The Vancouver Whitecaps lost at home for just the second time this season in MLS league play on Saturday, falling victim to a third minute strike by Landon Donovan to lose 1-0 to the Los Angeles Galaxy. Ondrej Palat Jersey . Results elsewhere over the weekend saw the Whitecaps drop from the fifth and final playoff spot to seventh place in the Western Conference. The opening 45 minutes saw the Whitecaps struggle to find their rhythm in midfield. Head coach Martin Rennie prefers to play a 4-3-3 formation, with Gershon Koffie his preferred option as a number six (holding midfielder) and Nigel Reo-Coker as a number eight (box-to-box midfielder). Unfortunately for the Whitecaps, their options for the number ten role (attacking, creative midfielder) are very limited. Daigo Kobayashi has been given plenty of opportunity to earn his place in that role, yet every time he takes the field, he is found wanting. He just doesnt have a enough of an influence on the game, despite having the technical ability to do so. He hides from his teammates at times; he makes an angle to receive the ball, but not enough of an angle to make passing him the ball a legitimate option. That his instructions from the coaching staff upon being put into the game as a second half substitute on Saturday were, "Get involved!" speaks volumes about his lack of influence. Against the Galaxy on Saturday, Matt Watson was given an opportunity to stake his claim for the third midfield spot alongside Koffie and Reo-Coker. Unfortunately for Watson, he simply isnt the option that the Whitecaps require. Watson is a hard-working, diligent, versatile player. He covers a lot of ground, and his work rate is excellent. However, a number ten needs to have exceptional technical ability, vision and creativity - characteristics not generally viewed as Watsons strengths. The Galaxy goal was an excellent example of this. As the ball was played in to Watson from left fullback Jordan Harvey, Watsons best option was to play the ball around the corner with the outside of his right foot, into the feet of striker Darren Mattocks. Watsons technique let him down, as his wayward pass was intercepted by Galaxy fullback A.J. DeLaGarza, whose ball up to Robbie Keane was deflected into Donovans path. Donovan took a touch before smashing a left-foot strike into the top corner. (There is plenty of blame for the goal to be laid at the feet of Mattocks, whose lack of awareness was painfully obvious - but that is for another blog!) Given the players at Rennies disposal, if his preference is to stick with a 4-3-3 formation, he might consider dropping Kenny Miller into the number ten role - something that worked well in pre-season for the Caps. The reason to choose Miller over players like Russell Teibert or Kekuta Manneh is very simple: those players are still very young, and the burden of such an important role should be borne by an experienced player. Miller has shown that he is capable of causing problems when dropping into the gap between the opponents back four and midfield, which is the area traditionally occupied by a number ten. Shifting him into this role is something that he would take in his stride, allowing the Whitecaps to use an array of speedy options up front. The likes of Manneh, Mattocks, and Erik Hurtado are exceptionally quick. With leading scorer Camilo always likely to be the first option through the middle up front and Teibert occupying the right side, Rennie could start with Manneh on the left, leaving the speed of Mattocks and Hurtado as options off the bench. Another solution for Rennie, of course, is to bring in a new player to occupy the number ten role. With the transfer window now being closed in MLS, that will have to wait until the end of the season. Ironically, former Whitecap Davide Chiumiento would thrive in Rennies current squad, given the additions of experienced players like Miller and Reo-Coker. A player of Chiumientos ilk is certain to be top of Rennies shopping list in the offseason. Before we get there, though, the Whitecaps have a tough run of games to finish the season, with eight of their nine remaining league games being against Western Conference opponents. If they are to make a second consecutive playoff appearance, the Whitecaps will have to first address their lack of balance in midfield. Ryan Callahan Jersey .Martin Caceres marked his return from injury by scoring in the 3-1 win at Napoli and he believes Juventus sent out a warning to the rest of the league with that result.We go out on the pitch every game looking to give our all, Caceres said. Braydon Coburn Jersey . It was the quickest three-goal sequence in Olympic history, with the latter two coming just eight seconds apart. Kessel, Lamoureux and Kendall Coyne all scored twice for the Americans, and Molly Schaus made 10 saves in her Sochi debut. http://www.authentichockeyshoplightning.com/customized . -- The taxing preseason, which included two games in China, is finally over.CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw allowed two runs and six hits in five innings during Wednesday nights injury rehabilitation stint with the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts. A 29-pitch first inning kept Kershaw from being dominant, but he still finished with nine strikeouts. "I would like to have gotten through six or seven innings, but I had a good time working with these guys," Kershaw said. "Its tough when pitch counts are in the back of your mind. Obviously the main goal of why I was here was to get my pitch count up and be ready for 100-plus pitches in the big leagues. "At the same time, youre trying to compete, too. Fortunately for me, I am kind of done with that and can go pitch now." Kershaw threw 86 pitches Wednesday after tossing 56 Friday during his first rehab stint at Rancho Cucamonga of the Class A California League, when he allowed two hits in five scoreless innings. He opened this season getting a win for the Dodgers over Arizona in Australia on March 22 but went on the disabled list for the first time in his career several days later with a strained upper back. "Ive learned I dont like it," Kershaw said of his DL stint. "As much as yyou try and be a part of this team, our team is playing right now while Im in Chattanooga. Nikita Kucherov Jersey. Its a weird process for me, and you kind of feel isolated a little bit. Hopefully I never have to do it again." Kershaw said he feels healthy but didnt know when he would be joining his big-league teammates. John Andreoli drew a leadoff walk for the Smokies in the first inning, and Dustin Geiger drove in the first run off Kershaw with a two-out double to left. Geiger singled to left in the fifth inning to score Andreoli again. Kershaws appearance resulted in a sellout crowd of 6,318. "I think its pretty great for this city to get to see Clayton Kershaw, one of the great pitchers in the game doing a rehab assignment," Dodgers player development director DeJon Watson said. "Its a great opportunity for them to see our overall brand of baseball and having Clayton Kershaw as a model of what we do from an organizational standpoint. Were trying to get him in the best position to get him prepared to get him back in the big leagues, and coming here kind of worked out the best. "The competition level is pretty good here, and he was forced to execute good pitches in key counts." 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