Eighty Six Forever

Vancouver Whitecaps 2012 All Men's Competitions Schedule

2012-02-20T20:00:00Z

2011 Vancouver Whitecaps All Competitions Schedule
Date	Comp	Team	Time (Pacific)	Venue
Saturday, February 18	USSDA	Strikers FC	11:30 AM	Newton Athletic Park
Saturday, February 25	USSDA	Crossfire Premier	1:00 PM	Redmond High School
Wednesday, February 29	Friendly: Canada v. Armenia
Saturday, March 3	USSDA	San Jose U-18/U-16	9:30 AM	Simon Fraser University
Saturday, March 10	MLS	Montreal	3:00 PM	BC Place
Saturday, March 17	MLS	Chivas USA	7:30 PM	Home Depot Center
Monday, March 19	MLS Res	Los Angeles Reserves	11:00 AM	TBD
Saturday, March 24	USSDA	De Anza Force	11:30 AM	Simon Fraser University
Saturday, March 24	MLS	DC United	7:00 PM	BC Place
Monday, March 26	MLS Res	Seattle Reserves	11:00 AM	UBC Thunderbird Stadium
Saturday, March 31	USSDA	Pateadores	11:30 AM	Simon Fraser University
Saturday, March 31	MLS	Philadelphia	1:00 PM	PPL Park
Saturday, April 7	USSDA	Arsenal FC US	12:00 PM	Whatcom Community College
Saturday, April 7	MLS	San Jose	7:30 PM	Buck Shaw Stadium
Sunday, April 8	MLS Res	San Jose Reserves	11:00 AM	Nutrilite Training Facility
Thursday, April 12	USSDA	California Odyssey	5:00 PM	Simon Fraser University
Wednesday, April 18	MLS	Kansas City	7:00 PM	BC Place
Saturday, April 21	USSDA	De Anza Force	12:00 PM	De Anza College
Saturday, April 21	MLS	FC Dallas	7:00 PM	BC Place
Sunday, April 22	USSDA	Santa Cruz Breakers	11:00 AM	Cabrillo College
Sunday, April 22	MLS Res	Portland Reserves	3:00 PM	Swangard Stadium
Thursday, April 28	USSDA	Seattle U-18/U-16	11:30 AM	Newton Athletic Park
Saturday, April 28	MLS	Columbus	4:00 PM	Crew Stadium
Wednesday, May 2	VC	Edmonton	TBD	Commonwealth Stadium
Friday, May 4	USL PDL	Kitsap	7:00 PM	Swangard Stadium
Saturday, May 5	MLS	San Jose	4:00 PM	BC Place
Wednesday, May 9	VC	Edmonton	TBD	BC Place
Friday, May 11	USL PDL	Seattle U-23	7:30 PM	Swangard Stadium
Saturday, May 12	MLS	New England	4:30 PM	Gillette Stadium
Sunday, May 13	USL PDL	Victoria	5:00 PM	Royal Athletic Park
Wednesday, May 16	Voyageurs Cup final round, first leg
Wednesday, May 16	USL PDL	Fraser Valley	6:30 PM	Bateman Park
Saturday, May 19	USSDA	Cal. Development Academy	11:30 PM	Newton Athletic Park
Saturday, May 19	MLS	Seattle	2:00 PM	BC Place
Wednesday, May 23	Voyageurs Cup final round, second leg
Wednesday, May 23	USL PDL	Fraser Valley	7:00 PM	Simon Fraser University
Saturday, May 26	USL PDL	Portland U-23	2:00 PM	Simon Fraser University
Saturday, May 26	MLS	Portland	7:00 PM	Jeld-Wen Field
Sunday, May 27	MLS Res	Portland Reserves	2:00 PM	Jeld-Wen Field
Friday, June 1	USL PDL	Portland U-23	11:00 AM	Jeld-Wen Field
Friday, June 1	MLS Res	Seattle Reserves	7:00 PM	Starfire Sports
Sunday, June 3	Friendly: Canada v. United States
Sunday, June 3	USL PDL	Seattle U-23	5:00 PM	Curtis High School
Wednesday, June 6	USL PDL	North Sound	7:30 PM	Edmonds Woodway High School
Friday, June 8	World Cup qualifying: Canada @ Cuba
Saturday, June 9	USL PDL	Victoria	7:00 PM	Royal Athletic Park
Sunday, June 10	MLS	Houston	4:00 PM	BC Place
Tuesday, June 12	MLS Res	Los Angeles Reserves	11:00 AM	UBC Thunderbird Stadium
Tuesday, June 12	World Cup qualifying: Canada v. Honduras
Friday, June 15	USL PDL	Washington	7:00 PM	TBD
Saturday, June 16	MLS	Colorado	4:00 PM	BC Place
Wednesday, June 20	MLS	New York	8:00 PM	BC Place
Friday, June 22	USL PDL	Kitsap	7:30 PM	Bremerton Memorial Stadium
Saturday, June 23	MLS	Los Angeles	7:30 PM	BC Place
Monday, June 25	MLS Res	Chivas USA Reserves	11:00 AM	Home Depot Center
Wednesday, June 27	USL PDL	Washington	7:00 PM	Redmond High School
Wednesday, July 4	MLS	Colorado	6:30 PM	Dick's Sporting Goods Park
Friday, July 6	USL PDL	North Sound	8:00 PM	Swangard Stadium
Saturday, July 7	MLS	Chivas USA	7:30 PM	Home Depot Center
Sunday, July 8	USL PDL	Victoria	7:00 PM	Minoru Park
Wednesday, July 11	MLS	Toronto FC	4:00 PM	BMO Field
Wednesday, July 11	USL PDL	Fraser Valley	7:00 PM	Swangard Stadium
Saturday, July 14	MLS	Chicago	5:30 PM	Pizza Hut Park
Wednesday, July 18	MLS	Los Angeles	7:00 PM	BC Place
Sunday, July 22	MLS	San Jose	4:00 PM	BC Place
Monday, July 23	MLS Res	Chivas USA Reserves	11:00 AM	UBC Thunderbird Stadium
Friday, July 27	MLS	Salt Lake	6:00 PM	Rio Tinto Stadium
Saturday, August 11	MLS	Salt Lake	4:00 PM	BC Place
Wednesday, August 15	MLS	FC Dallas	7:00 PM	BC Place
Wednesday, August 15	FIFA international date
Saturday, August 18	MLS	Seattle	1:00 PM	CenturyLink Field
Saturday, August 25	MLS	Portland	7:30 PM	Jeld-Wen Field
Saturday, September 1	MLS	Los Angeles	7:00 PM	Home Depot Center
Friday, September 7	World Cup qualifying: Canada v. Panama
Monday, September 10	MLS Res	San Jose Reserves	11:00 AM	UBC Thunderbird Stadium
Tuesday, September 11	World Cup qualifying: Canada @ Panama
Saturday, September 15	MLS	FC Dallas	5:30 PM	FC Dallas Stadium
Sunday, September 23	MLS	Colorado	4:30 PM	BC Place
Saturday, September 29	MLS	Seattle	6:00 PM	BC Place
Wednesday, October 3	MLS	Chivas USA	7:00 PM	BC Place
Friday, October 12	World Cup qualifying: Canada v. Cuba
Tuesday, October 16	World Cup qualifying: Canada @ Honduras
Saturday, October 20	MLS	Portland	1:00 PM	BC Place
Saturday, October 27	MLS	Salt Lake	6:00 PM	Rio Tinto Stadium

