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    Draft Duo Excited By Whitecaps Challenge

    By Guest, in AFTN,

    The 2012 MLS SuperDraft has come and gone.
    All that conjecture and speculation as to which players may go at what spots, who will end up where and what picks may be traded for far better goodies, proved once again, that no-one can fully predict how these drafts are going to pan out and that the top players seem to be fairly evident. On paper at least. Wait till we actually see them on grass.
    The end result for the Whitecaps is that they have now acquired two new players - should they decide to keep them both after evaluation.
    So welcome to Vancouver <b>Darren Mattocks</b> and <b>Chris Estridge</b>.
    Mattocks and Andrew Wenger were tipped by most pundits to be the top two selections. With Montreal seemingly needing some talented firepower up front, the money was on the Impact to go for Mattocks. It would have been interesting to see what he could have learned from a veteran like Brian Ching and what kind of partnership they could have forged, assuming the draftee became a first team regular and Ching does actually play a match for L'Impact.
    The debate as to whether Mattocks or Wenger was the prime pick was split. Personally, from all that I read about both players, I was hoping that Montreal would take Mattocks and the Caps would get the far more versatile Wenger, a player who could have provided options at three, maybe even four, positions. Montreal clearly felt the same way about him and the Duke man went as the number one pick in this year's draft.
    Shame to lose out on him, but we have a potentially excellent pick in Mattocks instead.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    When you 'end up' with most people's number one pick in the whole draft, you can't exactly be disappointed by that! Look at what Darlington Nagbe produced for Porltand as the number two selection last year. Many had tipped him to be the top pick, but his desire not to come to Canada benefitted our Cascadian rivals instead.
    Caps coach Martin Rennie didn't sound too disappointed by his choice!:
    <i>"Darren has great pace and an ability to get behind the opposition. He has power, athleticism, and a good eye for the goal, which is always hard to find. He also brings a solid scoring record and we are extremely pleased we were able to select Darren."</i>
    Mattocks is a 21 year old, Jamaican U23 international from Akron University. His electric pace and goalscoring abilities have excited many in his two seasons with the Zips.
    Last season he netted 21 goals in 22 appearances, and from what I saw of him in the first combine game, he's a player with a good sense of what's happening in a match and has a very welcome unselfish, team beneficial, attitude. There has also been pre-draft chat that if the Caps were to land him, he may be used as a winger. A much needed commodity in the side.
    As a freshman, Mattocks was named MAC Newcomer of the Year after finishing third in NCAA Division I scoring with 18 goals in 25 appearances in 2010, earning him Freshman All-American honours with College Soccer News, Goal.com, Soccer America, and Top Drawer Soccer.
    His sophomore year saw him named Mid-American Conference (MAC) Player of the Year and to the All-MAC First Team for a second straight year. He was also a Hermann Trophy semi-finalist, an honour which eventually went to Wenger.
    The arrival of Mattocks undoubtedly raises a few questions around the Caps front line.
    We have Hassli, Camilo, Tan, Salgado and possibly Harris and Jarju there right now, depending on where Rennie looks to play him next season. As we said when we looked at the <a href="http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/content.php?2637-Will-Whitecaps-Land-A-Carolina-Trifecta" target="_blank">possibility of the Caps making a move to acquire Etienne Barbara's MLS rights from Montreal</a> (which may be totally dead in the water now after this pick, rather than just floating helplessly), we need to have something better in there. Someone who can put the ball in the net, and apart from the two main men of Hassli and Camilo, we've yet to see that done on a consistent basis from the others.
    Mattocks should immediately come in as our number three striker in the depth charts in our eyes. What this will mean for Tan and Salgado is open to debate. Salgado in particular seemed unhappy at having to bide his time and prove his worth last season. I'd have no hesitation in letting last year's number one draft pick move on. It would be better for both the club and the player.
    We can only hope that Mattocks will not have similar gripes if he finds himself not featuring immediately. The difference in Mattocks and Salgado is surely going to be maturity both on and off the field. From the limited knowledge I've gleaned of the player, his game seems far more advanced and of immediate use to the Caps than Salgado's was/is.
    Till we see him all suited and booted on the pitch in a Caps shirt, we won't really know what our draftee can do. I'm certainly looking forward to finding out though. Mattocks, who, despite never having set foot north of the US border, was almost certain to be Canada-bound post draft, is relishing the opportunity of coming to Vancouver:
    <i>"It's always going to be a challenge coming to a new environment, but hopefully I can adjust quickly and show my stuff"</i>
    The 2012 SuperDraft is felt by some to be particularly deep at the top end this year. I have no idea as to whether this is indeed the case, but we'll see soon enough when we get a look at the Caps other newbie from this morning - defender Chris Estridge.
