<center><i>"Oh Russell Teibert,
You are the love of my life
Oh Russell Teibert,
I'd let you shag my wife
Oh Russell Teibert,
I wish I had your hair, too"</center>
- Curva Collective</i>
With it being <i>'Residency Week'</i> here at AFTN, I thought I would take a look at the journey Russell Teibert has taken from playing in the Whitecaps Residency program to becoming a important fixture in the current starting eleven. It is a journey that sets the standard and gives hope and aspirations to the current crop of talent coming through the program.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
After a brief spell with the Toronto FC academy, Russell came to Vancouver in 2008 to join the Whitecaps Residency program. For the first two years in Vancouver he played friendlies all over Europe against some very prominent youth academies.
He quickly became a fixture with the Residency team and started getting recognized on a national level for his potential and ability.
Teibert first suited up for Canada in 2009 at the CONCACAF U-17 Championship. In his first game (vs Honduras) he put Canada up 1-0 from the penalty spot, as Canada went on to finish 4th in their pool.
His play in these tournaments were a major contributing factor in earning him the Canadian U-17 Player of the Year award in both 2008 and 2009, garnering him a lot of attention and speculation as to what the young starlet could go on to achieve.
In 2010, after showing promise in the USL PDL season, he earned his first senior team call up, making his debut on July 31st 2010 at the age of just 17yrs and 221 days old.
With Vancouver joining MLS for the 2011 season, the Whitecaps where able to sign Teibert to a homegrown player Generation Adidas contract. This gave the Caps the luxury of not having to lose him in the MLS Super Draft and having his contract not count against the tight MLS salary cap.
Head coach Teitur Thordarson had belief in the young Canadian's skills and prospects and Teibert made his MLS debut in the Whitecaps first ever MLS match (against Toronto FC at Empire Field on March 19th 2011), playing 69 minutes. He went on to make 11 appearances in MLS that season, five of them as a starter, before falling out of favour with new coach Tommy Soehn and suffering injury in the now infamous cycling in flip-flops incident.
2012 saw a lot of criticism from supporters regarding the way Martin Rennie was not giving Teibert any minutes, let alone quality minutes, to help with his development. Rennie said numerous times that he didn't think he was ready for Major League Soccer action. Reports have come out saying that during the 2012 season Rennie was thinking of loaning Teibert out due to the lack of effort and impact he saw. If it wasn't for Paul Ritchie showing belief in the player and realising the talent that Teibert could bring to the team, he might not even be in a Whitecaps jersey today.
For a player that just turned 20 last December he has shown this year that he is capable of being a regular starter in MLS. Not only a starter but a player that can make a difference game in, game out for the Whitecaps.
With his success this season it means Teibert is getting a chance to wear the Canadian kit for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Depending on what happens on the pitch, he could miss between two to five Whitecaps matches.
As fans we want to be greedy and have him wearing blue and white instead of the white and red but this is a chance for him to earn the experience that almost all quality All-Star players in front of him have.
Lets just hope he doesn't pull a Omar Salgado and get injured (knock on pitch).
In my opinion Teibert will be a MLS All-Star in the next three seasons. I have discussed this with some people on the Whitecaps coaching staff who predict he will continue to improve and be one next season. The feeling is that with having Nigel Reo-Coker leading him on the pitch this season they have seen him gain confidence and bring his game to the next level this season.
Finally getting a consistent run in the starting eleven has also helped that confidence, as has grabbing his first two goals as a professional in the game against LA in May.
The result has been on display in his most reason performances, where he has contributed six assists in the last four MLS matches.
Here's a look at Russell Teibert's Caps' stats to date from the MLS era:
<b>2011 Season:</b>
15 Appearances (11 MLS - 5 starts, 6 as sub / 4 Canadian Championship - 2 starts, 2 as sub)
503 MLS minutes played
232 Canadian Championship minutes played
735 Total minutes played
0 goals
1 assist (in Canadian Championship)
<b>2012 Season:</b>
4 Appearances (all 4 MLS - 1 start, 3 as sub)
117 MLS minutes played
000 Canadian Championship minutes played
117 Total minutes played
0 goals
0 assists
<b>2013 MLS Season: (As of June 19 game vs Chivas)</b>
14 Appearances (10 MLS - 9 starts, 1 as sub / 4 Canadian Championship - 4 starts)
827 MLS minutes played
360 Canadian Championship minutes played
1,187 Total minutes
2 goals (both MLS)
7 assists (6 MLS, 1 Canadian Championship)
As the legend of Canadian Soccer Jesus grows, the questions are now what is the limit with his game, how long will he play in Vancouver, and is Vancouver in his long term plans?
No one can answer these questions but him. So lets sit back, drink our beers, stand and sing and enjoy the show. By the looks of it, it's only going to get better.
<center>**********</center>
[Michael - It's great to finally have a Residency product not just regularly starting in the first team, but also being a key component and contributing heavily. The additions of others like Caleb Clarke and Bryce Alderson are also great, even if they aren't seeing action on the pitch.
All of these successes give inspiration and aspiration to the current crop of young talent as to what they can go on to achieve. They need to see that and have examples of the pathway that can lie ahead for them.
Russell Teibert is currently the prime example of that pathway. He is now setting that bar for others to follow and let's hope he is the first of many.]
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