Vancouver Whitecaps: Season 1, 1st Quarter Report

Hello friends and welcome back to my brand new Football Manager Story as  I begin my challenge of leading Vancouver to the MLS Championship and ultimately (in a few seasons)being appointed Canadian Head coach. First things first though and that’s to get started with Vancouver’s opening game in Major League Soccer!

The excitement throughout the week had reached boiling point as the Whitecaps took the field for their very first MLS game against none other the Toronto FC. This was a game neither side wanted to lose but Toronto would soon be shell shocked as TM Eric Hassli bundled the ball across the line from a corner after just 6 minutes sending the 21,000 fans on hand into a frenzy. Twenty minutes later, a similar set up but this time it was a debut goal for DC Alain Rochat with a powerful header. At the other end some nervy defending but we held firm. Into the second half and a through ball by Brovsky found AML Nanchoff whose powerful shot went under the keeper for the third goal. The rout was complete and it was a brilliant start to our inaugural MLS season.

We had a long flight to Philadelphia which was well worth it as we took the lead after just 10 minutes. A low driven cross by Alain Rochat deflected off a Philadelphia defender for the opening goal. Two minutes later the ball was in the net again but Hassli’s effort was ruled offside. We held onto the lead until right after the interval when Philadelphia equalized but determination to win the ball by Nanchoff and his ensuing cross to AMR Atiba Harris restored the lead. We held on to that quite comfortably for our second win in a row.

Back at BC Place a determined Sporting Kansas City gave us a tough time of it in the first half but we eventually broke the deadlock as Brazilian striker Arthuro eventually found enough space to create an opportunity to give us the lead in the 71st minute. I was just about to substitute him as well. Six minutes later a superb visionary ball out of defence by Jay DeMerit found Atiba Harris all alone and he easily beat the keeper to make it 2-0 and secure the home win.

A trip to Texas saw our 100% record come to an end as we came from behind to force a 2-2 draw at Houston. Shea Salinas scored the equalizing goal with 15 minutes remaining. Returning to British Columbia we hosted the New England Revolution which saw a captivating performance by midfielder Endinho that was highlighted by a spectacular equalizing goal from 25 yards out. The visitors took advantage of a back four shuffle following an injury to Alain Rochat which resulted in us quickly handing the winning goal to New England and our unbeaten start of the season had come to an end.

We stayed at home for the second part of a three game series at BC Place which saw an out an out battle with Chivas USA. Eric Hassli gave us the lead early in the second half with a shot from dead centre of the 18 yard line that was quickly nullified by a Chivas equalizer. The game though was marred by 11 players getting booked with most of the action involving the referee.

A near full house was on hand for the visit of FC Dallas for a game in which we had an astonishing 72% possession, a man advantage for 45 minutes but couldn’t come up with a single goal and only 3 shots on target. Dallas managed just one shot on target and scored leaving myself and the players totally bewildered as to what has happened to out attacking potency?

Canadian Championship

We travelled across the Rockies for the first leg against Edmonton and once more we stalled in the final third of the field unable to cause any trouble to the opposing defence or the goalkeeper for that matter. We left it up to Edmonton to score the only goal of the game 15 minutes from time leaving a mountain to climb in the second leg.

Having gone 5 games in a row without a win I held a team meeting to restore some confidence before our trip to Ohio to take on Columbus who were in second place in the Eastern Conference. It seemed to do the trick as we started off in a positive attitude but it took over 30 minutes before Atiba Harris forced a defensive error to make it 1-0. Arthuro headed in the second from a corner just before the half time whistle and things were looking on the up. Columbus though stormed out of the gate after the interval and had the ball in the back of the net before we knew what happened. Columbus seized the opportunity to take control and some nervy defending almost led to DeMerit heading into his own goal but the clearance out of the box from that incident found Endinho who ran forward with the ball and struck it into the roof of the net as clean as you like. From there we never looked back and came away with a much needed win.

 Results Summary:

Standings: Western Conference

For the new guys we have gotten off to a pretty decent start and find ourselves in third place so that’s very pleasing.

 Standings: Eastern Conference

Poor Toronto, looks like I picked the right Canadian team!

Super Sevens:

Our flanking players seem to be performing the best so far and in particular Atiba Harris whose profile is featured below.

Fixtures:

We start the second quarter with a must win game against Edmonton to make the final of The Canadian Championship and a tough double header with New England and New York.

 That completes this update and thanks for taking the time to read it.