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    Guest

    Back to the Rogers Centre

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    For the third time in the last two seasons, TFC will play a game at the Rogers Centre.
    The club confirmed today that the season opener against Kansas City is to be played at the (likely) half empty baseball stadium on a plastic pitch.
    Not that we're expressing an opinion in this straight news piece.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Guest
    Vancouver Whitecaps opened their preseason with a 4-1 win over New England Revolution in Casa Grande, Arizona on Tuesday. Leading the way for the Whitecaps was last season's leading scorer Darren Mattocks who scored a quick hat-trick, with Kenny Miller scoring the other one from a penalty.
    The majority of the action came in the first 15 minutes when four of the five goals in the match were scored. It only took Mattocks 65 seconds to collect a pass from Kekuta Manneh and give the Caps the opening goal. Within five minutes it was a brace for Mattocks, who was sent in this time by Camilo, to give Vancouver a two goal lead.
    The Revolution responded after Brad Rusin was called for a foul in the box and the subsequent penalty was converted by Chris Tierney. The Caps re-established their two goal lead in the 15th minute when Mattocks headed home a Rochat free kick.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]The second half saw a different team start for the Caps and it was not as explosive, with the only goal coming from Kenny Miller who converted a penalty that was earned by Corey Hertzog.
    There were a couple of decent chances for each team but neither could add to the final 4-1 scoreline.
    With this being the first preseason game there were very few expectations for the Whitecaps, so three goals in the first 15 minutes by Mattocks was a pleasant surprise. While it is still early, it is clear the addition of pace to the attacking ranks has made a difference to the way the Whitecaps will seek their goals.
    <i>"I think it was a very good start to the game for us,"</i> Whitecaps FC head coach Martin Rennie told whitecapsfc.com. <i>"We got three good goals at the start of the match, and we looked dangerous going forward. There’s definitely a lot to work on, and things that were a bit frustrating, but for the start of the preseason, it was very good overall."</i>
    The game saw 24 players take to the pitch for the Whitecaps, with Rennie wanting to see as many players as possible, especially the trialists.
    It will interesting to see how many of these players will be there when the Caps take on the Houston Dynamo on Saturday in their second match of the preseason.
    Let us know what you thought of the Caps performance below. In the meantime, here's the highlights of the match:
    <center>

    </center><p>
    Guest

    Much ado about little

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    The Joao Plata era at Toronto is over.
    The wee man, who was effective at times in 2011 and invisible in all of 2012, was traded today to Salt Lake for a second round draft pick in 2015.
    So, a bag of balls. In essence Salt Lake is rolling the dice on a guy that will cost them little, while Toronto is freeing up an international slot that it feels it can more effectively use.
    Reaction to the move among fans has been mixed. Many are lamenting the loss of a player that was a fan favourite and only 20-years-old. Others have suggested that Plata’s worth has always been grossly overstated and freeing up the international slot is more valuable than anything he would provide in 2013.
    There is a third group of fans that are angry and feel the move was forced by the Plata camp. Those fans have a lingering distaste towards both Paul Mariner (who is blamed for forcing Plata out by not using him) and Earl Cochrane (who is blamed for “screwing up” the loan and therefore causing hard feelings when Plata left TFC last summer). Those opinions are purely speculative and run counter to the words of Kevin Payne who plainly said that Plata was not in TFC’s plans for 2013.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Regardless, the move is, at best, a minor transfer that is getting more attention in Toronto due to the club’s shaky record with transfers. Many former Reds have moved on only to find much greater success elsewhere.
    Could Plata be the next in line?
    Anything is possible, but Plata’s form at both Toronto and LDU Quito suggests it’s unlikely. In 23 appearances last year Plata found the net just once. Further, both TFC and LDU Quito have made it known that he’s not in their plans for ’13.
    In particular, his MLS form in ’12 was atrocious. He started seven times and appeared in 10 games for Toronto last year. He failed to produce a single goal or assist and only managed just three shots on goal.
    A deeper look at the advanced stats is even more damning. Whereas fans see Plata as a player that can use his quickness to beat a defender 1-on-1 and create opportunities, the Opta stats don’t back that up.
    With TFC last year Plata attempted to beat a defender on the dribble 119 times. He was successful 19.
    Giving the ball away 100 times in 10 appearances is bad news for any player. When that player is 5’2” and about 125-lbs, and can’t physically contribute on the defensive side of things, it’s a disaster.
    The question, then, is why would a team like Salt Lake be interested in him. After all, the Royals have been far more successful at identifying MLS talent than TFC. It’s a fair point, but again you must keep the importance of the transfer in perspective.
    RSL plans to use Plata as a fourth forward. He will not be relied upon to start, nor will he be expected to put big numbers up. What they likely envision is a player that can come off the bench late in games to cause tired defenders problems.
    Bluntly, TFC cannot afford to spend an international slot on an “icing player.” The Reds still need to bake the cake.
    Guest