    After the first round picks are done, you're starting to move into pig in the poke, shot in the dark territory the further down the field you go. I know absolutely nothing about Estridge, other than what the Caps official press release has told me, but adding more defensive cover is definitely an area we've needed to look at and is welcomed.
    Estridge is a 22 year old defender, who can play at right back and midfield, and will immediately be looked at as cover, and a future replacement, for Y-P Lee. He comes to Vancouver from Indiana University, where he spent two productive seasons, making 20 appearances and recording one assist in his junior year, and 22 appearances, three goals and five assists this past senior year.
    These efforts saw Estridge named onto the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-American First Team and the All-Big Ten Conference First Team.
    Prior to moving to Indiana, Estridge spent the first two years of his college career at Wake Forest University, where he 26 appearances in three different positions.
    Despite being the 21st overall pick in the draft, Rennie is quite high on him as a player:
    <i>"In our opinion, Chris Estridge is one of the best right backs in the draft and we’re pleased that he was still available for selection. Chris can play with both feet on either side of the field and he brings a lot to the table. We needed a bit more depth defensively and I really wanted to make sure that we got a defender out of this draft. I’m very pleased that we got Chris."</i>
    It all sounds very promising and Estridge himself is delighted to be coming to Vancouver:
    <i>"Everything that I’ve heard about Vancouver makes me extremely excite. I can’t wait to be coming to a team that has the whole city behind it. I’m really looking forward to a great year."</i>
    With all the selections now done and dusted, all we're left to look forward to is the far less appealing four rounds of the Supplemental Draft next week. There can still be some diamonds found in that particular rough, as Michael Boxall proved last year, but they are few and far between and it would be a major surprise to me to find these selections on the Caps MLS squad come 'First Kick'.
    This year I've tried to get excited about the SuperDraft, mainly due to having to write about it, but the whole draft concept is still pretty alien to me, as are many of MLS' rules really.
    As a non North American brought up on a transfer system and youth development, it's still hard for me to get used to drafts and the college ones in particular. I don't want to be dismissive of it though, simply because it's a cultural difference. There is no doubt that some great talent can be brought into the Caps, and the whole of MLS, this way.
    I wasn't able to watch the draft this morning due to work commitments. This was actually a good thing, as no TV or internet access actually made my personal excitement levels build, as I relied on text updates from the Whitecaps <a href="http://www.twitter.com/whitecapsfc" target="_blank">Twitter feed</a>, and an excellent job they did. You just never knew what the next text was going to say!
    From what Don Garber said <a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/superdraft/2012/news/article/2012/01/09/mls-insider-combine-diary-chat-commssioner" target="_blank">on Monday</a>, the SuperDraft isn't going anywhere any time soon and could in fact be expanded, so I think I would recommend this way to those who feel a bit blah about the whole thing!
    I really must make an effort to watch more of the college games this year. I did make the same resolution last year, but only caught a couple on the 'Big Ten' network. So maybe next year. Or more probably, maybe not.
    Garber has stated that his hope/expectation would be that academies could produce many of the club's future prospects in ten to twenty years time. Although great, that is a pretty long timescale and one which I would love to see happening in at least half that time. Of course, we're a bit spoilt here in Vancouver as we are already producing our own future prospects through the Caps excellent Residency program.
    And I think that's where a lot of this sticks in my craw (as we say in Scotland).
    This season we've promoted Bryce Alderson from the Residency set up to the MLS squad. Last year it was Russell Teibert.
    I'd love to see us produce more than one step up a year, especially as we have two excellent striking prospects in Ben Fisk and Caleb Clarke ready to make the move soon, if not now.
    Bringing in a Jamaican forward, from the US college system, ahead of locally produced talent is a major disappointment for me.
    I'll qualify that by saying that I don't care where we get our players from, Canada or wherever, as long as they're good enough to come in and do the job. When you've watched two players develop and grow like Fisk and Clarke, it just makes no sense to me that you then go and get another young guy from elsewhere in their position.
    As long as Mattocks is ahead of them and, at the very least, going to be an immediate gameday squad player then that is some justification. If he's going to end up as another Salgado and not getting much playing time, or even ending up in PDL, then it would maybe have been better to look at the midfield or defensive options that were available. There didn't seem to be any great choices jumping out at you after Wenger mind you, and we did add Estridge in the second round.
    Rennie and Ritchie have clearly indicated from the off that they know where they need to strengthen and what shape they want to take this team. I trust them to have made the right choices.
    In eleven days time, the Caps 2012 Training Camp begins.
    With four more additions to the Caps numbers to come from next week's Supplemental Draft, places and contracts will be at a premium. Then we'll start to separate the boys from the men from the players that are going to bring the Whitecaps some glory.
