VANCOUVER, BC – Vancouver Whitecaps FC returned to training on Tuesday ahead of Sunday’s much-anticipated home playoff match against Portland Timbers (7 p.m. PT – limited tickets still available). Here are some news and notes from the day.
IN CONTENTION
One of the big decisions Carl Robinson and his coaching staff will have to make this week is how best to use Pedro Morales. The Chilean attacking midfielder played 13 minutes as a second half sub in Portland – his first minutes since suffering a hamstring strain on October 3.
Morales trained in full on Tuesday and Robinson said he was “flying.”
“He’s the captain of our club and we’ve missed him for a number of games through the run-in,” Robinson told reporters. “You want your best players on the field, so it’s very tempting [to start him].”
Robinson also said that midfielder Nicolas Mezquida, who didn’t make the 18 over the weekend, trained hard on Tuesday and is “coming along nicely.”
“There’s competition for places in this squad now,” he said. “That’s exciting. That’s what I want. The team will be based upon on who I think can win the game … Whichever personnel I decide to use, we've got to win at home. If we can't win at home, then we don't deserve to be through.”
POSESSION GAME
The Timbers controlled the possession game this past weekend – as they did in each of their three meetings with Vancouver in the regular season. ‘Caps goalkeeper David Ousted said on Tuesday that one way to tame the Timbers’ offence was to hold onto the ball a little more – something Robinson was asked about as well.
“Possession is great. Everyone wants to be a possession oriented team,” he said. “Portland are a very good team in possession. But it’s about winning. The game is about winning. We’re undefeated against Portland this year … Bayern Munich had 70 per cent of possession against Arsenal at the Emirates and lost 2-0. It doesn’t really mean a lot to me, to be fair. Scoring does. Missed chances, that certainly matters. So we’ve got to tidy up on that.”
BIG OCCASION
It was announced on Tuesday that fewer than 1,500 tickets remain for Sunday’s match. With an expected crowd of 27,000+, you can bet BC Place will be buzzing.
So what will Robinson’s message be to his young group of players?
“Go and play,” he said. “Go and enjoy yourselves boys. The reason why you’re in on January 21st or 22nd and you’re running around a football field when it’s cold and wet and rainy in Vancouver is to get to occasions like this. So when it’s here, which it is, don’t let it pass you by.”
At the same time, Ousted said it’s important to “manage” the moment, too.
“It’s going to be fantastic,” he said. “We’re going to enjoy having our fans fill up BC Place. But we also know we have a job to do. We have a game to go and win.”
ON THE OTHER SIDE
The Oregonian had the full report on Portland’s training session on Tuesday.
Timbers head coach Caleb Porter said that midfielder Diego Chara trained in full and could be available for Sunday. He also said he expects first-choice goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey to be ready, though he still had a fever on Tuesday and did not train.
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