MLS Regular Season - home		MLS Regular Season - away		Voyageurs Cup
MLS Reserves - home		MLS Reserves - away		FIFA international dates
Residency - home		Residency - away

There. Now you can plan your year.

Above is a list of all Vancouver Whitecaps men's games for the 2012 season that have currently been announced: Residency USSDA U-18 and U-16 doubleheaders, Residency USL PDL games, MLS Reserves, and of course the MLS first team. Also present is the Voyageurs Cup schedule and Canadian men's national team action. Not yet available is the 2012/13 USSDA season but this should be enough to get you started.

Monday Morning Centreback: Commentary on "Cracked Open" by Paul James

2012-02-20T19:38:26Z

Monday Morning Centreback: Commentary on "Cracked Open" by Paul James

Highly recommended: Gregor Young at Monday Morning Centreback has written his notes on Paul James's Cracked Open, reviewed on this site late last week.

It's a great read for those who have the book and those thinking about getting it, providing a bit of context and analysis from somebody well-connected to the game (if you don't recognize Young's name, he's a former Vancouver 86er and long-time fixture in lower Mainland soccer who capped once for Canada). Read, as they say, the whole thing.

University of Victoria - Vancouver Review: Dull But Useful

2012-02-20T18:45:04Z

I hope nobody experienced the University of Victoria Vikes - Vancouver Whitecaps match on Sunday as their first ever soccer game. Holy crap was that a dog; 90 minutes of pure boredom (or 89 minutes of pure boredom if you trust the scoreboard).

The Whitecaps started a second-rate eleven: trialists Greg Klazura and Nuru Sulley both started on the back end. First overall picks Omar Salgado and Darren Mattocks went up front, which looks bloody impressive on paper, and old Railhawks like Brad Knighton, Matt Watson, and Jun Marques Davidson got their chance. The lineup was rounded out by left back Jordan Harvey, centre back Carlyle Mitchell, midfielder/captain Davide Chiumiento, and midfielder Gershon Koffie. It was decidedly a second eleven but not exactly weak, not even compared to the defending CIS champions.