    Toronto sends Plata to RSL

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Toronto FC announced this morning that it had sent forward Joao Plata to Real Salt Lake in exchange for a second round draft pick in 2015.
    Plata had been on loan back at the club he had originally got his start at LDU Quito. But after only making 13 appearances the fan favourite returned to MLS looking for a better option. He should find some playing time off the bench with the perennial league favourite.
    After being selected 49th overall in the 2011 SuperDraft, it was just last January when Toronto FC decided to make the move permanent and buy him out of his LDU Quito contract. They offered him a multi-year deal with a reported $500,000 transfer fee paid to Ecuadorian side.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    CSN will have more reaction on the move later in the day.
    Guest
    It's safe to say that unless you're a friend or family member of Matt Stinson or Frank Jonke -- both of whom made their senior national-team debuts for Canada on the night -- Tuesday's scoreless draw between the cross-border rivals will quickly and irretrievably fade from your memory banks.
    Yes, the (insert letter other than "A" here) team of Canada holding the (insert letter other than "A" here) team of the USA didn't realistically tell us much about the short- or long-term prospects for either nation. But the USA -- supposedly an "MLS all-star squad", supposedly a group from which coach Jurgen Klinsmann would draw players for World Cup qualifying -- was, on the night, held goalless by the fringe members of a national program that had lost its last two games by a total of 12-1.
    Say what you will about the squad, Yanks. But however bad you may think this Canadian side was, you still couldn't beat us.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Now, that may sound pathetic and parochial. But for the fragile psyche of a Canadian soccer fan, results such as this -- ultimately meaningless as they may be -- are a nice little boost now and again. Sure, it'd be even nicer if unexpectedly positive results occurred when things actually mattered, but hey, let's walk before we can run, shall we?
    And yeah, it's definitely pathetic and parochial to revel in the schadenfreude of watching American pundits and fans collectively melt down as the game went along. But what the hell; based on my anecdotal Twitter analysis, the mindset of the American fanbase broke down roughly as follows:
    Pre-game: "We're going to smoke these Canadian nobody losers! They'll be lucky if it's only 5-0!"
    30th minute: "Canada is bunkering! And I'm going to use 'bunker' as a pejorative right now because the team I like is unable to break one down!
    45th minute: "Man, that first half was soooooo boring. This game really is pointless, isn't it?"
    65th minute: "Gee, these Canadian nobodies sure are holding their own, for now!" (nervous laughter)
    80th minute: "Oh, whatever, good job, Canada, you're holding our D-team to a scoreless draw! Big deal!"
    Full time: "That game was so dumb and pointless. Canada is still crappy. They only got a result because our guys were crap. Did I mention that game was dumb? We shouldn't even talk about it, which is totally the same attitude I'd be taking if that blowout scoreline I predicted actually came to fruition."
    Now, in fairness (a well-beloved Canadian virtue), the Americans were, by and large, crap. Despite holding a lot of possession, they never seemed especially well-placed to do much of anything with it. A neutral (clearly, your author does not fall into this category, but still) would likely say the game's best chance on goal was Dwayne DeRosario's left-footed strike in the sixth minute, parried away by Sean Johnson.
    But as I said after Saturday's friendly against Denmark, anyone expecting something other than what we got -- a pair of largely experimental and therefore largely disjointed squads, comprised of players being put on audition for future roles -- was kidding themselves. We should, of course, be happy with the draw insofar as it wasn't a loss (particularly a lopsided one), but to place undue importance on the scoreline in games like these ones (or Canada's next match, against Japan in March) would be to miss the point entirely.
    The idea, of course, is to get an idea of what we've got going forward. And the lineup fielded against the States was largely incomplete -- it was a Western Hemisphere-based team, to start, and didn't even include some players who will surely play a role with the CanMNT going forward, such as Will Johnson and Lucas Cavallini.
    Still, a number of players acquitted themselves well. Kyle Bekker once again looked largely comfortable in the midfield (though there's still work to be done), Nik Ledgerwood was surprisingly effective at right back (given that he's had some troubles there with the national team before), Dejan Jakovic and Nana Attakora stood tall in the centre of defence, and Simon Thomas earned the clean sheet in his first start with the senior national team.
    Will this game be remember for its epic importance in terms of world rankings? Nope.
    How about its aesthetic beauty? Definitely not.
    Or for the way that one player definitely stamped their name onto the roster of their senior national team for years to come? Nope, not that either.
    As I said, this game will quickly be lost to the sands of time as the Americans jump back into World Cup qualifying and the Canadians continue the long, painful road of rebuilding.
    But still, for one night, we frustrated and antagonized our arrogant pals to the south. And as pathetic and parochial as it may be, given the circumstances, that makes this evening a success in my books.
    .
    Guest

