The second season under the Martin Rennie regime is now underway, and there can no longer be any excuses about inherited personnel problems or having a dressing room filled with someone else’s vision. Many players were sent packing immediately, and others were given another year to earn their spot. There were even a few of his own signings unceremoniously axed, including one exceptionally expressive Scotsman.
There is no confusion any more. This is now Martin Rennie’s Whitecaps, from top to bottom. Any players who have remained have earned a spot under Rennie. And the rest of the players are his own signings; his own successes and failures.
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Many of those successes appear to be arriving. The Blue & White are 3-0 in preseason friendlies. In their first preseason action, 2012 Rookie of the Year finalist Darren Mattocks torched the three quarters of the starting New England backline for 3 goals in 15 minutes. 2013 Draftees Erik Hurtado and Kekuta Manneh have impressed and do not look out of place. Praise of Daigo Kobayashi is being touted by many, and YP Lee, who is surely the club’s best player, has agreed to return for a final year in which nothing less than another All-Star calibre season could be expected from classy ol’ <i>Bright Eyes</i>.
But let me remind you of the series of events that took place almost exactly a year ago from now. Even after a strong year from Eric Hassli, and a phenomenal one from Camilo, the Whitecaps added another 10+ goal scorer and MLS All-Star, Sebastien Le Toux. They turfed their lazy and ineffective Designated Player and sent him back to the country he came from. They lined up some more and better players to come in, some depth players, and even another Designated Player. Some of these new signings would be from outside the MLS to help bring experience and class of the world leagues like the English Championship and the Uruguayan Primera Division. An undefeated preseason only elevated hopes.
It seemed as if the Whitecap’s biggest concern would be where to find the money they would have to spend on replacing the netting behind the opposing keepers goal after it got so much work. In the end, a woeful 35 goals would be all that supporters would get to enjoy, and questions persisted all season about creativity.
All offseason, every casual fan, rabid supporter, lonely blogger, and club employee pointed to the gaping hole in the middle of the park. It was no secret. Rennie commented about a lack of creativity in the middle of the park. Lenarduzzi went on radio shows and conceded that they may have tinkered too much and that the squad would be ready to compete on day one. Everything was pointing towards a winter stockpiling creative, experienced players to open up the game.
And with half the preseason gone, and with only 4 roster spots left, time and opportunity are fading as we approach First Kick. One of the roster spots is almost certain to be Simon Thomas as the third keeper. Jaime Peters, Jacob Lensky, Andres Fresenga, and rumoured arrival Johnny Leveron are all real possibilities to be signed.
That means if the Whitecaps want to go out and find another creative midfielder, they will either do it at the expense of one of the players mentioned, or they will cut a player who was already signed. There’s time. There is almost a full month until the season starts. And a trade within the MLS is still a possibility.
But after all the talk of chemistry, and a full preseason, and strengthening the midfield, and increasing our creativity, we’re going to hope that Daigo Kobayashi, a first time MLS player answers all our prayers? One could expect Gershon Koffie to take another step forward, but he will never be confused with a number 10. Matt Watson showed glimpses of his athleticism and energy towards the end of the season, but he isn’t expected to carve apart a top MLS midfield.
So what are we left with? Fast rookies on the wing. Fast, talented, strong kids. But call me a pessimist if you want, I wouldn’t be comfortable if I’m Martin Rennie and I’m expecting Erik Hurtado and Omar Salgado to carry the load in the event Kobayashi is hurt, or tired, or suspended, or if he is just a plain old flop. And if that happens, we’re back to what we saw last year. Alain Rochat doing his best to lump balls somewhere in the vicinity of one our blazing fast forwards to latch on to.
Maybe I’m overly negative, but I was hoping for a little more this season; a little more diversity and a little more depth of creativity.
For what it’s worth, I am encouraged by the signing of Kobayashi but it’s too early to really tell, as I’ve seen a total of 45 minutes of preseason soccer on a web stream out of him. And there is still time for some shuffling to still happen. Lensky would certainly provide the type of creative ability if he could get on board with the club and manager and keep his focus on the game. Or there could be another completely unknown at this time player on the horizon which could make this entire rambling moot, but for now, we’re still thin in the most obviously undermanned position.
It became painfully evident by the end of last year that you can’t blow up a roster midseason and change the chemistry of your dressing room so deep in to the year. It also became clear that a single creative player to drive your team doesn’t exactly leave for much room for error. So let’s hope Rennie pulls the trigger on his final additions soon, because far too many games last season sapped most of the beauty out of the beautiful game.
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