Hello friends and welcome back to my Football Manager Story and my 5th season in charge of the Vancouver Whitecaps of Major League soccer. Last season was our best yet securing not only the MLS Cup but also for the first time the Supporters Shield leading the overall standings of both conferences. The year had finished off with the dramatic trade of club captain Edinho to rival Toronto FC for potential superstar striker David DiPlacido.
Our finances were looking pretty dismal thanks to the building of the new 28,000 seat Vancouver Stadium which was completed at the end of 2014, though a cash injection and a new sponsorship deal somewhat off-set the bad financial news.
Also we qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions League and here’s a reminder of the draw with the matches due to take place in February.
Transfers & Trades
In the MLS the winter time is all about re-building for the coming season and with some of our players having to leave due to squad registration rules this season more than ever would be a transitory one.
A quick reminder of who left Vancouver: Sinclair, Edinho, Kramer, Draper, Rochat and Sylvestre before then end of 2014.
Early in the New Year AMC / ST Mustapha Jarju joined Danish side OB and after days of turmoil D R/L Sheannon Williams joined Apoel for $1.6 million of which I only ended up with $650,000 to spend on new players. The league as always took thier cut for selling overseas but as for the remainder who knows?
Moneyball:
The only player coming in through the Moneyball system was Rafael Arboleda from Colombian side Millionarios and will be the direct replacement for Edinho. Although the aging Edinho could still cover some ground we really liked the passing stats of Arboleda.
Here’s a look at his profile: Rafael Arboleda
MLS Superdraft:
The annual draft takes place each January and as usual our status as defending champions meant were last to pick. As in previous seasons our potential 1st Round targets were quickly snapped up by other clubs but then we had a stroke of luck as right back Jake Jackson went unnoticed and so we signed the 19 year old as a developmental player. With the departure of Draper and Williams from the right back role we definitely needed a youngster.
Here’s a look at his profile: Jake Jackson
Jackson would be are only pick from the Superdraft and the subsequent Supplemental Draft the rest of the newcomers arriving either on a free except for Stuart Barrett, a promising full back who we paid FC Dallas $275,000.00 for and was signed as a developmental player. Let’s take a look at Barrett’s and the remainder of new arrivals at Vancouver Stadium.
** Click on names to see their profiles
Goalkeeper: Graham Brandt Will act as back up behind Edson and Karius
Left Back: Vladimir Jakubicka & Stuart Barrett
Slovakian youngster Jaubicka will most definitely start in this role but will face stiff competition from Barrett. Both these players will most likely force out Bret Melia who was in this role last season.
Defensive Midfielder: Conor Shanosky
I felt the need for a spare player in this position who could cover injuries both here and in central midfield and this former DC United player seemed to fit the bill nicely.
Vancouver Whitecaps: 2015
| Position | Starting Eleven | Rotational | Position | Reserve |
| Goalkeeper | Edson | Karius | GK | Brandt |
| Right Back | Sarkodi | Jackson | DL | Melia |
| Left Back | Jakubicka | Barrett | DMC | Shanosky |
| Central Defender | Cuesta*Captain | Rodriguez | ST | Hernandez |
| Central Defender | Opara | Henry | ST | Hudson |
| Anchor Man | Koffie | Ostoloza | ||
| Central Midfielder | Hernandez | Arboleda | ||
| Adv. Playmaker | Galloway | Villalobes | ||
| Left Winger | Traore | Pelosi | ||
| Right Winger | Nagbe | Pablo | ||
| Centre Forward | Tardelly | DiPlacido |
Fixtures:
We opened the newly built Vancouver Stadium with our first pre-season game against the LA Galaxy that we won by a single goal thanks to the head of Marc Pelosi. The following two games went pretty much as expected and acted as warm ups for our NACL Quarter-Final match in New York.
NACL Quarter-Final 1st Leg
We got off to a terrible start as we encountered New York’s version of Scott Sinclair – Andy Najar whose speed and dribbling allowed him to score within two minutes of the start. The home side kept us under intense pressure and we rarely got past our half way line. A way ward pass by DiPlacido to Najar made it 2-0 before half time and we were in trouble.