    The hard work for Mattocks, Estridge and others, is only just beginning.
    <p>
    Guest
    The 2012 CONCACAF Champions League will feature a new format.
    Instead of a preliminary group stage leading to four groups of four teams, the federation will move to eight three team groups.
    Only the winner will advance to the quarterfinals.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The change is likely to reduce the amount of games teams play. In 2011-12, Toronto FC played eight games to advance to the quarterfinals. Under the new format they would play just four.
    However, instead of exposing fans to four different teams -- part of the charm of a Champions League is to opportunity to watch teams you don't normally see -- only two opponents will be on the menu.
    Although there is no word about what countries will be seeded, it seems highly unlikely Canada will be one of the teams seeded at the top of the group (regardless of Canada's success at the event, it will not be seeded until there is a full league, or, at least, an open cup leading into the CCL).
    On a surface look, it seems as though advancement to the quarterfinals much more difficult for Canada moving forward.
    Guest
    Troublesome news for the women's national team, as head coach John Herdman revealed on Thursday that veteran midfielder Diana Matheson may not be ready in time for the Olympic qualification tournament, which begins on Jan. 19.
    "We're still working that out internally," Herdman said of Matheson's recovery from a knee operation, adding that there were "complications around that."
    The 27-year-old midfielder has 130 caps for the national team, and her presence in the centre of the park would be missed, as well as her proficiency on set pieces. Should she be unable to play, much of her responsibility would likely fall to 23-year-old Sophie Schmidt, who had the finest year of her career for Big Red in 2011.
    And there's another familiar Canadian face who the fans in Vancouver may not be seeing in a given match, as Herdman also revealed that all-time Canadian goal-scoring queen Christine Sinclair may get some strategic rest during the tournament.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    "There may be games Christine is not playing, in order to keep her fresh for key games," Herdman told the media.
    Indeed, qualification for the Olympics will almost certainly hinge on a one-off contest with either Mexico or the United States on Jan. 27. The winner goes to London this summer, while the loser stays home. And while Herdman wasn't willing to overlook Canada's first-round opposition (Haiti, Costa Rica and Cuba), he did say that cycling his roster would be vital in such a time-crunched competition.
    "(We need to show) due diligence in planning the minutes of players," he said, in order to stay "physically and mentally fresh".
    As for who could fill in, if Sinclair were to be rested, Herdman pointed to the recent form of 23-year-old Christina Julien.
    "She's a quality player... she's definitely one to watch," Herdman said of Julien, noting that she's scored five goals in Canada's last two tune-up friendlies. He also identified Melissa Tancredi and Chelsea Buckland as strikers he could count on in the event that Canada's captain (she of the 119 career goals for her country) is given strategic rest.
    As for the general mood in camp thus far, Herdman called it "positive" and "quite light", saying the players are just looking forward to taking advantage of the "unique opportunity" to perform in front of a home crowd with so much at stake.
    The potential absence of both Sinclair and Matheson also raises the largely irrelevant question of who would wear the captain's armband for Canada. Though one would imagine that most fans are much more concerned about whether or not the team will make their way through to this summer's Olympic games.
    Canada's first game is against Haiti on Thursday, Jan. 19 at 7:30 p.m. PT / 10:30 p.m. ET. (Full broadcast schedule is here).
    .
    Guest
    The Montreal Impact went with the consensus best overall talent in selecting Duke’s Andrew Wenger with the No 1 pick in the MLS SuperDraft.
    Wenger is not considered to have flashy skills, but is seen as a solid MLS player that will likely be in the league for many years. He was the most outstanding player in college last year – not always a great indicator of MLS success – and it was thought that Vancouver desperately wanted him.
    The best player in the draft was likely Kelyn Rowe, but there was some suggestion that he indicated that he would not report to a Canadian team. New England was always the suggested destination for Rowe and the Revs did, indeed, select the UCLA product.
    All three Canadian teams were front and centre in the draft, with Vancouver selecting second overall and Toronto the only team with two selections in the first round.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    And, with Wenger off the board, Vancouver’s first selection was anti-climactic. The consensus selection was forward Darren Mattocks from the powerhouse program at Akron. Although college soccer has a well deserved reputation for not being the best breeding ground for pro soccer players, the program at Akron can be seen as an exception. It takes pro development seriously.
    Thought to be the best attacker available the only knock on Mattocks is that as a Jamaican he will take up an international spot
    With the No 4 selection Toronto grabbed attacking midfielder Luis Silva from UC Santa Barbara. According to Paul Mariner, Silva was the player TFC most wanted from the draft.
