Tonight, Vancouver hosts Cascadian rivals and expansion cousins the Portland Timbers in a must win game for the Whitecaps. After last weeks disgusting effort versus Real Salt Lake’s B team, the Whitecaps are in a do-or-die situation. After weeks of interviews in which Whitecaps players have given cliché after cliché about how they control their destiny it finally has come down to the wire.
Vancouver biggest hope of making the post-season for the second time in our three year MLS history was the possibility of leap-frogging the Colorado Rapids. Last night the Colorado Rapids dismantled the Seattle Sounders 5-1 and Vancouver now sits 8 points behind the Rapids and 4 points behind the Galaxy who sit in 5th. Vancouver’s best chance now lies in over-taking the defending MLS champs. But let’s face it. Two of Vancouver’s remaining games are against Cascadian rivals and Vancouver’s lack of success versus our Cascadian rivals is well documented. The final two games of the 2013 season are a home-and-away series with none other than the Colorado Rapids. It is hard to imagine Vancouver collecting enough points to make the playoffs.
Tonight’s game will very likely be the Whitecap’s 7th sellout of the 2013 season but will the fans see the home team play with passion and a desire to push for the playoffs? It is impossible to know. The reality is that Vancouver’s post-season hopes are all but gone and the only way too partially make up for their dismal effort this season is to win the Cascadian Cup. A win tonight and a win this Wednesday would see the Whitecaps win their first title since joining the MLS.
The biggest concern on the minds of Whitecaps fans is the epic collapse that has marked the Whitecaps season down the stretch. Two years in a row Vancouver has been cruising along as one of the better teams in the west only to suddenly fall to pieces when the games really started to count. Does this failure rest with Martin Rennie or the players? I would say both. But as we all know it is much easier to fire a coach than rebuild an entire roster. Failure will not fly with Vancouver fans and the Whitecaps owners. Attendance is rising and the possibility of having one of the largest crowds in the league is a real possibility. If the Whitecaps fail to qualify for the playoffs this season – and I feel very confident in saying that this will happen – then I can’t imagine Martin Rennie will have a job for much longer.