A very heated half time talk paid off immediately as DiPlacido took the ball from the re-start, beat three players and drove it home into the centre of the net to get us back in the game. New York were reduced to 10 men to help our cause further but the speed of Najar created a penalty and his hat-trick and all seemed lost. But Vancouver know how to fight back and Cuesta made it 3-2 with a smashing header from a free kick and DiPlacido tied the game up with a low drive from outside the box to set up an interesting second leg in British Columbia.
After a comfortable 3-0 over the Vancouver Prospects it was on to the highly anticipated 2nd leg of the NACL Quarter-Final with New York.
NACL Quarter-Final 2nd Leg:
The first half was a tense affair with so much on the line and it was a defensive area by Cuesta off a set piece that allowed his opposite number to tap the ball in at the end of the first half giving advantage to New York. Another assertive half time talk lit a fire under the team and we equalized 9 minutes in as Nagbe chipped the NY keeper to finish off a counter attacking move. Eight minutes later a floating cross into the box by young right back Jake Jackson met the head of Traore and we were in the lead. Rookie Rafeal Arboleda sent us into the semi’s with a powerful shot from outside the box as The Red Bulls capitulated under pressure. This was a thrilling win as I felt after the first leg New York had the measure of us but the lads proved me wrong again.
The semi-final draw will see us play the first leg in Honduras against Motagua whom we have never met before and our Cascadia Cup rival Seattle is in the other semi-final against Toluca.
Following our quarter-final success we were brought back down to earth with a 1-1 draw away to Minnesota in a pre-season game but rebounded nicely at home thrashing the Reggae boys 6-0 to round out our warm-up games.
We had one more match to play before the start of the MLS season and that was away to Motagua in the NACL Semi-Final. The home side never really gave us any trouble until the last 10 minutes of the game by which time we had secured a comfortable 2-0 lead to take back to Canada for the second leg. A sublime free kick by Hernandez and a poacher’s effort by DiPlacido put us 90 minutes away from the final.
The victory brought with it some bad news at DMC Santiago Ostoloza will be out for up to 3 months with a torn hamstring joining Josh Galloway who is 6 weeks away from recovery of the same injury.
Finances:
As mentioned in the introduction our new stadium was completed at the end of 2014 with the focus very much on the youth training facilities. Signing decent youth though is very difficult especially when you are 18th position in the draft procedure each time. We’ve increased our capacity by over 7,000 people and hopefully we can maximize that when we play at home.
After four season’s in charge I still haven’t figured out how the money flows in and out of the club but no complaints from me as we are now back in the black, currently with a $6,000,000 profit.
So that completes the pre-season report which has seen some changes throughout the club, as apart from players we lost some of our coaching staff as well at the beginning of January. Still, we seem to be in good shape for another season of MLS action which will begin away to the New York Red Bulls.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and I look forward to your comments.
Heresy
1 июня, 2012 at 10:25
Wow, it’s as if your bank account is from a totally different save ;) Well, at least it’s not all leaks and no income ;)
Another great campaign in NACL, keeping fingers crossed for another win!
You’re starting to become a total hegemon in the competitions you participate in, everyone’s worst fear :P Wonder if you can win the next season without recording a loss ;)
Kevin
1 июня, 2012 at 23:22
Hi Heresy
Thanks for your comment. My back balance does bounce around — I’m glad mine is not like that :) Very please with the NACL campaign though i’m not sure if we are THAT good to go totally unbeaten in the MLS.
Darren Smith
1 июня, 2012 at 11:47
Well done Kevin, your finances are finally back on track and the form is excellent also. You should keep going strong in the Champions League and I think winning it may secure your status as the dominating force in North American football.
Kevin
1 июня, 2012 at 23:24
Hi Darren
We certainly our a very strong force on the continent and another NACL Championship would certainly elevate that status.
Laxeyman
1 июня, 2012 at 12:34
Good signings Kevin, all exciting young players who will surely improve the squad :) Nice to see the finances are back on track, and hopefully you can now start to dominate American football.
Kevin
1 июня, 2012 at 23:27
Thanks Laxeyman
I was very happy with all the replacements especially the young full backs :)
TheZiggy
1 июня, 2012 at 16:43
Some early signs that the change of personnel disrupted the defence a bit, but going forward you still look deadly. Hopefully we’ll see you lifting the Champions League trophy again. In spite of the changes that have been enforced, I think you’re still looking quite strong. It’s also good to see the finances back into the black, so things are looking good for another great season.