Vancouver held possession, never looked like losing, and got far more chances than they gave up. The lack of chemistry between some of the players was obvious and Victoria's gritty defending and superior team effort meant they gave the Whitecaps a competitive game, but I think everyone agreed who the superior side was.

However, the Whitecaps lacked an attacking mentality and were let down by their forwards. Chiumiento was the only guy determined to go on the attack and even he got bored half an hour in. Klazura, of all people, was the next-most audacious player and did a lovely job setting up Watson's eventual winning goal. Beyond that, the team spent most of its time holding possession but wasting it and getting involved in a chippy tick-tack tackle-fest with the Vikes on the abysmal grass of Centennial Stadium.

Mattocks was full of energy but seemed to underrate CIS defending: he thought he could stroll through the Vikes back line and was incredibly wrong. Salgado was typical Salgado: jogging, overconfident, poor at using his teammates, and ineffective. Given how remarkable he looked when he arrived in Vancouver, I wonder if all the coaching changes here have hurt young Omar's development since he looks worse to my eye than he did this time last year. The team seriously improved when Long Tan and Caleb Clarke came on as forwards late in the match.

Apart from the forwards, most of the regulars looked good. Koffie was quietly effective; the Vikes were unable to beat him through the centre of midfield so got most of their chances off turnovers or down the wing. Knighton wasn't called upon to make any tough saves but had to be active coming off his line to deal with corners and crosses; he was almost unerring. Watson, obviously, scored and looked good in general. Mitchell and Harvey were both very good, with Mitchell in particular making a number of fine challenges to redeem mistakes made by his partner Sulley. Chiumiento fought boredom but was full of tricks: he eschewed his usual playmaking in favour of just beating guys but at least he made it work and could have had a hat trick on a luckier day.

Of the trialists, I was reasonably pleased with Klazura (good assist, loads of energy, somewhat mistake-prone and beaten a few times by the Victoria attackers) and disappointed with Sulley (good head on his shoulders, decent positioning, fought hard for every ball, and handles it like his feet are made of cement; responsible for a few good Victoria chances). I wouldn't sign either one of them based on what I've seen but Klazura made me think about it.

Many of the most interesting players came off the bench. Caleb Clarke had just played 90 minutes in a Residency game in Surrey on Saturday but still looked dangerous in his cameo Sunday. Russell Teibert also put in a substitute appearance and, far from playing left back, had a roving commission as an attacking midfielder. I realize that my Teibert zealotry makes me look biased, but I will say that, while Teibert didn't have a perfect game (missed his crosses, wasted some shots) he was by far Vancouver's most dangerous attacker when he was on the field. His runs and accurate passing forced the Vikes defense to spread out; previously they had been happily and successfully concentrating on whichever Vancouver defender had the ball. Teibert kept them honest and as a result the game ended with the Whitecaps looking like a good attacking team.

(While warming up at half, Teibert also wore a comically huge jacket and humped a tennis ball. Let nobody say I'm not impartial.)

As a Michael Boxall fan, I'm concerned he was one of only two players (with Residency goalkeeper Callum Irving) who didn't get into the match. Mitchell played very well and Sulley needed to get a look: I can imagine good reasons for Boxall not to get in without his being in trouble with Martin Rennie. However, I think it's most likely that Boxall just hasn't got Rennie's confidence and, as an international player at a position packed with internationals, he may have to watch his back.

I realize my impressions are of individuals rather than the team, but then again this was an individual game. There was little real cohesion or strategy among the Whitecaps. Under the circumstances this made sense. These were bubble players trying to prove they belonged, not a preview of our starting eleven trying to find each others' tendencies. But players like Chiumiento and Salgado, who are dead certain to start the year on the roster, were among the most individualistic of all.

This made for a boring game to watch. As a UVic alumnus I spent only ten bucks for a ticket and still felt ripped off. But as a preview of some fringe players against a determined opponent in tricky conditions, it at least had some value.

Tempering Optimism

2012-02-18T18:50:49Z

Buzzkill alert.

It's been a very productive off-season for the Whitecaps. The deadwood is gone, some quality new acquisitions have signed, and the team appears to be in high spirit going into the last three weeks of pre-season.

But if you believe what many supporters are saying, Martin Rennie is a tactical genius, is the world's first omniscient judge of talent and farts Skittles for giggles. Much time has been spent making bold predictions of season success, while pointing and laughing at Montreal, predicting a long season of misfortunes as an expansion team in the MLS.

The irony should not escape us.