    Hajimemashite Kobayashi

    By Guest, in AFTN,

    When I first met Vancouver Whitecaps' latest acquisition, Kobayashi Daigo, I said <i>"Hajimemashite, Christopher Vose desu,"</i> and attempted to bow at a 30 degree angle, although I probably only achieved 15 degrees.
    His face immediately lit up. With a smile, he asked in English if I spoke Japanese. Alas, much like Matt Watson, watashi wa nihongo ga sukoshi shika hanasemasu. But now I have added incentive to take it up once more. He speaks English very well, admitting that <i>"I already love Vancouver. It’s a beautiful city. I look forward to giving my all to help this club continue to grow and succeed."</i>
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Because Japanese names start with the surname and end with the given, in the coming weeks, months, and years, you will sometimes see it written as Kobayashi Daigo, and sometimes as Daigo Kobayashi. Both are acceptable. It’s the same as Lee Young-Pyo and Young-Pyo Lee.
    Kobayashi joins fellow countryman Jun Marques Davidson, who last year made the transition from the J. League’s second division. Although he said that <i>“I don’t need a translator”</i>, and obviously feels confident in his English, Davidson translated some of his comments in the hopes of garnering more nuance. Through Jun, he said <i>“I’m very excited to play. I’m happy to play for the Whitecaps. I love to contribute, scoring goals, and giving assists. I’m strongest in front of goal, making assists, and yeah, just making a difference in the game.”</i>
    For his part, Davidson is pleased as punch to have a compatriot in the squad. For too long, others such as Rochat, Hassli, Chiumiento, Akloul, and Le Toux; Salgado, Thorrington, Bonjour, and Klazura; Sanvezzo, Ulisses, and Araujo; or Robson and Miller have had a familiar voice in the locker room. Now it’s time for Jun; and not just a close friend “encouraged” to learn Japanese, like Matt Watson, but one officially stamped: Made in Japan.
    But he’s not been brought in just to make Jun smile. Davidson expects great things from the attacking midfielder, <i>“I’m excited, but everyone should be excited to see him play. He can make the difference in the game. He can kick free kicks and corner kicks with great accuracy. He can assist and score goals. I’m sure everyone will love how he plays. He’s just a pure entertainer and probably the most technical guy in the league.”</i> Those are strong words from one so soft spoken. <i>“He can definitely control the game. Hopefully through this camp, everyone will get to know him; he fits in the team right away; and for the best.”</i>
    Whitecaps manager Martin Rennie added, <i>"We’re really pleased that Daigo is going to be joining us. He’s technically very gifted and he’s got an excellent final pass. He can create goals for us and he’s got a lot to prove. Those are the type of players we want in our squad."</i>
    Jake DeClute, an assistant coach and scouting coordinator added, <i>"We’re really excited to have him. He’s a creative, attacking player. He’s got really good vision. He can not only create for others, but he can create for himself. He’s very, very skillful, and super technical. It seems like his best role would be underneath the striker, but he can play in a lot of different spots. Speaking to his coach, and all these different things, they just raved about him. He’s got a super attitude, he’s a great worker. We’re just really excited to add that element to our team."</i>
    Although Martin Rennie said he doesn’t expect Kobayashi to play in their friendly against New England Revolution in Casa Grande on Tuesday, it’s all but certain that he’ll play against Houston Dynamo in Tuscon this Saturday.
    Saturday's match against Houston will be streamed at 6:00 PM PST on http://www.mlssoccer.com/live.
    <p>
    Guest

    Where are the (former) Reds now?

