You never want to get too ahead of yourself, but Vancouver Whitecaps playoff hopes are looking pretty good right now.
That will mean extra games, more minutes for players and some squad management may need to come in to play if we want to have our best players in prime post-season shape.
If that happens, or when injuries or suspensions kick in, the Caps need the fringe players to be able to come in and perform at the level of the player they are replacing.
But if these players haven’t seen regular playing time at any level, how can they be expected to be fully competitive from the off? Training and adrenalin can only do so much.
And what of the younger talent? The guys who have stepped up, and who are looking to step up, from the Residency and PDL teams? They’re performing well, but need more development.
It’s been a key question for a while now and one we’ve discussed before on AFTN.
We caught up with Whitecaps assistant coach Paul Ritchie after yesterday’s 3-1 Reserve League defeat to Chivas to see how the Club are faring in trying to find a way around the obstacles faced in this regard.
We spoke to Paul after the first Reserve game of the season about the Whitecaps fringe and young players <a href="http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/content.php?2993-Caps-Need-More-Games-For-Player-Development" target="_blank">needing more games for their development</a> and it's been hard to make this happen.
With the PDL and USSDA seasons now over, are there plans for any more games apart from the couple of remaining Reserve outings? If not this year, what about next season?
<i>"That's something that we've got to look at as an organization and the whole set up in American football, because, for me, it's frustrating because these kids have come here today and they've done well. They didn't look out of place.
I thought that young Kianz and the rest of them were fantastic.
It's frustrating that there's not any more games. I don't know where we can get more games. We're trying to arrange friendlies with college teams but they're limited in what they can provide at this time of year because they're on holidays.
It's something that needs to be addressed. The Reserve League, ten games a season isn't enough. PDL season isn't long enough. And it's hindering the development of these players.
We need to find something that we can get these boys 25-30 games in a season. I know a few of them played a few games in the PDL. They maybe got up to about 15-16 games, they're not going to play every Reserve League game, so they are struggling to find the games that we need them to do to develop into a player for MLS.
It's something that we'll continue to look in to and try and do something about over the next 6 or 7 months, because these players have got ability, they've got promise and it's now trying to find an avenue, a pathway for these players to progress as well."</i>
With players like Russell Teibert, Bryce Alderson and Greg Klazura being on the MLS squad, it's a little bit easier for the Caps to keep tabs on their progress in training.
It's not ideal, but at least it's something for them.
The same is true with the top Residency talent that train with the first team and can be seen in a long season of USSDA action.
For the top guys from the PDL team, it's a little bit more difficult as they will be playing all over the place now that the season is over.
Three of the standout players for the Whitecaps U23s were James Farenhorst, Cam Hundal and captain Gagan Dosanjh.
Farenhorst played the whole of yesterday's Reserve game in the centre of defence alongside Carlyle Mitchell and impressed again. Dosanjh came on as a second half sub, and although he only saw eighteen minutes, had some nice touches.
As the players get set to return to University, are the Whitecaps planning to still keep a close eye on their progress?
<i>"We have to, and that's the frustrating thing because the way the MLS roster is set up, it's not like back home in Europe where you've got a reserve squad. You're limited to the number of players you can bring in.
But we will definitely. They were fantastic in PDL. James came in today and was excellent, did not look out of place one bit, and it's difficult because we've got the roster filled at the moment.
We will keep an eye on them and we will continue to watch their progress. They're part of the Club.
Hopefully next year they'll do something with the PDL that makes it a slightly longer season because we need to make sure that we keep the local talent involved with the Club.
I think that's the only way forward.
The Residency's done great this year. To get to the finals in Houston this week was great. And the PDL have done well too.
To see them today in the Reserve League, that was a good Chivas team. There was a few first team regulars in there. And the boys didn't look out of place. They competed well and contributed to a good game.
So we've got to keep an eye on them and hopefully we can find a pathway that allows them to continue with the Whitecaps."</i>
With a couple of rosters spots remaining open, our hope is that Ben Fisk can be given one of them.
His stand out week at the USSDA Finals, saw him score seven goals, with two hat-tricks.
We didn't want to put Paul on the spot too much, but is there a chance that Ben can find his way on to the Whitecaps MLS squad this season or will he have to wait until next year for his shot?
<i>"That's a difficult one. Ben's done fantastic this year for the Residency. It's one of these ones where he's coming along great,. He's still very, very young and that's the problem we've got is finding the pathway for these players.
Ben is very much in our thoughts. He's a regular in the Reserves before he went away with the Residency.
It's something we're thinking about, but we've got to be careful because of the roster spots with locals, and GA's. It's a strange one to know who we're allowed to add.
Our first priority is the first team and at this moment in time I don't think Ben Fisk would feature in the first team, but at this Reserve team level, and for the future of the Club, he's someone that we've got big hopes for."</i>
And this makes sense. Adding Ben now wouldn't do anything for the MLS team's playoff hopes per se, and with monetary compensation available for not filling some of the spots, along with what salary he can be offered this season, it may be better to wait.
All we can hope for is that the Whitecaps can do enough lobbying with both MLS and the USL to have increased Reserves and PDL seasons, and hopefully change the rules around how many homegrown GA's can be added to a squad, for two does not benefit the growth of the game throughout North America and certainly doesn’t do anything for keep the best rising talent here.
Not every player develops at the same rate of course, and with the limited opportunities for remaining fully within the Whitecaps programs, what does Paul see as the best options for the young guys just now who aren’t quite ready?
<i>"If you look at the Residency program we've got, and what we're producing, it's right up there with the best in Europe. I got no doubts about that.
For me, I think you look at college. There's some great programs out there in NCAA. Is that the way for them to go? Some of them yes.
This year we've took Bryce and we've took Caleb out of the Residency and put them straight onto MLS contracts. If we can get one or two every year, I think the Residency is doing their job.
And for those that don't make the MLS roster then I think their next stage is to go to college and to continue, football plus education. Then we'll have first rights of refusal on them anyway, so if they progress the way we're hoping they do then they'll come back as a Whitecaps player anyway.
As I said, it's different from Europe because the college thing plays such a massive part of a kids education here and I still think that's the right thing to do for some of them.
Not everyone will make the grade. For these kids to have an education is the most important thing for me."</i>
The college route is still thought of by many as a way to stunt a player’s growth and not aid it.
But if you don’t want to look overseas, the options are limited and with the general employment market so tough these days, getting an education behind you is the sensible thing to do.
Something has to change and soon or we risk losing a whole batch of top quality players to the domestic game throughout North America.
Even worse, we could lose some of them to the game altogether.
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