Let me be clear about a few things.

I think Martin Rennie is a quality manager, a good judge of talent, and an class act. I think he'll have success in the MLS and beyond. I also think that his acquisitions have been very good, filling nearly every hole that needed filling. And of course, I think Montreal are a bunch of buffoons and will likely fall flat on their poutine eating, supporter spitting, championship surrendering faces.

But before we anoint the Whitecaps of the new MLS dynasty, there are a few question marks surrounding the club going in to this season.

1. Injuries

As was shown last year, the MLS is a tough, long grind. All this travel with limited days off between games can take it's toll on aging players. Last year the Whitecaps starting 11 was decimated by injuries, destroying any chance the team had of overcoming their other well documented deficiencies to compete for a playoff spot.

DeMerit appears to be over his groin/leg problems, but I'm not completely sold that he can make it through the season without a stretch or two off. The type of injury he had was caused by a problem in the way that he ran and moved about on the pitch. It's not that easy to change the way you move after doing it the same way for 30 years. Although he's not signed yet, Etienne Barbara will not be with the club for months, if he does sign, and we still don't know the extent or severity of his injury and how that'll affect his play. Atiba Harris appears to be flying around in pre-season again showing no ill effect from his knee injury, but knees are one of those things that have a tendency to cause lifetime problems.

And I haven't even mentioned John Thorrington's name yet.

You can never really predict most injuries. It wouldn't even surprise me if all these guys get through the season without a single stretch of time off due to injury. But there will be injuries. And while we've acquired depth throughout the park, it still concerns me.

If Young-pyo Lee goes down for the season, who will be our right fullback for the season? Is Greg Klazura good enough to start at right back? Is Matt Watson good enough to take a healthy serving of MLS minutes should Jun Marques Davidson go down to injury while John Thorrington is out with a broken bone that the medical world didn't know existed? Unforunately, too many of our depth players are unknown quantities at the MLS level, so it's going to be hard to judge until we see them in game action.

Let's hope our depth is good enough to keep us afloat when the inevitable happens.

2. Age

This sort of ties in to both the injury concern above, as well as what Benjamin Massey spoke of in his article a week ago.

Going into the inaugural season, Whitecaps FO claimed they wanted to do things the right way. Build a team, don't buy one. Draft for the future. It's why they rated Omar Salgado so much

Now we sign a 34 year old fullback, still rely on a 32 year old oft-injured Thorrington, signed a 33 year old designated player as a centre midfielder, and will have our midfield anchored by a 32 year old Jay DeMerit coming of a season littered with injuries.

Oh, and speaking of that designated player you signed? Yeah, you'll have to wait until July to have him.

It's unlikely the Whitecaps will be pushing for the Supporter's Shield this year, so why all the focus on players who may not be playing, or at least starter quality in 2 or 3 years?

It goes against the mantra the front office spoke of going into 2011. While I agree that you need to instill a winning mentality, Russel Teibert, Darren Mattocks, and Gerson Koffie wont be progressing much more by playing reserves games. They need MLS minutes, and all three could be outstanding MLS players with just a touch more seasoning.

3. Off field success

I didn't expect minute long ads after Coach's Corner on Saturday Nights, but the advertising campaign for the Whitecaps second season has been virtually non-existent. I realize there's a budget and all, but money invested now, this year, gaining young fans of a young franchise will be money well spent for years to come. It is short sighted to think that they must get by on budget marketing expenses in this city and hope to generate life long fans.

We still don't know what our season ticket renewal is looking like. Now, I'm confident it'll be higher than the 7000 that the Impact are rumoured to have, but i'm not so sure we'll be seeing 20,000 butts in seats past the first couple games of the season. The Whitecaps better win early, win often, and play some damn exciting football if they want to keep the single ticket games rolling in.

I can't count how many people I've talked to who said it just wasn't the same when we left Empire. There was nothing like having a cold beer on a sunny day, watching the beautiful game only feet in front of you. More than half of the people from my work who had season tickets are not renewing, and BC Place is their excuse. Now, I'm quite sure they'd all renew if we had a barn-burner of a season, but the fact is, poor on field performance and the loss of that nostalgia is hurting the renewal rates.

I don't want to sound like a Debbie Downer. I actually think the Whitecaps will have a very successful season. I think Rennie is a hell of a manager, and I think that if the team wins it's first couple games in impressive fashion, the stadium will stay full. I want to just point out there are some concerns still, and supporters should consider them before we set our expectations too high.

