Waiting Game For Whitecaps Players As Evaluation Camp Wraps Up

Vancouver Whitecaps’ new management team wrapped up their evaluation camp this morning with a little bit of training and a 9 v 9 intrasquad match at Burnaby Lake, played over two 35 minute halfs on a shortened pitch.

A number of players sat out the game and took in proceedings from the sidelines, but the focus was clearly on having a final look at the younger and more inexperienced guys in particular.

It was the Blues of Jay Nolly, Jordan Harvey, Greg Janicki, Jonathan Leathers, Russell Teibert, Philippe Davies, Shea Salinas, Michael Nanchoff and Mustapha Jarju, versus the primarily youthful Whites of Joe Cannon, Alain Rochat, Michael Boxall, Jeb Brovsky, Ben Fisk, Bryce Alderson, Gershon Koffie, Caleb Clarke and Long Tan.

At least there were goals this time, unlike Saturday’s dreary scoreless game, but still none from any actual striker!

It was the clichéd game of two halves, with the Blues racing into a two goal lead at the interval thanks to a Michael Nanchoff drive which deflected in off Michael Boxall, and a goal from Shea Salinas, who was in open space to finish off a Jordan Harvey set up from a great Nanchoff cross.

There was only one change at the half, with Camilo coming on for Jonathan Leathers, but not being asked to play right back. Not yet at least!!

The Whites hauled themselves back into it, seven minutes after the break, with an Alain Rochat rocket of a long range free kick giving Jay Nolly no chance.

The game was all tied up with seven minutes remaining, when Gershon Koffie buried a shot from the edge of the box into the top left hand corner. Nolly got a hand to it, but had no chance of keeping it out.

With a winning mentality already clearly in place under Rennie, the players took the game to a penalty shoot out to decide the winners.

So who was the unfortunate player for the Blues player to miss? Watch how the penalties played out below to find out…

Yup. It just had to be Mustapha Jarju! He can’t even score a penalty if he’s wearing a Whitecaps top.

It was to be three penalties each and the Whites ran out eventual 3-1 winners. Long Tan’s cheeky chipped penalty was particularly nice.

As the Whites gathered for a celebratory team photo, the Blue players joked with Jarju that he should get in the photo since he won them the game! Don’t you just love the guy?!

It was great to see the team spirit of the squad. A lot of joking around at the end, but totally focused on the win during the seventy minutes. Jeb Brovsky in particular was treating the game like it was a Cup final at times.

So what did Martin Rennie make of today, and the week as a whole:

“Overall, it’s improved as the week’s gone on and I’ve enjoyed getting to know the guys. I think they’re very respectful and responsive to everything that we’ve asked them to do and that’s a very important thing.

They’ve worked very hard, considering it’s the end of the season, which is often difficult.

I’ve enjoyed it and it gives me a clearer idea on what we have to do to make the team better and I’m excited about being able to do that.”

Today was not just the end of the evaluation camp, but also the last training action for the Whitecaps this year, with the players now going on an extended break until January.

As the focus of the management team now turns to the various drafts coming up, for some players, today would be the last time that they will have been wearing a Whitecaps jersey.

There were few standouts during Saturday’s game, but today was a different story.

Russell Teibert was the best player on the park over the seventy minutes. He’s been looking sharp in training all camp and has showed that despite falling out of favour under Tommy Soehn and through injury, he clearly has a very bright future at the club and the Whitecaps will be all the better for that.

We need all the Canadian talent we can get and Teibert is certainly that, as is Bryce Alderson.

Alderson impressed again as well and has maturity beyond his years in the middle of the park, giving advice to Koffie at times on positioning.

With both players already protected with homegrown status, we expect the pair of them to feature heavily in Martin Rennie’s plans for next season.

Another already protected player, Michael Nanchoff, had a good day as well. Apart from scoring one goal and making another, he was all over the park and showed the potential AFTN feels was not properly nurtured in his rookie season.

Long Tan, Ben Fisk, and to a slightly lesser extent, Caleb Clarke, struggled to get into the game all that much today.