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    113.
    That’s the (astounding) number of players that played at least one game for TFC since 2007. Of those, 95 have moved on.
    Below the jump, a look at where all the former Reds are.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Higher level
    Mo Edu – Turkish Superleague – Bursaspor (1 appearance since 2013)
    In MLS
    Marvell Wynne – Colorado
    Todd Dunivant – Galaxy
    Edson Buddle – Colorado
    Paulo Nagamura – Kansas City
    Conor Casey – Philadelphia
    Chad Barrett – New England
    Sam Cronin – San Jose
    Dwayne de Rosario – DC United
    Dan Gargan – San Jose
    Ty Harden – San Jose
    Nick LaBrocca – Colorado
    Jacob Peterson – Kansas City
    Maicon Santos – Chicago
    Miloš Kocić – Portland
    Eric Avila – Chivas USA
    Ryan Johnson – Portland
    Nathan Sturgis - Colorado
    Similar level
    Kenny Stamatopoulos (Swedish Allsvenskan – AIK, 16 appearances since 2011)
    Abbe Ibrahim (Romanian 1st division – FC Ceahlăul Piatra Neamţ
    Rohan Ricketts (Ecuador 1st division – Club Deportivo Quevedo – 1 appearance)
    Carlos Ruiz (Mexican 2nd – Veracruz – 23 appearances, 10 goals since 2011)
    Pablo Vitti (Ecuador 1st – LDU Quito – 19 appearances, 8 goals)
    Martin Šarić (Paraguay 1st - Sportivo Luqueño – 2 appearances since 2011)
    Maxim Usanov ( Russian 2nd -- Petrotrest Saint Petersburg, no stats)
    Javier Martina (Ditch 2nd - FC Dordrecht, 6 appearances since 2012)
    Miguel Aceval ( Chilean 1st – Huachipato, 10 appearances since 2012)
    Nick Soolsma (Dutch 2nd – Excelsior, 3 appearances since 2012)
    Lower level
    Collin Samuel – East Fife, Scottish second division (East Fife - played 15 games since 2011)
    Jeff Cunningham – NASL (San Antonio, 8 appearances, 1 goal in 2012)
    Andrea Lombardo – CSL (SC Toronto)
    Andy Welsh – League 1 (Carlisle United – 23 starts since 2011)
    Miguel Cañizalez – German fourth division (Fortuna Köln, no stats since 2011)
    Gabe Gala – CSL – (Mississauga Eagles)
    Joey Melo – CSL – (Mississauga Eagles)
    Tyler Hemming – PDL (Forest City London – 23 appearances, 2 goals in 2012)
    David Monsalve – NASL (FC Edmonton – 2 appearances since 2011)
    Marco Vélez – NASL (Puerto Rico Islanders – 39 starts, 1 goal since 2009)
    Kevin Harmse – NASL (San Antonio -- 22 appearances, 1 goal since 2012)
    Tyler Rosenlund – USL-Pro (Rochester – 76 appearances, 6 goals since 2010)
    Brian Edwards – Swedish Degerfors IF – 56 appearances since 2011)
    Amado Guevara – Honduran league – 99 appearances, 9 goals since 2010)
    Johann Smith – Finnish 1st – (4 appearances since 2012)
    Lesly Fellinga (Dutch amateur league)
    Nana Attakora – Finnish 1st (8 appearances since 2012)
    Amadou Sanyang – USL Pro, (Charleston, 18 appearances, 1 goal)
    Demitrius Omphroy – Filipino league – (Global FC, no stats)
    Andy Iro – League 2, (Barnet – 6 appearances, 1 goal)
    Danleigh Borman – South African league – (SuperSport United, 6 appearances 2012)
    Matt Gold – NASL – (San Antonio, 8 appearances)
    Kyle Davies – USL Pro (Orlando City, 16 appearances)
    Eddy Viator – Malaysia league, Felda United, 1 appearances)
    Unattached
    Andrew Boyens
    Tyrone Marshall
    Marco Reda
    Hunter Freeman
    Julius James
    Fuad Ibrahim
    Julian de Guzman
    O'Brian White
    Emmanuel Gómez
    Adrian Cann
    Joseph Nane
    Raivis Hščanovičs
    Nicholas Lindsay
    Keith Makubuya
    Oscar Cordon
    Elbekay Bouchiba
    Mikael Yourassowsky
    Léandre Griffit
    Gianluca Zavarise
    Dicoy Williams
    Peri Marošević
    Freddy Hall
    Efrain Burgos, Jr.
    Retired
    Jim Brennan
    Carl Robinson
    Chris Pozniak
    Danny Dichio
    Ronnie O’Brien
    Adam Braz
    Greg Sutton
    Srdjan Djekanović
    Kevin Goldthwaite
    Alecko Eskandarian
    Sam Reynolds
    Richard Mulrooney
    Jarrod Smith
    Derek Gaudet
    Kilian Elkinson
    Laurent Robert
    Nick Garcia
    Olivier Tebily
    Ali Gerba
    Adrian Serioux