Book Review: Cracked Open by Paul James

2012-02-17T20:30:03Z

Cracked Open
Paul James
self-published, eBook only, February 2012
$9.99 (Smashwords, Amazon Kindle)

In Canadian soccer, Paul James is as controversial as anyone. He's never kept his opinions about anyone to himself. So it's not surprising that James indiscriminately goes on the attack in Cracked Open, his equal-parts soccer memoir and harrowing personal tale of drug addiction. In fact, it would have been more surprising if he hadn't.

All the same, James's venom is staggering. When he writes a short article in The Globe & Mail calling for Dwayne De Rosario to leave Toronto FC, that's one thing: in book length, with James calling out players who didn't commit to his teams and executives who didn't support him and would-be friends who betrayed his trust, it's overwhelming. One minute James is relating a gritty story of trying to overcome his crack cocaine problem, and the next he's trying to settle an old score.

This book is an extraordinary thing. Self-published online by James, this is raw in the best sense of the word. James lashes out at, none-too-gently, an entire who's who of Canadian soccer: Stephen Hart, Jason de Vos, Julian de Guzman, Ali Gerba, Chris Pozniak, Tam Nsaliwa, Dwayne De Rosario, Bob Lenarduzzi, just to pick the ones you've heard of. That's not counting foreigners who spent time in Canada like John Carver and Tommy Soehn, or figures from the past like Kevan Pipe. He takes shots at the Voyageurs, Canada's national supporters' group, as an organization (and a few individuals). And woe betide anyone who is too aggressive about the 1987 Merlion Cup.

What I think James wanted was a memoir detailing his spiral into drug addiction, his fight to get out of it, and his opinions on how society's mistakes make an addict's problems so hard to recover from. What we got was a bit of that and a tonne of vitriol and old score-settling as James takes his hatchet to anybody who's gotten in his way over thirty years in high-level soccer. For Canadian soccer fans it's almost an essential read, but that doesn't mean James comes off well.

I'll start by picking nits: this is a self-published ebook and it shows. Editing mistakes crop up; spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and moments where I think his passion got ahead of his prudence. Annoyingly, James has picked up the habit of quoting, verbatim, long tracts of dialogue from years ago: conversations that I can't imagine he recorded. It's one thing when he's quoting a speech that he made, which is usually the case, but at times he quotes others and I wonder if their memories of those exact words will match James's.

However, even with the lack of editing the book mostly works. It is lively, and engaging. Most of James's previous writing experience has been in sports journalism but his writing holds up over long-form too. This book, almost uniquely in its genre, is eminently readable, if not necessarily for the reasons James intended.

In an interview as part of his podcast series on Red Nation Online, James calls this "a personal story about somebody that just so happened to live their life through the soccer industry". I realize that James is trying to make very important points about addiction, and how it's a disease rather than a personal failing, but I think most people who read this book will be downloading it for James's soccer story rather than his personal one (for a book titled Cracked Open, James surprises by devoting most of the space to soccer). The book reads like a soccer story involving addiction rather than vice-versa.

Most of the time, when James is speaking of his addiction and the roots of it, it reads well. He takes responsibility for his own failings in that department and speaks candidly. His final chapter, where he talks about what he thinks society must do to help addicts like him, is good stuff and I wish he'd explored it at more length. At the end of the day the vast majority of this book, both intellectually and in word count, is a remarkable soccer memoir.

One minute, James is battling with low self-esteem, bemoaning his physical appearance, talking about thumping children who made fun of him. The next he's back at old Canadian U-20 tournaments, calling out players or criticizing fans who went onto the Voyageurs board and wanted his scalp. He refers to five-year-old Facebook groups accusing him of ruining Canadian soccer, dwells on message board posts that are more than a decade old. It's so uneven: the story which opens the book of a horrible drug encounter is intense, but a later chapter on an unfortunate encounter with GO Transit staff is an embarrassing, poorly-written distraction. And, even as an adult, he still wants to thump these people.

The chapter on the 1987 Merlion Cup, Canada's most serious match-fixing scandal, is worth the ten dollars alone to anybody interested in Canadian soccer history. The Merlion Cup scandal is often forgotten these days but James looks back with a passionate but revealing eye. The legacy of the bribe in Singapore follow James throughout the text and he's defensive about it, although when it comes time to write about his role in the events James at least goes into detail, fingering one player as the ringleader while denying that he did anything wrong.

James firebombs his bridges. Fans, players, ex-players, coaches, bureaucrats, nobody is safe from his poison pen. It's enjoyable but doesn't make one sympathetic for the more heart-wrenching parts of James's story. He enjoys little "toldya so!" moments, like when he says he resigned from coaching the Canadian U-20 team because Holger Osieck favoured forward Wyn Belotte and he preferred Rob Friend at the 2001 Jeux de Francophonie. At every turn, Paul is right and his critics are wrong.