Fisk and Clarke will probably be at least another year away from breaking into the full MLS squad, but I would expect them to continue their development in the reserve league matches next season. Tan’s tackling lets him down at times. Whether he was just loathe to fully commit on team-mates, I don’t know, but it didn’t stop others.

Camilo showed the class he has in the brief time he was on the pitch, but again Jarju disappointed and struggled to hit the target. If he doesn’t have a no trade clause in his contract, then he needs to be left unprotected for the expansion draft. Not that I could see anyone actually picking him up in any draft.

So who will be the eleven to be protected? Martin Rennie has already made his mind up on that, but wouldn’t be drawn on any names.

We fully expect eight of them to be Camilo, Davide Chiumiento, Jay DeMerit, Atiba Harris, Jordan Harvey, Gershon Koffie, Carlyle Mitchell and Alain Rochat.

Eric Hassli will obviously be protected. So our other two choices would be Jay Nolly and Long Tan.

I’d love to keep Joe Cannon around, but with his salary hit, age and outspoken ways, I can’t see him being in Vancouver for 2012.

I also can’t see any of our unprotected guys being snapped up by Montreal, even to spite us. If they did, it’s their loss! I’m pretty sure they’ll stick to picking up ten players from winning teams though.

So for the unprotected players, it is now a case of playing the waiting game.

Players won’t find out if they’re protected or not too early, as Rennie doesn’t want to tip other teams off. They’ll hear “a day or so” before the November 21st cut off date, when the Caps have to let MLS know who is on their list for the draft two days later.

There is unlikely to be any squad changes before this date for the unprotected players. For those who aren’t selected in the expansion draft, they then have the anxious wait to see if they will be figuring in Martin Rennie’s plans going forward.

Rennie told reporters that once Montreal’s picks have become clear, “then we can tell players much more clearly what our plan is.”

The players may be getting time off, but the really hard work is only just beginning behind the scenes.

There is a trade period, where Rennie may be keen to offload some of the more experienced Caps for other current MLS stalwarts. AFTN is still expecting to see a move made for Houston midfield dynamo Adam Moffat.

Then comes the two part re-entry draft on December 5th and 12th. Teams will select players from an eligible list that functions as a traditional waiver draft for clubs to bring in new talent from fellow MLS clubs and the Caps have the first selection in both parts.

Entering 2012, Whitecaps FC technical staff will participate in the five-day MLS Combine in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in preparation for the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, which occurs on January 12th in Kansas City, Missouri.

Vancouver have the second overall selection behind Montreal Impact in the two-round draft that features mostly NCAA collegiate players, but also younger up-and-coming prospects.

Only five days later, the Caps will take part in the 2012 MLS Supplemental Draft, which occurs on January 17th. This draft functions as a continuation from the MLS SuperDraft, and will take place via conference call, with Whitecaps FC also selecting in the second overall position of the four-round draft.

Busy, busy, busy.

So just how will Martin Rennie approach this busy time ahead?

“We just take stock of everything that we’ve learned over the last few weeks and what we’ve learned from watching the games before that and just start to build for next season.”

You get the sense that it’s going to be a hectic and exciting close season.

Intrasquad Training Match Raises More Questions Than Answers For Whitecaps

Today was day four of Vancouver Whitecaps’ post-season evaluation training camp and the first of two intrasquad games.

Coquitlam’s Percy Perry Stadium was the venue and around 100 Caps fans took in proceedings. By the end of the two hours, I’m not sure that either Whitecaps management or fans will have learned that much.

These games are always difficult. Early morning, cold conditions and playing against friends and team-mates. This didn’t deter the odd robust challenge from taking place, with the younger players particularly not afraid to mix it up a little. Pleasing to see.

What wasn’t so pleasing was the fact that despite all our strikers playing during the game, no one was able to find the back of the net.

A fact not lost on Martin Rennie when he spoke to reporters after the game:

“I think ultimately it’s not surprising to me because of the way the team play, it’s so safe all the time, there’s very little risk or chances taken in the final third. And the only way you can score goals is by making penetrating passes, having penetrating runs, taking chances.”