    An attacking midfielder with some gaudy stats, Silva was considered the best player at the combine. Although the 2012 draft class isn’t thought to have many potential all-stars, Silva is a player that might make fans take notice – he’s fast and technically solid.
    Toronto’s second pick of the first round went to try and fill a hole. Defender Aaron Maund of Notre Dame at No 12. Maund is solid physically and said to be good in the air. If he gets time – and it’s by no means a sure thing – he could help Toronto deal with its set-piece issues.
    With the first pick of the second round Montreal selected Calum Mallace from Marquette. He’s a long-shot prospect that will probably top out as a depth player. At No 21, that’s about as good as you can expect.
    The Whitecaps went with an even bigger long-shot with their second round pick. At 22, Indiana’s Chris Estridge is likely as good as he’s going to be – a 22-year-old still playing college soccer.
    CSN will have more analysis on today's selections over the next day.
    Guest

    Live chat: MLS SuperDraft 2012

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Join us for a live chat about the 2012 SuperDraft.
    The expansion Montreal Impact have the first pick in the draft, followed by Vancouver Whitecaps at number two. Toronto FC hold pick numbers 4 and 12 in the first round, so all three Canadian MLS sides should be very active from the outset.
    The Superdraft starts Thursday, January 12, at 12:00pm ET / 9:00am PT.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    <iframe src="http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php/option=com_altcaster/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=82585d2740/height=550/width=470" scrolling="no" height="550px" width="470px" frameBorder ="0" allowTransparency="true" ><a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=82585d2740" >2012 MLS SuperDraft</a></iframe>
    Guest

    Plata officially re-signs with Toronto

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Toronto FC announced today that fan favourite Joao Plata has agreed to terms on a new multi-year contract with the club.
    It is not known at this time if Plata's rights were fully transfered to TFC, but in recent weeks rumours have circulated that Toronto had been looking to purchase at least 50 per cent of the Ecuadorean's rights from his former club LDU Quito.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Regardless, the announcement finalizes another key piece of the off-season puzzle for the Reds. With club officials having said recently that both Plata and 2011's other on-loan breakout star Richard Eckersley were very close to returning, fans will now hope to hear a similar announcement about Eckersley in the coming weeks.
    Guest
    FIFA's head of security Chris Eaton held a roundtable with media this week to discuss the governing body's plan to implement a number of anti-match fixing initiatives in 2012. He spoke at length of the scale of fixing across the globe and the challenges that await them before opening up the floor to journalist's questions.
    This process has been largely panned by those who have been investigating fixers at the highest levels of the global game, most notably Declan Hill, who has called the whole process 'a smokescreen' and a waste of time.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    And while I don't doubt Eaton's intentions here, he genuinely seems to be aware of the scale of the problem, this kind of action, at this point, is a case of too little, too late. Listening to him speak, he emphasizes points - such as how players appoint a leader to deal with the fixers - that much of the invited media would have been rolling their eyes at. Those who were in attendance from the media have been warning of far greater complexity for years - not just some piddly players getting together to fix a few games. These are international rings of organized crime who have gone as far to invent games for unsuspecting gamblers to bet on. So, even if FIFA has begun to understand the scale of what they are facing, they're still largely unaware of the depth.
    Eaton goes on to discuss the outlandish presumptions of fixers, some daring to tell the heads of federations how to run their games, to which, again, you wonder what's the new news here? Federation's being handcuffed by unscrupulous members and outside influence is nothing new and it should come as no shock to anyone who has been following this story with even one eye open.
    But he sums it up with more promises of enabling the individual FA's to start implementing their plans. Which, for those who have been waiting for some kind of sign of movement from their own governing bodies (ahem) this could be seen as a silver lining of sorts. We'll wait to see on that though.
    And while FIFA has now clearly admitted to themselves there are indeed problems here worth looking at (remember when it was still just uncommon occurrences?) they won't instill confidence with their action plan and presentation this week. Anonymous tip lines and what amounts to neighbourhood watch programs are better suited to petty crimes and washing away local graffiti. If this is the starting point, the cleaning up of our game is a long way off.
    You can read the action plan and listen to the roundtable after the jump.
    FIFA's action plan document
    Download the audio from the roundtable here
    Guest

    Long Balls: Is Issey really soft?

    By Guest, in Some Canadian Guys,

    Given Scott Higgins apparent sour disposition towards footballers who hit the turf too cheaply, Long Balls is going to assume the goalkeeping coach for A-League's Gold Coast United doesn't spent much time watching Concacaf football.
    Or perhaps it's not divers per se that Higgins hates on, so much as it is Brisbane Roar's Issey Nakajima-Farran himself. Or maybe it's both. That would certainly explain why Higgins tore a strip out of the Canada midfielder on Twitter this weekend, with an opening salvo of, "Is @isseynfarran possibly the softest player in the league".