I actually agree with much of what he has to say, both about some individuals and about Canada's soccer philosophy. There's no doubt that, in his U-20 coaching days, James dealt with his share of me-first egomaniacs. When he bemoans the shortage of character in the national program from top to bottom he's not wrong. But the truth is that James doesn't come off any less self-absorbed: it takes two for a clash of egos. His aggression against anyone who struck him the wrong way, by the end of the book, had me less confident even when I agreed with him: you wonder where the problem is are when one person is constantly at the centre of such a storm.

The book comes off as indiscriminately resentful. Ex-players, such as former Canadian international Tam Nsaliwa, have already made headlines lashing out at what James has said and I'm sure that's the tip of the iceberg. It is one bitter man's memoir, one side of a long, complicated story. It's an important perspective on a Canadian soccer team that shaped today's national team and a disquieting glimpse at the psyche of the man who shaped it. If you're interested in the recent history of Canadian soccer, I intensely recommend it. I'm just not sure it's the kind of recommendation Paul James will want.

Other Benjamin Massey book reviews: The World is a Ball, John Doyle (The Maple Leaf Forever) · Bob Lenarduzzi: A Canadian Soccer Story, Bob Lenarduzzi and Jim Taylor

Whitecaps Sign Midfielder Barry Robson as a Designated Player

2012-02-16T16:01:17Z

It's confirmed: as discussed on this site yesterday, veteran Scottish international and Middlesbrough attacking midfielder Barry Robson has signed with the Vancouver Whitecaps. Robson, 33, will be the Whitecaps' second designated player along with Eric Hassli.

Robson looks like a replacement for what Mustapha Jarju should have been: an attacking midfielder who plays for his national team and is a good all-round attacker best known for scoring goals coming out of a second division (although he's had some first division success as well). Of course, Robson is 33 years old whereas Jarju is 25.

No, I don't really mean to call Robson the new Jarju. The similarities in role are obvious: the differences are that, with 73 excellent games in the English Championship over the past two seasons as well as comprehensive Scottish Premier League experience, Robson is much more of a proven quantity. He's getting on in years but he's also a highly capable player at a level higher than MLS; if he can bring his Championship production to Canada he'll be worth a DP slot. Robson's stayed healthy and has a good attitude by all accounts. If you don't think the Whitecaps are overloaded on attacking players, he's a good risk: even if you do think the Whitecaps are too one-dimensional, Robson's midfield scoring is a facet we haven't got yet.

Also, it's unlikely Robson will be used as a forward.

I've already gone over the tactical implications of Robson so I'll spare your blushes. Suffice to say that this has to be bad news for Davide Chiumiento, as I can't imagine how the Whitecaps could carry Robson and Chiumiento in the same eleven. No doubt he'll be asked to hang back more than he does at Middlesbrough, and since my article yesterday I've been told Robson's played fair defensive midfield in the past. I'm sure he was brought in to score goals, though.

How the MLS is Steadily Becoming a World Class League

2012-02-16T10:30:26Z

Soccer in North America has had a bit of a topsy-turvy history. While the late 70s and early 80s was a bit of a heyday with the success of the NASL, soccer has failed to catch on in recent history. There have been blips of popularity, such as during the 1994 World Cup hosted in the US, or any of the numerous times the American Women's National Team members have decided to controversially show off some skin.

For years, soccer fans, whether they be ex-pats from overseas, or born and bred Canadians have been made to make a decision; follow a team in a world class league 7000 km away, or support your local club and watch a bunch of semi-pros and soon-to-depart prospects play lower tier football.

While local footy fans in Vancouver have been lucky to have a successful and attractive team over the years, it is hard to blame kids in Penticton, Calgary, or Saskatoon for not being exposed to soccer.

Lucky for us, it appears the MLS is on track to provide a stage for the beautiful game to not only prosper in the local markets, but also on the world stage.

The salary cap allows for league parity, meaning a team like Philadelphia, who was terrible in their first year was able to excel in their second year and make the playoffs while playing some attractive football. Also, the league can't outgrow itself by having maverick owners paying exorbitant amounts on players their club can't afford, or even worse, devolving into a Have vs Have Not league such as the Scottish Premier League.

The introduction and support of the academy systems by salary cap relief for homegrown players encourages teams to develop talent locally which will benefit both club and country.

And best of all, of course, is the current shift towards an acceptance of the supporter culture. No more evident is this than in the Pacific Northwest where (despite some original growing pains courtesy Paul Barber,) the supporters groups are organically evolving match day experiences to rival many European football clubs.

Total gate numbers around the league has been steadily increasing, TV contracts and major sponsorships are rolling in, and the salary cap is steadily and slowly increasing (while other rules, such as the Designated Player rule is becoming more lenient.) Some truly world class soccer specific stadiums have been built in Kansas City, New York, LA, and Houston to name a few, which further entrenches the MLS into the sport community in North America.