    Jon Conway
    Mista
    Guest
    We open the second week of training camp with Raphael Larocque-Cyr who brings us comments from Marco Schallibaum, Nick DeSantis and Davy Arnaud.
    We discuss with Marc Tougas (CP) on De Santis' position this Monday not to take any responsibility in the Eddie Johnson trade to Seattle last season.
    Philippe Dos Santos gives us his take on who will be the next Impact Academy player to make it in the first team.
    We conclude the show with Jonathan Tannenwald (Philly.com) to talk about the repercussions for NASL and Canadian soccer of the USL-MLS alliance signed last week.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    All this and more in our 50 minutes show that you can listen by clicking here.
    Guest
    It's been the case for a while now that there are two groups of people in this country.
    There are those -- the large majority, unfortunately -- who take little to no interest in the year-in, year-out exploits of our men's national team, but who'll pause once in a while to scoff in irrational self-righteousness at the team's most high-profile disappointments.
    These people, thankfully, weren't watching Saturday's friendly between Canada and Denmark.
    Then there are we few, we largely-miserable few, who do take a massive interest in the year-in, year-out exploits of our men's national team. We, by and large, did watch Saturday's friendly.
    And if we took anything at all from the game, it was the stark realization that 2018 is a very, very long way away.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The clearest evidence of the psychological damage inflicted by last October's loss in San Pedro Sula is that many fans reacted to the 4-0 score line -- which, in any professional soccer context, is a complete thrashing -- as "not so bad".
    "Hey, at least it's not 8-1," we could all say, voices dripping with self-loathing.
    No great investigation is needed into why things went awry on Saturday. Canada fielded a very young and inexperienced team -- though, in fairness, so did the Danes -- and our men's national team's depth is such that a number of our players either don't have club affiliations, play at very low levels, or haven't played very much at all as of late -- though, in fairness, the fact the game was held during a non-FIFA date did affect who would be available.
    If we're calling this a "rebuilding" team, then it's important to view the process not like putting together IKEA furniture, where happy little diagrams tell you exactly what goes where and you know exactly what the finished product looks like. No, remolding the national team is like having the parts from hundreds of different Billys and Florts and Ludvigs and Knuffs dumped onto the living room floor, with no instructions or idea of whether or not the pieces you've got can actually create a usable bookshelf.
    Also, you're not sure when you're going to get a full-time Allen key.
    It's not going to be pretty. Saturday wasn't. And Tuesday's match against the U.S. probably won't be either. But anyone expecting something different, given the circumstances -- or who'd bought into the idea that by simply purging most of the participants in the 8-1 debacle, a fresh and energized bunch of kids would suddenly come together into a cohesive national team overnight -- is, unfortunately, kidding themselves.
    These games are necessary building blocks for what's to come -- even if none of us truly know what that will be, exactly. Only when the team is able to assemble a regular core, under a full-time head coach, will we know what we're dealing with.
    For now, the team will fly under the radar -- as it has for so many years -- while the difficult work of not just recovering from the humiliation in Honduras, but applying the lessons that were hopefully learned, is done.
    Next up for the work-in-progress known as the CanMNT: Their cross-border rivals on Tuesday night.
    Hey, at least it won't be 8-1.
    We hope.
    .
    Guest

