Vancouver Whitecaps: Season 1, Third Quarter Report

Greetings from Canada and welcome to the latest editon of my first season in charge with the Vancouver Whitecaps.

July 2011

We left off last time with Vancouver sitting in a play-off spot and with some key games ahead of us over the next 2 months. The board had come back with the disappointing news that they were unable to find a parent club so for now that idea has been shelved.

The draw for the NACL was made early in the month which will see us play Haitian side Tempete over two legs, the first being at home come July 27th. Winning this two-legged tie will see us enter the group stages.

Our first game of July was at home to Columbus and after a very difficult 40 minutes Atiba Harris broke the deadlock scoring off a well- timed through ball by Endinho. From the kickoff Endinho won possession of the ball, lobbed it forward to Arthuro and just like that it was 2-0. We held on to that lead until late in the game when Columbus pulled one back from a long shot. It was purely academic as DeMerit headed in our third in injury time.

It was off to the American Rockies to face Colorado who were one place behind us in the standings and they took an early lead after just 11 minutes. This summer evening turned out to be frustrating one as we totally dominated with 63% possession but not a single shot on target. How could that be?

Our return to BC to face play-off rival Real Salt Lake fared much better with a cracker of an opening goal by midfielder Mustapha Jarju, who’s shot on the volley from just inside the box flew into the back of the net. Once more we were in the driving seat with Salt Lake rarely threatening our goal though not much was happening at the opposite end either. We killed the game off just on the hour mark with Jay DeMerit heading in from a corner and that sealed the game and a vital three points.

Next up was a trip south to San Jose where we were lucky to finish up with 10 men on the field after picking up four yellow cards. Forward man Eric Hassli had the ball in the back of the net three times in the opening 12 minutes but all were ruled offside and it was left to winger Shea Salinas to strike home a rebounded Hassli shot after 33 minutes to give us the lead. We held onto that until midway through the second half when the home side equalized from on a corner and the score would remain unchanged for the rest of the game.

North American Champions League: Qualifying Round 1st Leg

So whilst the rest of the MLS was enjoying the All Star break we entertained Haitian side Tempete at BC Place in our first ever NACL game. Wingers Nanchoff and Salinas got us off to a great start with two goals in the opening 11 minutes and when I pushed Endinho in to the AMC role after the break the Brazilian magic came into play contributing to three second half goals ending in a 5-0 romp that should guarantee us spot in the group stages.

Remaining at home we were odds on favorites for the crucial visit of LA Galaxy as they were without Beckham and Keane. L.A. took the lead with a cross that caught our keeper flat footed and drifted over his head into the net. We hit back on the half hour with a brilliant one-two pass between Chiumiento and Hassli that the Frenchman finished off. Shortly thereafter DeMerit gave away a penalty and the Galaxy were in the lead once more. A counter attacking move finished off by Chiumiento meant it was all square at the half but the second 45 was not quite as thrilling until the end when L.A. snatched the victory from a late corner kick

August 2011

North American Champions League: Qualifying Round 2^nd Leg

A 5-0 advantage afforded the opportunity to bring in some fringe players for the second leg against Tempete in Haiti but all we were able to do was pass the ball around and muster up a pathetic 2 shots on target that were easily saved. Although we qualified for the group stages this 0-0 draw was really not good enough.

The draw for the NACL slotted us in Group B along with Colorado whom I’m not looking forward to playing at least 2 more times now before the end of the season.

Back in Vancouver Alain Rochat gave us the lead over the Chicago Fire with a delightful glancing header from a corner kick early in the game. This was quickly added to by AMR Salinas whose cooly placed shot under the keeper made it 2-0 and that was it for what turned out to be be a tightly contested game thereafter.

We followed this game with a trip to Washington where we battled out a 1-1 draw with DC United with Salinas getting on the score sheet once more for us. I was happy with the point but still frustrated by the fact that we can’t seem to win two games in a row?

The Facilities for youth players are classified as average so I made a request for some improvements which the board agreed to and announced in a press release. At a cost of $5 million bucks I hope we get some prize money this season to pay for it!

The last 4 weeks or so (July-August) had seen the transfer window open up for bringing in foreign players and I snapped Brazilian striker Tardelly on a free transfer with minutes remaining in the window sending my current striker Arthuro into the reserve squad and off the list of registered players. Arthuro then cleared waivers departing Vancouver altogether.

I also paid $40,000 to Philadelphia for defender Sheanon Williams to bolster the flanks as he can play either side.

In order to pay for these player’s salaries I adjusted the transfer budget to increase the salary cap. When I checked earlier in the season I had around $227,000 but this had changed to $410,000 due to the MLS granting more allocation/transfer funds (At least that’s what my Wiki research says). However it happened, it sure helped out boosting my cap by additional $4,000.00. I was willing to make that sacrifice with the money rather than saving it to buy players.

North American Champions League: Match Day 1

We began our Group B campaign with a home opener against Colorado which saw us take the lead after 23 minutes with a splendid counter attacking move spearheaded by Salinas on the right flank whose cross ball was finished off by Russ Teibert on the left flank. I’d finally been able to get Teibert up from the reserves after tinkering with the squad registration. Salinas would be instrumental in creating our second goal which saw a low driving cross ball deflect off a Colorado defender an into the net. We were never in any serious trouble in this game and so we got off to a great start with a tidy 2-0 win.

We were off on two game road trip; the first stop in Portland. Despite being down to 10 men for the last thirty minutes we held on to a slender one goal lead scored by Salinas until the 93rd minute when Portland equalized from a corner. Darn!!!!!!!! Down in Panama we comfortably beat Tauro 2-0 in our Match Day 2 Group B NACL game with Hassli creating two goals for Salinas to send us joint top with Mexican side Morelia.

NACL  Group B Standings

We finished off August back at BC Place where a wonderful strike by AML Chiumiento  from an acute angle was the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win over Houston.

Results Summary:

MLS Standings: Combined East / West

It’s the Western Conference that is dominating the play-offs and we are certainly in the hunt for post regular season action!

Super Sevens:

It’s my defenders who once again top the rankings along with my wingers. My front men disappointly, are way down this list or not on it at all. Tardelly has only played a couple of games so hopefully he will rank much higher at the end of the season.

Fixtures:

We have four games on the road to begin with followed by four at home…wierd. The first four could have a huge impact on the end of the season.

Finally, a quick look at our finances which remain generally healthy.

Well that’s it for what seems to me to be a longer post than usual so thanks a lot for reading this and look forward to your feedback.