The MLS is not without it's faults. The current rulebook is anything but transparent. Some of the transfer rules are down right dumbfounding (Bocanegra was out of contract when he left for Fulham! Why the hell does Chicago still get first dibs ferchristsakes?) and that's without bringing up the often mocked Hyper Excellent Draft of Future Squad Players or whatever it is.

Furthermore, Garber can't seem to decide if he wants to be a true football league, like the most popular in the world, with a 20 team league and a balanced schedule, or a good old Ah-murrican Sports League like the NFL with real proper regional divisions and rivalries. Some of which you've never heard of and not even the teams own supporters likely care that much about.

Go ahead. In less than 15 seconds, tell me if you know who competes for the Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup.

That's what I thought.

Many teams are still not yet profitable, but I wouldn't be surprised if nearly half of the teams this season turn a profit, and the overall revenue is increasing each year. Long term viability it almost all markets seems feasible.

In the end, Garber has been calculated and smart. He has slowly and deliberately removed layers of financial protection, allowing for further financial leniency. Teams can now have 3 Designated Players – and new this season, extra cap relief for 'Young Designated Players' under 25. His expansion choices have been smart: Vancouver, Portland, and Montreal are all locations with a long history of successes and an existing supporter base.

And as a result, the MLS had a successful 2011 season and everyone should be optimistically looking forward to 2012. Especially after this off-season.

The league has had a 3 month long wet dream beginning with LA Galaxy, the darling child of the league, winning the MLS Cup. The Galaxy could be considered a proof of concept for the Designated Player rule, using all three of their DP slots to security the Supporter's Shield and MLS Cup double.

This allowed the Galaxy to jet set around Asia as champions in a series of friendlies used to spread the Galaxy and MLS brand.

Most importantly, a handful of MLS players left to Europe for various training stints and on loan deals, including Arsenal favourite Thierry Henry returning the the London club, and American legend Landon Donovan continuing his relationship with Everton.

Both made instant impacts on their side, as Henry proved to be an effective substitute including scoring an extra time game winner Sunderland while Donovan racked up 6 assists for Everton.

Some will say that it's obvious that two of the best players in the MLS would succeed in the EPL – but the fact remains that these two players have many other players who are statistically equal or near their level in the MLS. Camilo had the same number of MLS goals and assists as Donovan. Charlie Davies, Andres Mendoza, and Emilio Renteria had a better goals per 90 minute than Henry.

I'm not trying to compare seasons. I'm not saying Camilo could start for Everton. All I'm trying to point out is that around the league, there are likely players on each MLS team who would have some success in the worlds best leagues. This wasn't true 5 years ago.

Finally, there is an increasing number of world class players signing, or at least considering signing in the MLS.

Beckham decided (or, rather, Posh decided Beckham would decide) to stay in LA for another year.

Vancouver Whitecaps have made their own splash by signing ex-PSV and Tottenham player Young-pyo Lee and reportedly signing Middlesbrough midfielder Barry Robson. David Bently and Carlos Bocanegra have also been rumoured to have the interest of the Whitecaps.

Nicolas Anelka. Kris Boyd. Michael Ballack. Stephen Ireland. Alessandro Del Piero.

Sure, some of them are on the tail end of their career and may want one last paycheck. But more and more, the MLS is becoming a legitimate destination for international footballers.

Like it or not, Beckham must get some credit for being the first to make the MLS move.

Now when a player is out of favour with his current European club, MLS clubs are a realistic destination for players who still want to play football.

Something can also be said for location. New York, Los Angeles, Montreal and Vancouver are all world destinations for lifestyle, and sometimes, for guys like Beckham who has a nickle less than God, lifestyle can be the deal breaker.

Camilo has mentioned he loves the safety and security in Canada. The weather in North America is good, all of the large cities have fantastic amenities and no matter what team you land on, you can drink the tap water, which can't be said for some of the other leagues in the world.

The MLS may never reach the levels of the Spanish, English, or German leagues. But it's getting better. It's legitimate, it's respectable, and it's becoming a player in the international transfer market.

It wont be long before the MLS is only one small step below the EPL, signing players before teams in France, Ukraine, or Netherlands can.

It wont happen today or tomorrow.

But when it does, you'll have Don Garber to thank.

Il nous faut de l'audace, et encore de l'audace, et toujours de l'audace

2012-02-15T20:30:08Z

My center is giving way, my right is in retreat. Situation excellent. I attack.