The lack of goals also concerned Paul Ritchie, but he also had a different perspective on it:

“From my point of view, being a defender, I’m delighted there’s two clean sheets…That’s where you build from.”

For the players, thankfully this wasn’t a one off, make or break game for them.

It was sluggish at times and obviously a training match, but the players weren’t slacking, which was good to see.

A lot of the players were tried at different positions during the game. Good to see what they can do. Paul Ritchie described next year’s team as “a blank canvas” at the moment.

The defence certainly is.

Carlyle Mitchell impressed again today, whilst Jay DeMerit came out of the game at the half. Greg Janicki shaded Michael Boxall in centre half performance. Neither may be around come cutting time, but if Janicki keeps turning in these performances, and with Boxall taking an international spot, the old D2 fave may find himself moving up the pecking order a little.

Gershon Koffie even had a stint at right back, obviously Tommy’s “Right Back Roulette” game is still in operation. The new management team are clearly pretty high on the Ghanaian, even when in an unusual position for him, with Ritchie telling reporters:

“I thought Koffie looked good at right back, and that’s something we’ll consider over the close season, depending who we look to bring in and what players are available. And that might be a possibility.

I think he’s a young lad, who’s got so much potential and it’s something we must look to nurture and give him the best possible outlook to playing the game. If he can play in a number of positions, that can help him in the future.”

A view which Rennie also echoed:

“I actually quite liked him there. He obviously doesn’t necessarily know all the ins and outs of the position, cos he probably hasn’t been coached to do that. In terms of his physical and technical ability, he’s very, very good there.”

The second half saw all the “action” and most of it came through Camilo, who was one of the few to stand out.

He nearly grabbed the only goal of the game with the last kick off the game, when a free kick bounced off the post and bobbled along the goal-line, before Jay Nolly pounced on the loose ball.

Jay told us afterwards that there was no way he was letting that in the back of the net, nor an earlier lob attempt!

The lob attempt from Camilo also provided the highlight of the game, although I’m not sure that Jay would agree on that assessment.

As his 50 yard lob headed towards goal, Nolly tracked back to keep it out, landing in the back of the net.

The next thing he knew, Nolly had the crossbar on top of him, with what remained of the goal crumpled around him!

I’ve never seen anything like it, but thankfully Jay was ok to continue.

It was an incident that Rennie laughed about after the game:

“It was pretty enjoyable to see that goal falling over, that was one of the highlights.”

Camilo also had another great chance to score in the second half, blasting narrowly over from close range after some great build up work from Omar Salgado.

Salgado berated Camilo for not burying the shot. Good to see some passion in just a training session.

Salgado was another of the guys to impress. He worked hard and continued to run at the defence, without getting the break or support needed a lot of the time.

Eric Hassli came off at the start of the second half with what looked like a leg knock, and it was immediately iced and taped up. He looked a little out of sorts in the first half, so this might have been why.

Caleb Clarke had a few nice runs and touches when he entered the game as a second half substitute, but Ben Fisk struggled a little to get into the game when he came on.

The midfield is a known problem area. Very evident today. It was good to see Russell Teibert back and excelling though.

Rennie was impressed by Teibert’s attacking qualities and would like to see him “playing wide, higher up”

The standout guy in the middle though was Bryce Alderson. He looked mature beyond his years and was keen to run, fight and push forward. Rennie was impressed:

“Young Bryce is only 17 years old and he looked as if he was part of it for years today. He’s always looking for the ball and as a young kid, in this environment, to have that about him, there’s something special about the kid. So we just got to keep an eye on him and keep nurturing him the way we hope he would mature and who knows what could happen for him.”

Last season, youth was certainly not given a chance. The signs are that this will be changing under the Celtic Connection. Rennie has already said he doesn’t care about a player’s age, just their ability and the performance of the young guys didn’t go unnoticed on him today:

“I like the young kids, I really do. They don’t look out of place.”

Today was also a great experience for the fans, with the players taking a lot of time after the match to mingle, chat and sign stuff. The passion off the pitch in Vancouver is great and you know that that is going to be something that the new management team also instill on it.