    Either way, it's somewhat of a shame, since Long Balls was hoping to extend a social media invitation to the Aussie to live-tweet Canada's June date with Honduras in the second round of World Cup qualifying. Based on Higgins performance this weekend, we figured the mixture of him, Nakajima-Farran and players flopping to the ground at the faintest opportunity would be particularly combustible.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    It's hard to say whether Higgins will accept the offer, but the bigger question may be whether Nakajima-Farran will be there in the first place. The Canadian may miss some of his club's biggest matches this year if he finds himself on the wrong side of the four-man Asian Football Confederation limit on how many foreign players are allowed to participate per side in its version of the Champions League.
    No, Ulsan Hyundai isn't exactly AC Milan, but playing fewer games than expected can hardly count in the 'positive' tally for a player who has played a peripheral role for Stephen Hart's Canada.
    And if there's no Nakajima-Farran around to insult, will Higgins really want to sit through two hours of
    ? In better news, Canadian forward Simeon Jackson scored against Burnley in the FA Cup. The winner it turns out, in a 4-1 victory.
    That makes it three goals in four games now for Jackson, who has acquired the reputation of a player who scores in bunches, switching unreliably from hot to cold like a shower in rent-controlled housing. His timing has been glorious mind you, with his biggest splashes saved for year-end and coinciding with his club climbing another rung inside England's soccer pyramid. And the good news is that according to Long Balls' calendar he's due to pop off again in sometime in late spring (perhaps during that aforementioned Canada-Honduras game) after a barren spell through March and April.
    And in even better news: Canada's best footballer is back in the lineup with PSV Eindhoven following an injury, if only for a friendly and if only as a substitute against Spanish second-division side Real Murcia. The Dutch side resumes league play on January 22nd and we hope that Atiba Hutchinson is in the lineup.
    Guest

    A MLS mockery draft

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    The MLS SuperDraft sucks.
    There, I said it. Now, before you rush to the comments section to tell me how there are still players to be found in the draft, and teams can’t afford to overlook it, don’t bother. You’re right. There are and there is.
    Its importance is not up for debate (although it is overstated). The SuperDraft sucks because it exists, period. The continued pandering to the NCAA pathway of soccer development in North America is the biggest obstacle the sport faces in its growth here. The draft is a symptom of that pandering.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Although we in Canada are less enamoured with college sports than American fans tend to be, we are not innocent in its promotion either. For years the goal of a NCAA scholarship has been held up as the Holy grail for every athletically gifted, fast kid chasing down hopeless long balls on your local u12 club.
    Still, the self-righteous Canuck soccer fan can feel OK about hanging this one mostly on our friends to the south. In the United States college sports is an obsession – it’s right there with Apple Pie, sex obsessed Republicans and SoCal boob jobs on the list of prototypical American things. The NCAA acts as the primary development pathway for the country’s two unofficial national sports – Basketball and football – and is seen as a legitimate option for the official sport, baseball, as well.
    It’s only when you get to the sports that are played more widely elsewhere – hockey and soccer – that there is a mix, but even then the NCAA is still relied on to do the heavy lifting on the development side of things.
    NCAA apologists will point to the success of the NBA and NFL in developing pro players as reason why soccer should stick with. And, there is little doubt that the top colleges do produce a great deal of pro football and basketball players. However, the difference is scale. The United States produces the vast majority of NBA players, period, and all but a tiny handful of NFL players. So, the development pathway works because it's the development pathway -- if you want to be a pro you have to go through it
    Actually, I’ll make the argument that the NCAA is actually an ineffective way to produce NBA and NFL players (i.e. there are other methods that would work much better). However, a lack of other options, combined with cultural pressure to go to college, is enough to overcome the structural shortcomings found within college sports.
    Basically, if you throw enough paint at a wall eventually you’ll make art. Or, to put it more bluntly, there are so many players in the system my cat could design the development pathway and it would still produce a crap-load of players.
    However, when you are talking about a sport like soccer where there are far less prospects to start with you need to make sure that the system is efficient. What’s efficient? Well, the way it’s done is the entire rest of the world would be as good a place to start looking for that answer as any.
    Local clubs develop local youth amateur players. The best of those players move on to regional clubs to play in a professional youth academy, usually affiliated with a professional club. The very best of those are purchased by big clubs to win them silver cups. The system works because there is financial incentive at every level to produce players. If a small club creates a star, they get paid for him. The world is a simple place really. It is motivated by money.
    And money, to bring it back to the NCAA, is why MLS holds onto a development system it knows is ineffective. A player drafted in the SuperDraft is a player MLS doesn’t have to pay a transfer fee for. It’s a great deal for the bean counters at MLS HQ, but a terrible deal for those that want to see the game get better in Canada and the US.
