Sigi Schmid could probably write a book on Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
Maybe not as an organization, but certainly the team’s current iteration. The Sounders played the Whitecaps a staggering five times in 2015, and on two occasions they played their northerly Cascadia neighbors twice within the span of a week. In addition to the three regular season matchups, Seattle also drew the frightfully strong ‘Caps in Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League group action.
The matches themselves were as wildly unpredictable as any rivalry in MLS.
Seattle won the first matchup 2-0 at BC Place in Vancouver, then lost the second 3-0 at CenturyLink Field nearly three months later. After a 1-1 draw in the Champions League opener, Seattle dropped Vancouver a combined 6-0 in the final two games of 2015. One of those secured Seattle’s place in the Champions League knockout stage. The other handed the Sounders their first Cascadia Cup in four years.
Needless to say, Schmid knows Vancouver. And that’s perhaps what makes the looming Cascadia Cup opener for both squads on Saturday so devilishly interesting.
Precious little has changed about Vancouver since the last time these teams met back in September. Gershon Koffie is the only player approaching regular status who departed in the offseason, and Darren Mattocks, who was recently dealt to Portland to be reunited with former college coach at Akron Caleb Porter, had fallen precipitously down the depth chart. Everyone else, it seems, is back.
They’ll be familiar, of course, with the theatrics of Kekuta Manneh and Pedro Morales and Cristian Techera, who bedeviled the Sounders’ back line without success over the final few matchups of 2015. And they added depth up top in familiar face and longtime FC Dallas poacher Blas Perez, in addition to ballyhooed Japanese striker Masato Kudo, who’s scored twice in his only four caps for the Japanese national team.
If there’s any weak link with this side positionally right now, it’s at the back. Vancouver altered almost nothing about its defensive makeup over the offseason, and in a practical sense who could blame them? Vancouver tied with Seattle for the stingiest defense in MLS last year, and center back Kendall Waston was probably the defensive breakout sensation of the season.
But all’s not well. Waston isn’t an issue, but his connection with his partner is, and that’s cost Vancouver to the tune of five goals in its opening two matches of 2015, both losses. The combination of Waston and second-year pro Tim Parker has been anything but rock solid, and Matias Laba, unarguably one of the best defensive midfielders in MLS, hasn’t been able to shield them from harm’s way.
It’s early to be making grand pronouncements about a defense that was so good in 2015, but the early returns certainly haven’t been promising. Also consider this: Saturday represents Vancouver’s third consecutive road game to start the year.
That’s good news for the Sounders, who are desperately trying to prod production from its front three. But don’t get any ideas about any seismic shift in the 4-3-3 experiment. It isn’t going anywhere.
"We believe in what we're doing," Schmid said succinctly earlier this week, "and we're going to stay with it."
The biggest tactical question is perhaps how Seattle deals with the possible absence of center forward Nelson Valdez, who went down with a thigh bruise against Real Salt Lake last weekend. If Valdez misses Saturday’s game, the Sounders will probably turn to either Darwin Jones, Oalex Anderson or Aaron Kovar, but will that push Clint Dempsey from the left to Valdez’s slot in the center?
Even if Valdez doesn’t miss time – he resumed full training on Wednesday - should that move happen anyway? Dempsey’s been notably removed from the action areas in the run of play, and scooting him closer to goal wouldn’t be a bad thing.
After an 0-2-0 start, those questions certainly aren’t off the table.
For now, Seattle will likely have to roll with Osvaldo Alonso and Cristian Roldan in the middle. Erik Friberg’s recent MCL strain will keep him out for a spell, and Roldan is almost certainly the plug-and-play answer. The good news is that Roldan’s game closely mimics that of recently retired Gonzalo Pineda, and Alonso and Roldan have showed competency playing off one another already. On the list of injury concerns, having to play Roldan for an extended period of time is not among them.
This rivalry is perhaps not quite as white-hot as the one Seattle shares with Portland. The two sides are cordially competitive, and the game has often lacked the out-and-out fire of Seattle-Portland games. But the history here runs well-deep, and Seattle can get its chase for a second consecutive Cascadia Cup off to a roaring start with a quality win on Saturday.
Wouldn’t be a bad way to get its first tick in the win column of 2016, either.
