VANCOUVER, BC –Alain Rochat wasn’t a part of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC team which faced FC Edmonton on Wednesday, but believes the scrappy 3-2 win over NASL side FC Edmonton will be a boost for the squad as a whole.
This after a poor run in Major League Soccer play over recent weeks, where the team is now five games without a win, after falling 2-0 to FC Dallas last weekend on the road.
While the win was certainly a relief, the way in which the match played out – with FC Edmonton taking a shock 2-1 lead just under halfway through proceedings – forced a late push from the 'Caps to bring out the eventual 3-2 win.
“I was nervous,” Rochat reflected on Thursday at the University of British Columbia when asked about how he felt watching the game unfold. “But maybe it can give us the small positive things that can make the game turn in our favour.
“If everybody puts a little more in it – the quality – then at home we can be very dangerous [against FC Dallas].”
Another encouraging element for the 'Caps is the fact the team managed to get the ball into the net more than once for the first time since MLS opening day against Toronto FC.
“If you score more goals, then you have more [of a] chance to win the game,” Rochat said. “[Wednesday] was a big example. You can take two goals [against] – unfortunate goals – but if you keep attacking, you win the game. We have to bring this quality in our offence, and still stay focused and disciplined on defence.”
Scoring more goals is something that needs to happen soon for a club that’s averaged just one per game seven games into this MLS season – not just from an aesthetic sense, but a practical one too.
Early in the season head coach
Martin Rennie
insisted, much as he did last season during a campaign in which his side scored a paltry 35 goals, that he’s happy to win low-scoring games.
And while most coaches are happy to take any sort of victory, consistently failing to score multiple goals a game is not a winning formula, no matter how resolute a team’s defence or how capable its goalkeeping.
“We need to keep the ball more,” Rochat conceded. “We need to be more dangerous offensively. I don’t remember if we had a good chance [against FC Dallas] that we created.
“We need to put more passion on it.”