    Gold Cup line-up set

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    The 2013 Gold Cup line-up is complete.
    With Panama’s win over Guatemala in today’s fifth place match at the Central American championships they captured the last spot for the tournament, which goes this summer.
    Also qualifying out of Central America is Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador and, surprisingly, Belize. It will be the first appearance at the Gold Cup for Belize.
    Those five countries join the automatically qualified Canada, USA and Mexico along side the Caribbean qualifiers of Trinidad & Tobago, Cuba, Haiti and Martinique.
    The tournament will be played in the United States in eight stadiums: Georgia Dome (Atlanta, GA), M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore, MD), Soldier Field (Chicago, IL), Cowboys Stadium (Arlington, TX), Sports Authority Field at Mile High (Denver, CO), Rentschler Field (East Hartford, CT), BBVA Compass Stadium (Houston, TX), Rose Bowl (Pasadena, CA), Sun Life Stadium (Miami Gardens, FL), Red Bull Arena (Harrison, NJ), Jeld-Wen Field (Portland, OR), Rio Tinto Stadium (Sandy, UT) and CenturyLink Field (Seattle, WA).
    The tournament runs between July 7 and July 28.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Guest
    So, when you're the interim head coach of your national team, overseeing an eclectic squad of hungry youngsters, long-serving veterans and almost-complete unknowns, all of whom have question marks over their heads, how do you prepare for a couple of January friendlies?
    By keeping things simple.
    That's been Colin Miller's approach through a week of training ahead of Canada's matchups with Denmark on Saturday (12 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. ET, sportsnet.ca) and the U.S. on Tuesday (6 p.m. PT / 9 p.m. ET, Sportsnet) and the results have been, in his eyes, "hugely successful."
    "It's a different type of football (compared to the club side)," Miller said Friday. "But the atmosphere in camp has been fantastic."
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The team, as has been well-documented, bears nearly no resemblance to the Canadian squad that crashed out of World Cup qualifying in October. But the camp does include a "spine" of "good, experienced guys" that Miller says have had a positive influence on the newcomers.
    "We prepared the team as well as we possibly can, given the circumstances," said Miller. "Terry Dunfield, Dwayne DeRosario, Lars Hirschfeld have all been terrific this week in training, setting terrific examples."
    But while those veterans will likely be among the starters, Miller said he'll do his best to utilize as many players as possible in the two games. His role, he emphasized, was to provide building blocks for the future and give the CSA an idea of the player pool it's working with.
    The heat in the southern U.S. will have a little something to do with it, too.
    "When we started training, I had a sweatshirt on, and I think someone opened up the oven door," Miller said of the conditions in Arizona. Canada will play Denmark in Tucson before heading to Houston for the U.S. encounter.
    As for what to expect in those two games, Miller said he's minimized talking about the opposing sides with his players, mostly because he'd rather keep the emphasis on what they're trying to accomplish.
    "The key to the whole week's training is how simple we've kept it," he said. "We've not gone to try and reinvent the wheel... (and) the players have genuinely bought in."
    The team is being largely reinvented, of course, around a younger core. Many of those players were part of the famous 2-0 win over the U.S. (on U.S. soil) last year in Olympic qualifying, and would surely love the chance to pull off another upset. But Miller knows that in the long run, the results of these games mean little in comparison to the insight they can provide about the players involved.
    "I'd like to get two solid performances," he said. "We'd love to win both games, but that hasn't been the be-all and end-all of this.
    "We've tried to take the pressure off the players. What we've tried to build on is a new group of players, a younger group of players."
    The attitude appears similar to that of women's national team head coach John Herdman, who began his rebuilding project at the four-nation Yongchuan Cup earlier this month. Prior to that tourney, Herdman quipped "Sometimes to achieve winning, you've got to forget about winning."
    Indeed, the men's national team and its fans would do well to forget about winning for a little while, in order to (hopefully) achieve winning down the road.
    As for Miller's thoughts on this summer's Gold Cup, and how this squad would be preparing for that, he said "you'll have to ask the manager of the team at that point."
    Indeed, Miller will head back to his day job (as new head coach of FC Edmonton) on Wednesday, though the question had to be asked as to whether he'd entertain the idea of sticking around with the national team.
    "Not many people get asked to be the manager of their national team, so if there wasn't an FC Edmonton in the equation, who would turn down managing their country?" he said. "But that conversation has never arisen."
    Yes, on Wednesday, Miller will go back to devoting his full attention to FC Edmonton, while the hodgepodge group assembled for these friendlies will disperse to the various locales from whence they came, some of whom are likely never to be seen again for the senior national team.
    But in the meantime, let's all take a good look at what we've got, eh?
    NOTES: Striker Frank Jonke and fullback Andres Fresenga picked up knocks during training camp and are questionable for the Denmark game. Hirschfeld also suffered back spasms during the week, but Miller is "hopeful" he'll be ready for Saturday's matchup. ... The teams will be allowed six substitutions in each of the two games.
    .
    Guest