Around thirty Southsiders were amongst those that showed up, and sang non stopped.

What did Rennie think of the fans today?

“It was excellent. I was really encouraged to see supporters coming out, at this point, at the end of the season. The noise they made, they never stopped singing the entire time. It was a little bit like Europe, which was really great.

That’s one of the things I’ve talked about all week. The supporters here are incredible, and that just showed it.

On a cold Saturday morning, they’re out here, making noise and supporting the guys and getting behind them and I think that probably helped the tempo of the game a little bit too, so it was great.”

Tomorrow is a rest day for the players before back to two days of training, followed by a final intrasquad game on Wednesday morning.

Players should learn their fates by Friday, as the next step of the new era commences.

When Rennie came here, he had some ideas of where he needed to improve the team. Have they changed in what he’s seen so far, or are they still pretty much the same?

“I think they’re the same. I think that it just takes time. What you really want is on the start of pre-season you want to look around the locker room and feel like you’ve got the best possible group of players that you could possibly have hoped for. And that’s what the job is between now and then and then it’s about building the team. So that’s where we are.”

Fans will probably have seen the last of a few players in a Caps uniform today.

For those players still on the edge, they have three more days to prove their worth to the team.

After what we saw from some today, they may have a hard job on their hands.

Stage two of the new regime is close and that could be the most exciting one, as the 2012 Whitecaps will begin to take shape.

Martin Rennie : The Dawning Of A New Era

The Martin Rennie era has officially begun.

It seems like an age ago since Rennie was announced as the third head coach of the Vancouver Whitecaps this year. Third time lucky hopefully.

In those weeks since the August unveiling, a lot has happened. The Caps stuttered to last place in MLS, whilst Rennie’s Carolina Railhawks finished first in the NASL regular season standings, despite a horrible late season slump, but agonisingly crashed out of the playoffs at the semi final stage in a penalty shoot-out.

What’s done is done. The 2011 season for Rennie and the Caps is in the past now, and in the past it must remain.

That seemed to be the message of the day at this morning’s press conference to officially welcome Martin Rennie taking the reigns in Vancouver, ahead of a week long training camp where he will evaluate the current Caps crop.

There’s no point looking backwards any more.

“When the final whistle went at the last home game against Colorado, and the season concluded, I certainly, at that point, was happy to move on and look ahead with optimism to next season. Essentially, as soon as the whistle blew, we were on to next season.” Bobby Lenarduzzi opened the presser by saying.

Later, when asked about what kind of culture he wants to instill in the club Martin Rennie added:

“The culture has to be a positive, winning culture. You have to build that first before you get wins. A lot of people think you win, and then you build confidence, well actually you build the winning culture first and then the wins start happening from there. So that’s what we need to build and we start doing that from today.

As far as I’m concerned, last season has gone for these players. There’s nothing you can do about that, other than from perhaps glance back and learn from it. You’ve got to move forward and that starts in about half an hour’s time.”

The 2011 season is certainly best to have a line drawn under it, but lessons will be, and need to be, learned. Martin Rennie and Bobby Lenarduzzi were so enthusiastic and positive about what lies ahead for the club, that even the most disconsolate Whitecaps fan would be left with a skip in their step.

But let’s keep our new found optimism at least a little tempered. It’s easy to get carried away, and AFTN has been guilty of that ourselves, but high expectations just lead to added pressure on a new, and still relatively inexperienced, manager in his debut MLS season. Making the playoffs and winning the Voyageurs Cup will do us just nicely for starters!!

There is no doubt that Rennie has a lot of work to do, as was evident by his post-training comment: “We need to improve it considerably from where we are right now”.

But he also has time. There’s over four months till the 2012 season will get underway. Plenty of time for Rennie and his team to instill a new found self-belief and attitude at the club, and it’s a challenge that he is clearly looking forward to:

“For me, this is an exciting part of the season, because this is when you build your team for the next year and I believe that we can build a really strong team here. Obviously we’re putting a lot of work in behind the scenes to do that…to make sure we give the fans here a team we can be proud of.

