Midfielder Jun Marques Davidson is at the centre of a Pucked in the Head debate between Russell Arbuthnot and Chris Withers. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Last Saturday, Whitecaps midfielder Jun Marques Davidson almost singlehandedly cost Vancouver three points and their undefeated home record by head-butting the Philadelphia Union’s Keon Daniel, earning a red card in only the 8th minute of play. Yesterday, Pucked in the Head’s newest contributor, Russell Arbuthnot, wrote a piece slamming Jun Marques Davidson and Martin Rennie’s insistence on keeping him in the Vancouver Whitecaps starting eleven. Today, I disagree with a lot of what Russell has to say. Read why after the jump. Continue reading Marques Midfield Madness Should Continue: A Rebuttal→
Vancouver Whitecaps FC defender Alain Rochat, one of the first confirmed MLS signings for the club, was traded on Thursday to DC United. Photo courtesy of Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
Well that was fun. I woke up to a text saying that Whitecaps FC defender Alain Rochat had been traded. (Shut up, I was on a night shift last night.) My good friend Jason was kind: he didn’t tell me who the Whitecaps had got back. Had I received those twin shocks at once, I believe I would now be trying to get brain matter out of the curtains. No easy task when your head has just exploded.
Let me get this straight: Martin Rennie has traded another fan favourite for draft picks, and he’s done it just one week after a heartbreaking Voyageurs Cup loss had many people were howling for his scalp? Wow. Nobody’s ever questioned the gaffer’s testicular fortitude, anyway.
The Vancouver Whitecaps have seen an impressive run of play from young Canadian forward Russell Teibert. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
The Vancouver Whitecaps pulled a rare animal out of their hat this weekend — a road victory. After outplaying and outchancing opponents in several draws (and even a few losses) over the past few weeks, the boys in blue and white stole a 2-1 win in a contest they had no business winning.
Karma dictated the Caps had to come out on top of a decision like this sooner or later. Despite riding a four-game unbeaten streak into the match, they hadn’t received all the points they had deserved. Wednesday’s heartbreaking draw against Montreal lost the Whitecaps their first Voyageurs Cup. They had run the show for 85 minutes, hitting the woodwork twice and putting several shots just wide. By all accounts they could have scored a half-dozen against the Impact but only gave Craig MacEwan two opportunities to say “it’s in the back of the net!”
The previous game was another 2-2 draw, this time against Portland. The Caps scored two marvellous goals, but the Timbers played with twelve men — unfortunately the twelfth one carried a whistle and wore a referee’s jersey. While that may seem unfair, both goals for the visitors were contestable. The tying goal in particular was quite stinky, as Jose Valencia clearly used both arms to corral a hail-mary pass in the Vancouver box before depositing it behind Brad Knighton.
So yeah, gutting out a win when the other guys probably deserved it? Karmic payback against all those other teams that have nicked points from the Caps earlier in the year.
Russell Teibert scored his first two professional goals thirteen minutes apart to help the Vancouver Whitecaps to their first-ever win over the LA Galaxy this weekend.
Coming off the bench in the 14th minute in injury relief of Daigo Kobayashi, Teibert showed great speed and good chemistry with Nigel Reo-Coker. More important for the Caps, he showed solid finish, something Vancouver has been sorely lacking over the past eight weeks of Major League Soccer action.
Canadian product Russell Teibert (left) scored the first two goals of his promising MLS career, as the Vancouver Whitecaps defeated the LA Galaxy 3-1 on May 11. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
The Vancouver Whitecaps delivered a convincing 2-nil win over FC Edmonton in the second leg of the Canadian Cup semi-final. With the win, the Caps move on to the final against the Montreal Impact, who embarrassed Toronto FC 6-0 in the other semi.
I’m sure Chris Withers will have more to say about the match, but here are a few shots I captured at the game.