    Working to Live: The Jacob Lensky Story

    By Guest, in AFTN,

    Early in life, Jacob Lensky made the decision that he would not be defined by his occupation, as so many of us are. It would be but one piece of the whole. In his case, being a footballer, it enabled him to travel throughout Europe, training at such prestigious youth academies as Anderlecht, Sparta Prague, Slavia Prague, and Blackburn Rovers.
    He saw the world, and did it all before his 16th year. No easy feat for the self-described <i>"lonely Canadian kid".</i> He could have added Manchester United to the list, but while Sir Alex Ferguson offered him a trial, it was Martin O’Neill and Celtic that offered him a contract. It would be the first in a series of pragmatic decisions that verberate to this day.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Recounting his first impressions of the Glasgow giants:
    <i>"It’s a much different culture, a much different country, and I was going solo. I remember the first time walking through the dressing room and they’ve got like 40 kids, U17 and U18s, all these Irish and Scottish kids. You walk in there, you’ve got all these eyes around you, it’s intimidating, and it’s scary at first."</i>
    He was thrown into the deep end, playing at a European level, walking the fine line between obsession and burnout. It was a steep learning curve, dealing with many challenging individuals on a regular basis, but it was a necessary one. On the field, he was impressive enough to fetch the offer of a pre-contract with Feyenoord. Faced with the choice between washing his own kit and shining other players’ shoes, or playing in the first squad, he nearly bit their hand off to accept it.
    Although Erwin Koeman had promised first team football, by the end of the season he had only forty-five minutes of it to his name. Koeman resigned after the season, and Lensky announced his retirement. Depression, fatigue, and the pressure to perform had taken their toll on the shy, sensitive 19-year old from Vancouver.
    After more than five years in Europe, he returned home. He needed a break. He needed to reconnect with what matters. He spent time with his friends and family. He went to see the Stone Temple Pilots and Mötley Crüe. He enjoyed himself, and he has no regrets.
    Come January, he was feeling the tug. He asked to train with Vancouver Whitecaps, at the time a USL First Division side, to regain his fitness. Teitur Thórdarson was kind enough to indulge him. It should be noted that it’s a common practice for football clubs to allow unattached players to train with their squads. It adds variety to practice, and occasionally leads to trials, or even contracts. Once again, he impressed. There has never been any doubt when it comes to his ability on the pitch.
    Thórdarson wanted him for the Whitecaps, Sigi Schmid invited him to Seattle Sounders' inaugural MLS training camp, but <i>"there was an opportunity to go Utrecht as well."</i> He had unfinished business in the Eredivisie. <i>"I wanted to go to Holland or to Europe first, before I did that."</i>
    He went on trial at FC Utrecht, and before long he had earned himself a contract. <i>"I got the opportunity to play left back and that was my chance to get into the team at Utrecht. Their midfield was all established guys when I got there, so when I got that chance at left back I took it. That gave me the opportunity to move up eventually."</i> It was later extended for another year.
    He played in the Europa League against Liverpool, Napoli, Steaua Bucureşti, Celtic, and in the Eredivisie against the likes of Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, and Feyenoord. <i>"I was very good, well, for the first while it was very good. On the field everything was great, I got along well with the coaches and the players, I enjoyed it on the field, but off the field . . . it got a little rough."</i>
    He’s home now, back in Vancouver, all settled in, and hoping to earn his chance. He’s a little older and a little wiser for his experiences, but has no assumptions. He’s ready and willing to do whatever is asked of him.
    When asked where he would like to play, he had this to say.
    <i>"I like 4-3-3 a lot, because if you’ve got three guys in the midfield I can rotate, play each position, there’s a lot of movement, you can create a lot of space, and you’ve got three forwards. I like to play one of those three, any of those three across the centre. But I can also play left back."</i>
    With Alain Rochat and Jordan Harvey, there shouldn’t be much need for a left back, but it’s always nice to have someone with that kind of versatility around.
    As for his trial.
    <i>"I think it’s going well. Hopefully we can figure something out. I’ve been making progress, and I’m optimistic."</i>
    With spots on the MLS squad at a premium, and so many players battling for them, it’s going to be tough for all of the competing players to make the grade.
    With all that Jacob Lensky has been through, and his continued desire to rise from that, you wouldn’t bet against him.
    <p>
    Guest
    Canadian Soccer News’ Ben Knight once said that MLS was like watching a series of McDonalds restaurants play against each other -- everything was basically the same, only the colour of the strips changed.
    MLS’ insistence on absolute parity may have made all teams competitive (in theory anyway), but it also made the league a tad bit vanilla. Without significant separation between the best and worst teams, it was hard to care about anything other than your local branch of McMLS. And that prevented the league from truly growing.
    He said this around 2009. At the time the league had just started to implement some changes that were designed to take the training wheels off and allow some individual expression by clubs within the league. Now, about four years latter, we are starting to see some changes.
    Most famously the league started the Designated Player program in 2007, which allowed big names to come into the league so long as the wage bill was paid by the club signing the player rather than by the league. That rule was eventually expanded to allow up to three DPs and it provided even more opportunity for the wealthier or more ambitious clubs to be aggressive. Signing a DP wasn’t a guarantee to make you better (TFC is a glaring example of that), but the rule has helped to create individual identities for clubs.
    The league is still a bit McMLS, but far less than it was in 2009.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Of course the DP rule wasn’t the only change MLS made back then. It arguably wasn’t even the biggest change the league made to allow teams to forge their own identity – for that you might have to look at the academy system rule changes.
    Although they were instituted with far less fanfare, the academy programs give teams far more ability to shape themselves in their own philosophy. That’s especially the case now that all limits to signing players have been removed.
    Today, MLS continued the process it started with the DP and academy rule changes when it formally announced that it is teaming up with USL-Pro to grow the reserve league.
    They were clear. The move is about development with an eye to their stated goal of becoming “one of the world’s best leagues” by 2022.
    It's badly needed. Bluntly, the current reserve system is a joke. They play too few games and the games they play are not competitive enough to help the development of younger players.
    Players need to play and this move will allow them to do so. Unfortunately for the Canadian teams, we are still a year away from the benefit. All three teams will continue to play in the MLS reserve league in 2013 during the transition year of the program. What they do in 2014 is still up in the air, however.
    What isn’t up in the air is what they should do. The partnership allows teams to either go in halfway by affiliating with a USL team and loaning out at least four players. That will be fine for the four (and it won’t be much more, based on the small roster size of MLS teams), but not so great for the rest of the non-starting players – including the academy kids that everyone wants to see playing more.
    The other option – and the option that all three Canadian teams absolutely should be doing – is putting a stand alone team in USL-Pro.
    That option will be far more expensive, but far better for the long-term development of players.
    There is no excuse for all three teams – three teams that are in the upper level of MLS teams in terms of profits – not to go full-in on this plan.
    And the CSA won't stand in their way. President Victor Montagliani confirmed with CSN today that they have no intention to block the Canadian MLS teams from playing reserve games as part of USL-Pro. The only caveat, he made, was that the reserve teams would not be sanctioned separately from their senior teams and, as such, would not be able to participate in Canadian competitions – most notably the Voyageurs Cup.
    It takes time to build a pro team, even if much of the infrastructure needed is already in place. So, it should not be viewed as a negative that the three teams are not participating this year. In fact, it’s probably a good sign they haven’t entered into an affiliate relationship as it means the door is still open to playing as a stand alone team in 2014.
    But, this needs to happen.
    Guest