    Basically, if you don’t compensate youth clubs for developing players they aren’t going to be motivated to develop players. Instead, they’ll look to find revenue streams through player fees, and they are able to increase those fees and attract more players by pointing to the "accomplishments" of winning useless trophies and helping players get NCAA scholarships. It's a vicious cycle.
    The unspoken reason MLS teams are finally moving towards in-house academies is to prevent non-affiliated youth clubs from getting any ideas. MLS effectively pays transfer fees to itself now when it signs a homegrown (cap relief is spent on other players), but it offsets that increased cost through the Generation adidas agreement. It also is fine taking transfers from other leagues– they won’t pay transfer fees to local clubs that produce players, but they will damn well demand them from the first European club that wants to sign one of their academy prospects.
    It’s a pretty good gig.
    So, forgive me for not celebrating the draft. I’ll cover it and I understand why it needs to be paid attention to, but I will not, in any way, promote it as anything other than the anchor that it is on North American soccer.
    Guest
    Regular readers of CSN might remember a kinda-regular feature I did last year, in which I combined my years of being a referee with my years of being a smart-ass to sorta-answer readers' questions about the Laws of the Game and their application in real-life situations. Well, hold onto your hats, because Don't Fight The Laws is kinda-sorta back!
    In this edition, I'll be attending to some questions thrown my way in the months since the last edition of this column. But for the future, I'll turn to you fine folks to provide some pressing inquiries via email or the comments field below. Ready? No? Too bad, here we go anyway!
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgElEE_4uW0&feature=related
    There's no specific question here, other than, what do I think about this infamous incident from late last year? A few folks have weighed in on Facebook, with one saying "the ref is stupid" and comparing the incident to the knife attack on tennis player Monica Seles, while another agrees that "there has got to be a degree of common sense."
    Common sense? You guys know these rules are approved by FIFA, right?
    First, regardless of one's position on this particular call, let's all agree on one thing: The goalkeeper should never have been put in the position where he needed to use his cleated ninja skills to fend off a pitch invader. Keepers should be equipped with miniature Tasers to pre-emptively deal with such dimwits, for the occasions when their drunken delusions and objective reality coalesce into one.
    Second, it's worth noting that this sort of call is by no means unprecedented:


    The Laws of the Game are quite clear when it comes to defining violent conduct: "(A player is) guilty of violent conduct if he uses excessive force or brutality against a teammate, spectator, match official or any other person." I'd say that cracking a prone drunk across the back with your massive feet, or hurling a Borat-swimsuit-wearing streaker head-over-heels both qualify as "excessive force". The penalty for violent conduct? A red card. Simple as that.
    Now, does it violate our fundamental sense of justice that a home supporter can physically threaten the visiting goalkeeper, and have him sent off for retaliating? It does. Perhaps the pitch invader contemplated this apparent paradox while recovering from his hangover in a jail cell. But ultimately, the referee in the original case did nothing wrong -- aside from, perhaps, his choice of haircut.
    This incident, if nothing else, has exposed a potential flaw in the Laws, a loophole that needs to be fixed. And knowing how quickly and effectively FIFA responds to change, we can all sleep well tonight, knowing that justice will be done. While we're waiting for drunk-fan-booting to become acceptable, though, we should remind ourselves that there are fairer, and more hilarious, ways for goalkeepers to deal with pitch invasions:


    I've heard it said that there doesn't need to be contact to an opponent to be a foul in some cases. Is this true? -- James Grossi
    Well, I think any Manchester City fan can attest to the fact that there doesn't need to be contact with an opponent in order for a foul to be called... or a red card to be shown:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeCLPHTTT2Y
    Vincent Kompany's sending-off in the FA Cup this past weekend seems to be part of a movement to clamp down on so-called "scissor" tackles, the sort of challenges that have led to big trouble in El Clasico and Hatem Ben Arfa's leg. But how, you may be wondering, could Kompany be penalized when his opponent wasn't even horribly maimed? Where's the fun in that?
    'Cause that's what the Laws say.
    You're gifting the other team with a direct free kick if you trip or attempt to trip an opponent in a manner that the ref deems "careless, reckless or using excessive force." That's from Law 12, which also spells out what constitutes serious foul play: "Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force and endangering the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play."
    That's a pretty comprehensive description. Where else would you challenge for the ball from? Above? Anyway, the penalty for serious foul play? A red card.
    Those who feel the ref applied the Law too harshly in the FA Cup are wading into the murky waters of on-field subjectivity, which isn't somewhere I'm interested in swimming, lest I be angrily branded as having a bias toward one Manchester side or another. (For the record, I don't give half a damn about either of them.) But those who assert that the ref's decision had no basis whatsoever in the Laws of the Game, quite frankly, don't know what they're talking about.
