Vancouver Whitecaps: Season 1, 2nd Quarter Report

Hello readers and welcome back to another episode of my brand new Football Manager Story set on the beautiful west coast of Canada in British Columbia.

Canadian Championship: Semi Final 2nd leg

We started off May with the visit of Edmonton for the second leg of this semi-final having lost the first by a single goal. The first half was a sloppy performance and it very much looked like we were going to lose. We finally broke down Edmonton with a goal by midfielder Davies who finished of a spirited run by Edinho. Just as a shoot-out was looming, draft signing Devon McTavish headed in the winner from a corner to send us into the final.

Next up was a trip to the Great Lakes region to take on Chicago who took the lead after we failed to clear a corner, giving up a really soft goal. We bounced back immediately, catching out Chicago with a counter attacking move down the left flank that was finished off with a bullet header from Hassli. The Frenchman would put us ahead early in the second half with a poacher’s effort inside the six yard box which we added to just 5 minutes later with a stunning run and finish by Nizar Khaflan who had just arrived from the reserves. A defence splitting pass allowed Chicago a late consolation goal but the damage had been done by then.

Following the excitement of the Chicago game came two less memorable ones as it took a single own goal to beat San Jose at home and then we lost by the same score away to New England.

Canadian Championship Final 1st Leg

Next up we were off to BMO Field in Toronto for the first leg in the CC Final in front of a boisterous crowd of 20,000.The first 45 went much the same way as our previous game until early in the second half a harmless looking cross by LB Harvey was met by the head of Eric Hassli and it was 1-0! We were unable to build on that lead and sure enough it was Harvey’s slip in defence that led to Toronto pulling one back 6 minutes from time.

Canadian Championship Final 2nd Leg

With no weekend MLS game it was Toronto again in the second leg at BC Place and a full house saw us take the lead on the half hour with a screamer of a shot from Jay DeMerit of all people completely out of nowhere. We had switched to a 4-4-2 formation which seemed to throw off Toronto’s game plan. We double the lead in the 68th minute as a precision pass by Endinho found striker Hassli in space and his shot flew past Stefan Frie and that was the game.

We had won the Canadian Championship (such as it is) which meant we had qualified for the North American Champions League!

Our time spent in the Canadian Championship meant some changes had happened in the standings and those extra games we had played finally caught up with us and Seattle had establish a massive lead over the rest of us.

It was at BC Place where we returned to MLS action with the visit of New York and Thiery Henry. It was the Frenchman who scored the opening goal with a typical run and cut inside followed by a powerful finish that easily beat Joe Cannon between the sticks. Trailing 1-0 at the half we came out more determined and eventually found a goal through the head of Eric Hassli to earn a point

June 2011

A three game road trip started with a very tidy 2-0 win at Chivas USA but by the time we rolled into Salt Lake City we could barely field a team thanks to international call ups and injuries and to lose by just two goals was very luck indeed considering the players available.

The final leg of our trip finished up at Century Link Field in Seattle who were by far the best team in the Conference and overall in the MLS. Seattle unsurprisingly put us under pressure early in the first half but with a full strength first eleven now available we coped with their attacks. Then, out of nowhere a free kick, a header and a goal as Alain Rochat puts us in the lead just after the half hour. Two minutes later and it’s Hassli who makes it 2-0 with a header of his own and we hold onto that lead until the break. Three minutes into the second half and midfielder Jarju unleashes a stunning curling shot from 20 yards out that sails past Casey Keller and into the back of the net, 3-0. Endinho then takes over the show producing a brilliant second half performance that sees him set up two further goals for Eric Hassli late in the game to complete his hat-trick and a simply stunning 5-0 win.

After such a great win I thought it may be a good time to go to the board with a couple of requests and sure enough both were granted. The first was to increase our coaching staff and the second to find a parent club in hopes that they may select a European club.

Expectations were high amongst the home fans as we faced Philadelphia at BC Place but we were in for a big let down. 62% possession in the first half failed to produce a goal and the second period proved no better with Philly snatching a late win off a free kick with just minutes remaining.

Arriving in Kansas City we soon found ourselves in big trouble conceding two goals in just 30 minutes an once again it was a defender, Alain Rochat that pulled us back into the game with a headed in corner shortly after going two down. A half time talk did wonders as both my Brazilians linked with Arthuro providing the finish to make it 2-2 minutes after the restart. That score would remain unchanged securing a useful away point.

Forty –eight hours prior to Canada Day (July 1st) we took on Toronto once more at BMO Field and a midfield battle would be decided on virtually the last kick or head of the game as Jay DeMerit glanced in an Endinho corner to snatch a very late victory totally demoralizing the home fans

Results Summary:

Standings: Western Conference

Although Seattle look like champions already we are in the hunt still for a play off spot though Colorado and Salt Lake are right behind us.

Standings:  Eastern Conference

Super Sevens:

Defenders again dominate this catergory and below are the profiles of Alain Rochat and Eric Hassli who have featured consistently in this report

Fixtures

We have two massive games coming up against Colorado and Salt Lake before taking on Los Angeles for the first time this season

Well that’s it for this up so thanks very much for taking the time to read it and I look forward to your comments.