Corey Hertzog scored a dramatic second half goal to lift Whitecaps FC to a 2-0 win over FC Edmonton on May 1, 2013. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
FC Dallas, who played the Whitecaps last Saturday in Dallas, and will play them again this coming Saturday in Vancouver, put out a video yesterday introducing the world to “Vancouvering”. It’s an amusing idea, making fun of Joe Cannon’s habit of resting his head on his arms while laying on the turf after a goal against. It shows people in everyday situations reacting to disappointment in similar fashion. While I did get a laugh (before I realized the thing went on for over three minutes), the Dallas social media team really should learn not to cast stones when the team they’re employed by is renowned league-wide as the biggest bunch of diving, whining cheats in Major League Soccer. “Vancouvering,” you say? I give you Dallasing.
The Voyageurs’ Cup tournament kicked off on Wednesday night. Vancouver have yet to win this trophy in eleven tries. They’ve been beaten outright, they’ve secured near-certain victory only to be betrayed by another team starting a reserve side and getting pummelled, they’ve had a late lead washed out by torrential downpour, clearing the way for them to lose the replay. What they hadn’t done, since the format was changed in 2011, was lose their semi-final matchup. Oh, they’d come close. Montreal, then in division 2, forced extra time at Empire Field in 2011, and Ali Gerba was inches away from winning it for them at the death. FC Edmonton scored early at BC Place last year, making the final leg interesting until Sebastien Le Toux put the game out of reach. Tonight, the Whitecaps again struggled against a division two side, but pulled out a 3-2 win to put themselves in the driver’s seat coming home next week. Continue reading Whitecaps Eke Out A Semi-Final Victory→
After four games, the Vancouver Whitecaps have given us two impressive wins and two unfortunate losses. While they still have less success with set pieces than elite teams (hello, LA Galaxy), in no situation have they looked out of place or flat out lost in the wilderness. This despite losing captain Jay DeMerit to a severe leg injury just minutes into the first game. With game five coming up against the San Jose Earthquakes, we at Pucked in the Head offer up our report card for Whitecaps Wednesday.
Nigel Reo-Coker sports the newly unveiled Vancouver Whitecaps FC kit for 2013-14. Image unceremoniously filched from www.whitecapsfc.com.
Earlier on this Whitecaps Wednesday, we here at Pucked in the Head predicted that the new kit unveiled just a few short hours ago would be only slightly changed from last season’s uniform. Indeed, we wrote here that:
“A new kit reveal goes down this very evening, and while the jersey will almost certainly still feature a massive corporate nod to a telecommunications company renowned for spotty service Bell, we have reason to believe they may have changed the stripes on the front! (I know, I know! Squee, and all that!)”
Previously, the primary uniform featured horizontal stripes across the belly, making them — especially the white one — a huge hit with fans who have a little extra in the midsection. We can now verify that the stripes on the front of the Whitecaps primary jersey… dude, they’re diagonal! Check the video below.
(Oh, and Jay Demerit apparently has some kind of bizarre skin condition.)
Pucked in the Head is taking part in the 2013 Ride to Conquer Cancer. You can help us reach our fundraising goal by throwing a few bucks at our campaign, at http://www.conquercancer.ca/goto/jasonkurylo2013.
It’s the last Whitecaps Wednesday before the 2013-14 season begins, and there’s so much optimism surrounding the team that the MLS is considering rule changes to limit the number of championships any one team can win in a row. The Whitecaps went 5-2-1 in pre-season play in Arizona and South Carolina, sending footballgasms thundering throughout the Lower Mainland.
So what has local fans so excited? Building off of the club’s first-ever playoff appearance, the Whitecaps have made several high profile moves to encourage optimism. Midfielder Gershon Koffie received Canadian residency and a contract extension, meaning the Caps will now have an extra international spot on the roster and Koffie will be in Vancouver for the long term.
More after the jump, including tassels, brothers and sisters!
Pucked in the Head is taking part in the 2013 Ride to Conquer Cancer. You can help us reach our fundraising goal by throwing a few bucks at our campaign, at http://www.conquercancer.ca/goto/jasonkurylo2013.