    Which is weird, because people arguing referee's decisions always totally know what they're talking about.
    If you're curious (and even if you aren't), the distinction between violent conduct and serious foul play is usually loosely defined as such (in my own mind, anyway): serious foul play is an overly dirty or dangerous version of something that might regularly occur during the run of play (i.e. bad tackle), while violent conduct is what it sounds like: egregious physicality, usually occurring when the ball is out of play.
    During the Vancouver Whitecaps Residency's opening game of the 2011 USL PDL season against the Kitsap Pumas, Kitsap head coach Peter Fewing made a habit of lambasting fourth official Bill McNaughton every time he got the chance: criticizing him for decisions made by the other three referees on the field, of course, but still keeping up a quite impolite running dialogue for almost the entire game. As a fourth official, where do you draw the line in taking criticism and even verbal abuse from coaches during a game? -- Ben Massey
    Re-reading that question reminds me of how long it's been since I did one of these columns. It's also somewhat surprising, since I was sure that I put Ben's email address on my "spam" list. I'll check into that.
    In the meantime, my attempt at a response. The main duties of the fourth official are, essentially, assisting with administrative duties (e.g. substitutions) before, during and after the match, and staying awake and mobile in the event one of the other officials becomes incapacitated. The fourth official also "has the authority to inform the referee of irresponsible behaviour by any occupant of the technical area"; however, the official in the middle "retains the authority to decide on all points connected with play."
    The fourth official, when it comes to belligerent coaches, unfortunately doesn't have much recourse, other than to go tattletale to the referee. The ref can then decide to warn the coach, send them off or tell the fourth official to "suck it up, sunshine". Nowhere in the Laws does it cover the procedure surrounding a referee coup, though.
    So presumably, the fourth official could talk to some drunken fan at halftime and convince them to attack the referee. Then, having improperly gained full power, the erstwhile fourth official could then banish the offending coach to hell for all eternity. It's doubtful that ref would ever be gainfully employed again, but at least he'd have a cool story to tell his cellmates.
    Hell0 friend - I come to you with hope you can help me. I am Prince Tatuku and I am desiring you to assist in transfer of 2 500 000 euros out of my country. Please hastily send your creditcard information so your share may be allocated. -- ergb8y3gb24u9hq@hotmail.com
    Yeah, I've really gotta check that spam filter.
    That's it for this time! If you've got a question for a future edition of Don't Fight The Laws, send an email to canadiansoccerguys@gmail.com, or leave a comment below.
    .
    Guest
    <i>The 2012 MLS SuperDraft takes place in Kansas City on Thursday. I’ll be honest and say I don’t know a lot about the players and always feel it’s a bit of a pig in a poke. AFTN writer <b>Steve Pandher</b> on the other hand is the man to go to for a look back at the Caps choices in last year’s drafts and who we should be keeping an eye on this time around….</i>
    <center>******</center>
    The Vancouver Whitecaps enter their second MLS SuperDraft with a new regime, hoping to collect a couple of pieces that can make some impact on their sophomore season. The main difference from last year to this year’s draft is that Martin Rennie will be making the final call on the draft picks made by Vancouver. Rennie has attended previous combines looking for diamonds in the rough, passed on by MLS, for his Carolina Railhawks side. This time though he will be armed with the second overall pick.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    <b>2011 Draft Review</b>
    The 2011 draft saw the Whitecaps select a future project with a higher ceiling in Omar Salgado, instead of going for a possible immediate return and bypassing defender Perry Kitchen. The only other option was Darlington Nagbe, but his apparent refusal to play north of the border removed him from the board. There were flashes of skill displayed by Salgado, but playing time was mainly limited to coming off the bench as a late game substitute. However when he did get a start, the teenager looked physically overmatched and often frustrated by the lack of service.
    The Caps second first round pick, acquired from TFC, was midfielder Michael Nanchoff, who was unable to remain injury free for the majority of the season. The Caps were expecting Nanchoff to compete for the starting spot on the left side of the midfield, but an injury derailed those chances early in camp. By the time he was healthy, Nanchoff was unable to supplant Camilo from the starting eleven, which relegated the Ohio native to the reserve squad and even PDL action with the Whitecaps Residency.
    Their next two picks in the draft, Notre Dame products Jeb Brovsky (2nd round) and Bilal Duckett (3rd round) had mixed results. Brovsky started out in the central midfield but was converted to right back because of injury and lack of options. Duckett had the athleticism to play as a full back but looked lost when he did see the pitch in limited duty.
