now. He could be good for a dozen this year, maybe more. There are not many players in this league who can run at defenders and get quality shots on target.
If there's any issue with him, it might be the art of the dive. He's good at it, maybe too good for his own good. A reputation can be built in five minutes, but it can take a lifetime to tear it down. On the other hand, maybe it doesn't matter. (See Carlos Ruiz or Amado Guevara.)
And so the Whitecaps' busy month continues. Six matches in April, three down, three to go with home games against Chivas USA and FC Dallas as well as a trip to Columbus on the last day of the month. A few days before that, it's a visit to hated Montreal and the kickoff to the Nutrilite Canadian Champsionship and the Voyageurs Cup.
So it's seven games all together. All hands on deck are a must.
More on the Impact and newcomers FC Edmonton to come in this space at a later date.
All Nutrilite games will be on Sportsnet by the way. Can't wait for that. Vancouver and Montreal don't like each other. Everyone hates Toronto.
And Edmonton? All we can say is that they won their first ever NASL league game on the weekend, a 2-1 decision over the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. They'll play two more road games before kicking off their Nutrilite schedule against Toronto FC at Commonwealth Stadium.
We all know about the fan support in Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto. Edmonton, are you going to show up on the 27th?