One of the things I’ve noticed, from a distance, is that the fan support here is incredible. The new stadium, the atmosphere seems excellent, from what I’ve seen, and I’m really looking forward to being in that stadium and having the support of the fans, and giving them a team they can hold on to and be proud of. I hope that we can build a home field advantage here, like I’ve been able to do with the other clubs over the years and make it a very difficult place for people to come and play.”

This week’s camp will feature the MLS squad and Residency players like Ben Fisk and Caleb Clarke, who have impressed in the reserve matches they have played in and Rennie has promised to give all the guys “a fair chance” and he’s looking forward to “finding out what kind of people they are, getting to know them and trying to figure out how to get the best out of them”.

“Over the next ten days we’ll have a much clearer idea of what our squad is going to look like for next season, but we know we have some good pieces in place and now it’s a case of adding to that to make sure that we can all be very proud of what we do next season.”

The camp won’t feature any Carolina Railhawks though.

When asked about that this morning, Rennie told reporters:

“I’ve seen them for two or three years. I know what they can do.”

Does he have firm players in mind, that aren’t currently playing in MLS, that he’d like to bring to the Caps?

“Yup!” was his short, to the point confirmation to that, which drew some laughs from the room! As he also acknowledged, who he wants to bring in and some of the MLS hoops the club needs to jump through to get them here, can often prevent the manager getting his man.

Fans and pundits alike can easily pinpoint where the Whitecaps current weaknesses lie, and Rennie has already done his homework in that category, evaluating players from a distance, having watched videos of the Club’s MLS and many reserve games since his appointment.

“There are a few holes. It would be unfair to say exactly what they are at this moment in time, without seeing the guys over the next few days. I have my ideas on it.

One of the things is building a team that can play both sides of the ball because at times the team was good when it attacked, but if it didn’t score it was very vulnerable and likely to lose a goal and that happened on a number of occasions.

I think we have to be very difficult to play against and very difficult to beat and then rely on these guys who I think we all know have that little bit of quality and flair in the final third. But that only counts if you’re not losing goals at the other end.”

When pushed a little later as to just what type of players he would be looking for Rennie told reporters:

“I think we probably do need to find a ball winning, central midfielder, that would be one. Maybe another central defender as well. We’ll see.”

And ideally players with which qualities?

“Some more MLS experience. Also some real tough characters. Guys that compete when the team doesn’t have the ball and then guys that make the difference in the final third. Those are important.

I think also the team needs to improve a little bit defensively, so some of that’s tactical but some of that’s finding the right players too”.

Carolina’s Maltese striker, Etienne Barbara, is being strongly linked at joining his old boss in Vancouver, and that would be a potentially good signing, especially if we lose Camilo to pastures new.

From what Rennie said he was looking for today, it also only reconfirmed our thoughts that Houston’s Adam Moffat, will be a player that could come to the Whitecaps. Possibly in a trade for Davide Chiumiento and a draft pick?

A fellow Scot, Moffat has played under Rennie before and talked highly of his attributes as a manager when AFTN spoke with him in August.

Whoever Rennie brings in and whatever happens in this training camp, what Whitecaps fans can rest assured with is that they now have a man at the helm with a clear vision of what kind of team he wants.

He’s going to be a hard taskmaster and there will be no room for shirkers on the team. He won’t suffer fools gladly and he’s very big on the mental development and fortitude of players.

He reminds me of a young Brian Clough. He knows what he wants, he knows how to get it and he’s not afraid to be brutally honest and outspoken along the way.

If he brings just a glimmer of the success Clough achieved, then we need to strap ourselves in for a fun ride. But we would also counter that by saying that Rennie is still very much unproven at this level and he knows he is facing a big challenge ahead.

He will set “ambitious” yet “realistic” goals for the team next season and these will be done “incrementally” based on full evaluation and operational factors, such as did he get the players he wanted to get. So no false dawns and amazing proclamations this time around.

We’re not saying that Martin Rennie is the answer to everything, or that his appointment will guarantee success, but we do feel that it will be an advancement in the right direction for Vancouver Whitecaps.

And that can only be a good thing.