    Plata out of Toronto?

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    The agent for Joao Plata has tweeted that Plata is "very close" to transferring to Salt Lake City.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/joaoplata10">joaoplata10</a> muy cerca de Real Salt Lake, hoy se confirma.</p>— Gustavo Lescovich (@guslescovich) <a href="
    ">January 24, 2013</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
    The translation reads: JoaoPlata10 very close to Real Salt Lake, now it is confirmed.
    There is no information about what SLC is giving up to Toronto to obtain his rights but what is clear is that this would not be a loan deal, as is being suggested by Futbol Ecuador. For the time being, Toronto is denying the move.
    More as it develops.
    Guest
    Today, the three Canadian MLS teams learned what USL-Pro team their reserve side will be playing in home and home action in 2013.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Toronto will play the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, Vancouver takes on the Richmond Kickers and Montreal plays the Rochester Rhinos.
    In 2013, 14 MLS teams will each play a home and home series between a USL-Pro side and their reserve team. It's part of a transition year plan that will eventually see more integration between the two leagues.
    Chivas USA is the only MLS team not taking part and four teams are affiliating themselves with a USL team.
    The Montreal v Rochester match-up is the most interesting. The two clubs have a long and often rocky history. It's likely Impact fans will treat the game against the Rhinos as being more important than a simple reserve game friendly.
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