Kevin
1 июня, 2012 at 23:29
Hi Ziggy
You are right there is some gelling still to happen in the back four. Very happy to see that bank balance improve and overalI I think we can give it a good go at taking the NACL again!
saltwater
1 июня, 2012 at 17:02
Real squad revamp there, but the new stack of players have left you, as you mentioned, an incredible 90 minutes off the Champions League final. Fully deserved and it was only a matter of when as you domination over America is quite clear.
Looking forward to the new season, and by the way is Nagbe your only player from 2011? He seems like a familiar and household name. :)
Good Luck!
Kevin
1 июня, 2012 at 23:33
Hi saltwater
I think Koffie and GK Edson were there in 2011 along with Nagbe but the rest of the squad has changed for sure. Nagbe has been probably my best signing and Portland gave him up so easily! Thanks for the compliment about our continental domination :)
Ana Garcia
1 июня, 2012 at 22:46
Maybe you have a chairman like me when I was at Velez! :)
Those finances do look very weird though so hopefully they will start to even out and gradually improve, looks like another NACL final and I can see you winning it as you can beat bot teams in the other tie.
So far so good, best of luck!! :)
Kevin
1 июня, 2012 at 23:35
Hi Ana
Yes maybe I do have a chairman like yours :)
Thanks for the well wishes and hopefully we can take that NACL title!
Tegar Triemanudigdo
2 июня, 2012 at 01:22
Looks like the finance are doing good there, and for the competition, looks like you’re one step closer to get NACL trophy there. Keep up the good work!
Kevin
2 июня, 2012 at 08:22
Thanks Tegar, always nice to have a healthy back balance!
vaibhavc
2 июня, 2012 at 08:16
Your finances are back to normal now, and it will improve if you can win the NACL. With the amount of money you can get from that, your finances should be strong.
Kevin
2 июня, 2012 at 08:23
Hi vaibhacv
I think the worst of our financial problems are behind us now so we are really on a sound footing going forward.
Johnny Karp
2 июня, 2012 at 09:34
Good going so far Kevin, you have almost secured your place in the NACL final and that’s the most important thing. The finances are looking better now too so I guess the future should bring at least some satisfaction. Good luck!
Kevin
2 июня, 2012 at 14:57
Thanks Johnny
Happy to be back in the black in the bank account and another NACL final is exciting too :)
Martin F.M.J.S
2 июня, 2012 at 14:40
Good signing there Kevin and a good start to the new season I hope that the injuries want effect your form to much and you can get to the final of the NACL. The finances are strange but good so no complaints there Keep up the good work :D
Kevin
2 июня, 2012 at 15:07
Cheers Martin
I’m very happy with the new intakes epecially those young defenders and of course Arboleda in midfield :)
silva
4 июня, 2012 at 06:53
Hi Kevin what is the Moneyball Systerm.
Kevin
5 июня, 2012 at 00:01
Hi Silva
Thank for your comment. I thought I was stuck on 20. LOL!
Thanks too for your interest in the Moneyball system which is actually taken from baseball and there’s a movie about it starring Brad Pitt. In FM its basically looking at players stats rather than solely relying on attributes and scout reports. Also getting best value for money — not spending too much :) There’s a moneyball snapshot in this post.
Moneyball doesn’t fully translate from Baseball to Soccer but it has added an element of fun to my current save and made the game a little more interesting.
Here’s a couple of links to drop ino your web browser for more information
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moneyball
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabermetric
I hope you give it a try :)
silva
5 июня, 2012 at 00:24
I may need to watch that movie now lol sound intresting, have you watched it?
But now I have a better understanding of the Moneyball System, I like what you and Darren have done to make your saves more intresting and I will start using the Moneyball System as well as Darren’s Y2G system for my Svetkavitsa save which is not easy as we are predicted to finish dead last in the Bulgerian » A » Group.
I am currently trying to create my own systerm is any advice you can give me.
Also sorry for such a long paragraph.
CsAtlantis
5 июня, 2012 at 04:43
This new stadium seems to have fixed the financial problems, some big income from pre-season (season tickets or the top corporate facilities?)
For 18th pick Jake looks pretty decent, and nice to see DiPlacido getting some goals
Good luck for the season!
MRDNRA
5 июня, 2012 at 10:13
Arboleda looks like an excellent signing with the potential to become world class IMO. Looks like you’re on for another good season, and you’re so nearly in the NACL final already. Good luck.