Hello everyone and welcome back to my latest Whitecaps update.
May 2012
We began the month with a trip to California where we fell behind to San Jose within the first minute of the game conceding from a free kick. In what was to be a very drab match we equalized through a free kick of our own by Edhino mid-way through the second half and was enough to earn a point.
On our return home we stopped off at Edmonton for the first leg of the Canadian Championship semi-final which we narrowly won with a goal from the penalty spot in the 89th minute by Eric Hassli. It was a terrible performance overall which we quickly righted in the second leg at BC Place with a comprehensive 3-0 win. Goals from Hassli, Tiebert and Kramer was enough to take us through to the final against Toronto
It was back to MLS action and the visit of New York and we took the lead early on as Jay DeMerit was handed the simplest of headers from a free kick that easily beat the NY keeper after just 12 minutes. A brilliant run down the right flank by Mitgarden ended in a low cross into the box for Tardelly to smash home 5 minutes later. Left back Heath Pearce who had already annoyed the New York defence with his long throw expertise finally sent one into the box that caused enough trouble for the New York keeper to turn the ball into his own net. It was a brilliant opening 30 minutes that unfortunately we were unable to build on for the next 60 though the visitors never caused us any real trouble throughout the game.
Canadian Championship Final 1st Leg:
We remained at home for the visit of Toronto FC in the first leg of the CC Final. Eleven minutes in and a brilliant one-two between Tiebert and Edhino was finished off by the Brazilian as he left Toronto defence rooted to the spot. Toronto then had much of the play and we narrowly escaped from them getting an equalizer as they hit the woodwork twice before the half time whistle. Into the second half and we doubled our lead just before the hour with a goal scored in similar fashion to the first but this time it was Salinas who finished off the move to give us a two goal lead to take into the second leg.
Our fourth home game in a row saw the visit of conference leaders LA Galaxy who we took an early lead over as a cross from the right wing found Jarju in space and his shot sailed past the Galaxy keeper to send the home fans wild. A David Beckham free kick set up the equalizer in the 23rd minute but our dominance failed to turn into goals. It was a typical Beckham pass that spilt our defence 7 minutes into the second half as LA went ahead but up stepped Canadian Tyler Hemming with a thunderous effort from 30 yards out to tie the game once more and that’s how it ended with no further scoring.
The second leg of the Canadian Championship Final was a tough encounter on the shore of Lake Ontario with Toronto taking the lead in the 37th minute. It would be the only time they would come close to our goal as the game got bogged down in midfield. A late offensive surge finally resulted in a goal by substitute Steve Kramer to put this game to bed and thus we retained the trophy on a 3-1 aggregate and qualifed for the NACL once again.
The win added $150,000 to our allocation (transfer) funds which took the total to $467,000 and that I can use to adjust the salary cap if necessary. Here’s a look at the overall picture as of the end of May 2012. A cool $9,000,000 in the bank!
June 2012
The month began with an easy enough fitness friendly against Californian side Santa Ana which was followed by a disastrous 2 game road trip. We threw away a comfortable 2-0 goal lead in Texas as Dallas scored twice in the last ten minutes to earn a draw and then we were unable to come back from conceding an early goal in Philly. Back at BC Place Houston opened the scoring in the first two minutes with Tardelly producing the equalizer after an aggressive half time talk. With a draw looking the likely result we handed Houston two penalties in the last three minutes of the game for a moral crushing defeat.
Following the bad run of form a team talk was more than needed but failed to produce the desired outcome as we suffered our third straight defeat away to New England. We were totally run ragged by Brazilian winger Pinga who scored two thirty yard three kicks as we continued our transition from Champions to Chumpions with barely a sniff at the opposition’s goal during the match.
On the return home to Canada we stopped off at Toyota Park in Chicago where two goals from winger Michael Nanchoff gave us a comfortable lead at the break. Things were going well in the second half until a catastrophic back pass by right back John Leathers straight to Chicago forward Gil handed the home side the equalizer and continued our run of 5 games without a win.
The final game of the month was at home to Sporting Kansas City whom we had defeated in last season’s MLS Cup Final. In a game marred by poor discipline by the visiting team – picking up 6 yellow cards, we finally managed to muster a win thanks to Jay DeMerit who headed in from a corner in the first half and an own goal from a corner in the second. It was three points we desperately needed as we are losing traction on even making the play offs this season.
Western Conference Standings:
Eastern Conference Standings:
We have a few games in hand over some of the teams above us though the LA Galaxy look to be runaway conference winners in the not too distant future so the best we can hope for is a play off spot but even that is looking a bit dodgy!
Super Sevens:
After such a poor month there are not too many players who reached an average rating of 7.00 or above but here are those who did with skipper Jay DeMerit topping the chart.
Fixtures:
We start of with a Cascadia Cup game at home to Portland and by the time we get through to September we should have been involved in some Champions League games also.
So that’s the way it is at approximately half way through the season so thanks a lot for taking the time to read this update and I look forward to your comments.
Johnny Karp
10 марта, 2012 at 20:34
That was a frustrating run from what I can see but at least you got that Canadian Championship again, local bragging rights are important :) There’s still a long way to go in the league and I’m sure you will be able to reach the play-offs. Good luck!
Kevin
10 марта, 2012 at 20:50
Thanks Johnny — at least that title gives me an NACL spot even if the rest of the season is not looking great :)
Sears
10 марта, 2012 at 21:04
I hope the league form will improve Kevin, but well done on winning the Canadian Champions. It’s awesome that it gives you a free pass into the NACL :) Best of luck mate!