Ferdinand Foch, commander of the French Ninth Army in 1914

The team is run by a Scotsman who answers to a Canadian and has players from five continents, but the Vancouver Whitecaps are adopting a French approach. Attack, attack, always attack.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Whitecaps have added South Korean veteran Lee Young-pyo, who ought to be a major boost at right back. South American journeyman Martin Bonjour, as well as a likely underwhelming chorus of youngsters and draft picks, provide the rest of the new blood on the back line. Brad Knighton is a backup goalkeeper, for what that's worth, and of the new midfielders Jun Marques Davidson has a reputation as a defensive specialist, and Bryce Alderson is a quality defensive midfielder who's too young to contribute immediately. Most of these players are just replacing the departed; Bonjour for Greg Janicki, Knighton for Jay Nolly, Lee for Jonathan Leathers, Davidson for Peter Vagenas, and so on. They should be upgrades but we're not throwing a lot more meat onto the defensive side of the ball.

And the attacking players? (deep breath)

First overall pick Darren Mattocks, elite MLS scorer Sebastien Le Toux, and attacking midfielder Lee Nguyen are all new to the team and can do only one thing. Atiba Harris, another guy who mostly throws himself forward, is almost a new addition as he recovers from knee problems, and attacking winger Michael Nanchoff arguably qualifies as well. Ben Fisk and Caleb Clarke, both attacking players, are still in training camp from the Residency team. This is without counting any players rumoured to be joining the Whitecaps who are also attack-minded midfield types. The list of attacking players lost amounts to Mustapha Jarju (I'm virtually the only Whitecaps fan alive who doesn't think that was addition by subtraction) and Shea Salinas (who I do not miss).

Obviously the attack needed a make over. Last year's Whitecaps scored 35 goals, worst in the league, while 55 goals against was merely third-worst. 22 of those 35 goals, or 62.9%, were scored by either Eric Hassli or Camilo Sanvezzo. Adding a few guns to the arsenal was a very good idea on Rennie's part; you don't really think Long Tan is able to carry the mail, do you?

However, he may have overcompensated. All the talk is of Vancouver using a 4-3-3 with Davide Chiumiento in the midfield: four out of ten outfield players whose sole duty will be attack. In our first friendly against Seattle, Rennie started Camilo, Hassli, and Le Toux up top with Harris in midfield. They did well (winning their 45-minute period 1-0 against a strong Seattle lineup) but wow, that's an aggressive bunch.

Add in bench players like Nanchoff, Tan, Mattocks, Nguyen, Russell Teibert, Omar Salgado, and possibly Chiumiento, and this team certainly has goals in it. But is the lineup too unbalanced, and how far can this get them?

It's hard for teams to succeed by running their opponents off the pitch. The last team to finish in the top two of an MLS conference without a defense that wasn't in the top half of the conference for goals allowed was FC Dallas in 2006, and they couldn't get out of the first round of the playoffs. The previous team was the 2004 Galaxy.

2009 DC United is the best recent vision of Vancouver's future: they tied for the league lead with 43 goals for but conceded 44; they finished tenth in the league and missed the playoffs. The 2008 Los Angeles Galaxy scored a superb 55 goals but conceded 62, eleven worse than the next-worst team, and didn't make the playoffs either. Plenty of teams have loaded up on firepower at the expense of defense and tried to outslug their opponents, but it's been years since a team has made it work.

The Whitecaps may muster an average defense, but they're in a precarious position. First, either Vancouver is going to use an attacking formation like a 4-3-3 or they're going to waste some expensive, high-quality talent. It seems unlikely that one of Camilo, Hassli, or Le Toux is going to be a bench player; if that is what Martin Rennie does then that means we've made a serious mistake allocating scant resources to expensive players anyway.

Of our defenders, Alain Rochat is a sure thing. Jay DeMerit will probably be fine if healthy and well-supported, and Lee Young-pyo certainly ought to do well, but both are minor risks. Martin Bonjour and Carlyle Mitchell are completely unknown quantities even though one of them is going to start. Depth is poor: only Jordan Harvey has more than a season's worth of MLS experience. In goal, Joe Cannon did well last year but is getting older and has a history of injuries, while Brad Knighton washed out of MLS last time around.

A successful 2012 season will depend too much on luck: will Bonjour or Mitchell work out, will everyone stay healthy, will Cannon regress? If the answer to any of those questions is "no" then we have an awfully one-dimensional team on our hands and let's face it, close observers of a single team tend to overrate the impact of a sudden makeover. It would, statistically, be a real shock if the Whitecaps finished top two in MLS scoring.

Yet if the Barry Robson or the David Bentley rumours are accurate, the Whitecaps are trying to get more firepower. Even if those rumours are false, there has been little movement on the defense beyond uninteresting trialists.

I love to watch goals as much as anybody. But for heaven's sake, Martin, I hope you know how to keep them out.