Kevin
11 марта, 2012 at 19:22
Ha!
I always like that free pass too. A nice easy way to get into the NACL :)
Darren Smith
10 марта, 2012 at 21:46
Hey Kevin, this was certainly a two sided post. Winning the Canadian Champions must have been nice but your late league form seemed rather frustrating. Hopefully your players can rally together for the end of the season and make the play-offs, there’s certainly still hope.
Kevin
11 марта, 2012 at 19:23
It’s been a much more difficult season than last which I’m still trying to figure out why?
Laxeyman
10 марта, 2012 at 22:12
Not great form Kevin, but you’re still in with a shout, which is the main thing :) Hopefully the form can pick up, and if it does then you never know what can happen ;) Good luck!
Kevin
11 марта, 2012 at 19:24
Yeah i’m not too happy how things have gone so far, though there’s a lot of parity in the MLS which probably explains it.
Martin - F.M.J.S
10 марта, 2012 at 22:43
Firstly Kevin Congrats on Winning the Canadian Champions. Unlucky with your League form though mate, I am sure you can turn it around soon and you will be in the Playoffs at the end of the season :D
Kevin
11 марта, 2012 at 19:26
Thanks Martin.
There’s still a lot of the season to go so maybe we can improve in the second half :)
saltwater
10 марта, 2012 at 22:45
Every team will have that small loss of form, where the morale is down and it looks like you won’t win a game for gravy, but well done for pulling Vancouver out of it. I am looking forward to the third quater to see whether you can make a good play-off push
Kevin
11 марта, 2012 at 19:31
Once moral goes it can be difficult to come back but we are still hanging in there but only just.
TheZiggy
10 марта, 2012 at 22:58
You achieved one very important thing, that being to win the Canadian Cup again and qualify for the NACL. A run of form like that is very frustrating, but hopefully things will pick up again over the next couple of months, and put you back into the playoff hunt again.
Kevin
11 марта, 2012 at 20:36
I’m always happy to be the top team in Canada especially with the auto NACL spot at stake.It hasn’t been so easy this season mainly due to the structure of the league to keep things as even as possible.
Tegar Triemanudigdo
11 марта, 2012 at 02:58
Well, it was rather bumpy road there but the good thing is that you’ve won the Canadian championship. And the league is still far from over there and I hope you’ve obtained the play-off spot.
Anyway, it was nice story and I’m looking forward to the next one.
Kevin
11 марта, 2012 at 20:37
Het Tegar
Greetings from Canada and thanks for your comment.Glad you like the story. Keep checking in :)
Jordon Wagstaff
11 марта, 2012 at 04:33
Well done on winning the Canadian!
Free pass into the NACL, so none too shabby. Unlucky on your league form though, I’m sure the players will rally together and come up with a big play-offs push in the third quarter.
Good luck!
Kevin
11 марта, 2012 at 20:42
Hi Jordan
Thanks for your comment. Beating Toronto once again was enjoyable though I hope i get the same satisfaction in reaching the play offs. It’s been a struggle this season for sure.
CsAtlantis
11 марта, 2012 at 05:01
Congratulations on winning the Canadian Championship (seems to be a really easy way of getting a slot in the NACL :P), some terrible form in the MLS but hopefully your team can pick it up a bit after finally getting a win, good luck Kevin
Kevin
11 марта, 2012 at 20:44
The Canadian Championship is a very easy way to get into the NACL, a bit too easy really. Yeah, we’ve been fairly bad in the MLS compared to last season and I’ll be surprised if we make the play offs.
Stromson
11 марта, 2012 at 15:36
Well you already know my thoughts on this post, but I’ll put them up here too. Great Canadian Championship win (as if you would lose that) and the return to the NACL it brings. Hopefully you can whip the lads into shape and turn around the league form a bit. Good luck my friend!
Kevin
11 марта, 2012 at 20:47
The Canadian Championship is far too easy but I love it’s rewards :) The structure of the MLS in terms of a level playing field is showing more this year as even Toronto have improved!
vaibhavc
11 марта, 2012 at 16:26
You have a chance of qualifying, but results need to improve a little bit to make sure you get the chance. Great win in the Canadian Championship. Go back there and whip the other teams!
Kevin
11 марта, 2012 at 20:49
Thanks vaibhavc!!
Drastic improvements required immediately :)
Ana Garcia
11 марта, 2012 at 23:26
The post began well and it was looking good until that bad run of form!
Like others have said at least you have a free pass if you will to the NACL but it seems a lot more competitive this season with the other teams.
Not surprising I guess as the MLS is designed to keep it a competitive as possible so the best of luck! :)
Kevin
12 марта, 2012 at 07:53
Hi Ana
Winning the MLS straight away seems to have put me at a disadvantage this season as other teams have improved. Toronto being a good example. Hopefully we can play better in the second half of the season.
David Faithfull
12 марта, 2012 at 19:31
Probably a run that you would wish to put behind you but still you pulled of some good performances and there is still plenty of the season left to play for. It is good to see DeMerit bag a couple of goals (my uncle is a Watford supporter and i use to watch them alot when DeMerit played for them, quality player) Hopefully in the second half of the season you can turn things around and get the Whitecaps topping the league!!
Kevin
12 марта, 2012 at 22:35
Thanks David
DeMerit simply is the back bone of the team though unfortunately he may not resign for next season and I could be losing him back to Europe on a free. Hopefully he can lead us into the play-offs before then.