    The college player that made the most impression on his rookie season was the first pick of the supplemental draft, New Zealand international defender Michael Boxall. Due to injury and unexpected releases, Boxall was forced into the starting eleven before he was ready for the primetime. This showed in his play, with many ups and downs for the Kiwi, as he was thrown into the fire, having much to learn of the professional game.
    <b>2012 Draft Options</b>
    As the offseason has progressed, Rennie has stated on many occasions that he was looking to increase the size and toughness on the pitch while maintaining a high skill level. Too often the Caps were pushed around in their own end, especially when defending set pieces,whilst their ability to score on set pieces was non-existent. With the second pick, the Whitecaps could select Andrew Wenger, from Duke, who would provide a little help with both of these issues. The 2011 NCAA player of the year played his junior season as a striker, scoring 17 goals. He spent his first two years as a central defender and this position, along with defensive midfielder, are the positions he is being widely tipped to play in MLS.
    The potential change to a 4-3-3 formation could also see Rennie looking at a couple of attacking players, especially if Wenger is taken by the Impact. The Caps are not lacking depth at striker but selecting Darren Mattocks and moving him to right wing may be an option for Rennie. The Akron striker is a speedy forward who has enough skills to play out wide and could add scoring from the wing, something that was lacking last year.
    If Mattocks doesn’t fit into Rennie’s mould of the ideal attacking wing/midfielder option, there is a quartet of players who could fit the bill. Kelyn Rowe (UCLA), Luis Silva (UCSB), Enzo Martinez (UNC) and Nick DeLeon (Louisville) all provide attacking options centrally or out wide and are considered playmakers that can provide service to the strikers upfront.
    The two Canadians, Evan James and Babayele Sodade, impressed the pundits at the combines, each scoring a goal on the second day, but are still longshots to be selected in the first two rounds of the SuperDraft. They may however have put themselves in a position to be drafted early in next week’s four round Supplemental Draft.
    <b>AFTN’s Ideal Selections</b>
    FIRST ROUND PICK - ANDREW WENGER - DF/MF (Duke):
    If everything goes as expected and the Impact pick Mattocks, then Hermann Trophy winner Wenger as the Caps selection becomes a no brainer for Rennie. Two seasons ago, in his sophomore season, the Pennsylvania native was voted as the ACC defender of the year. Due to a lack of scoring options last year, he was tried out as a striker, scoring 17 times, and was named ACC offensive player of the year.
    He has been described as a technically gifted player who plays with a strong physical side to his game. While there are some teams in MLS that see him as a forward, his future will either be as a central defender, holding midfielder or as a right back.
    SECOND ROUND PICK - CALUM MALLACE - MF (Marquette):
    A player who fits the Rennie mould, Mallace is a holding midfielder, who was voted Big East midfield player of the year. Born in Scotland, Mallace is 6-2, has an apparent non-stop motor, is good on the ball and has the ability to distribute it forward. He is projected to be drafted anywhere in the 10-25 range but has been one of the standouts at the combine and may not be available for the Whitecaps.
    These would be my ideal picks for Vancouver in the first two rounds and both could make a serious impression on the Caps squad.
    Has anyone else impressed you enough to be given serious consideration? Let us know…
    <i>Steve Pandher will be writing match previews for AFTN this coming season, along with other occasional articles. He is also editor of <a href="http://whitecapsbeat.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><b>The Whitecaps Beat</b></a> blog.</i>
    <p>
    Guest
    Tonight we’re joined by TFC centreback Adrian Cann to update on his recovery, discuss where his contract talks are at with Toronto FC and what he thinks of the Aron Winter era so far.
    We’ll also get into the MLS draft and its place in the North American development pyramid, talk Brian Ching’s apparent change of heart and muse on a number of issues we missed while we were on holidays.
    The archived show is now up.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
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    Subscribe and download It's Called Football on iTunes
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    There will be once-a-week shows until March. We'll return to our three times a week sooner if the demand is there.
    Guest
    It’s been a rough ride so far.
    Back when the party looked like it would never end, fans of Toronto FC didn’t pay much mind to the results on the pitch. Cries for Mo Johnston’s head back then were met with a dismissive “don’t be a killjoy, bro. Have another brew (in my memories of 2007, BMO Field was in Maui. Or a frat house. It’s a bit of a blur. )” The anger came later. The frustration after that and the apathy not until recently.
    Flash forward to the start of 2011 and the excitement was gone. The casual fan was still going for the beer a couple times a year and the hardcore was there out of obligation and patriotism. However, that hardcore was increasingly drifting back to its European roots for its biggest soccer fix.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    A good friend of mine – as big a fan as you could find – said “you don’t think I actually take TFC seriously, do you?” late last season.
    It wasn’t meant as a hit on the club, but rather a reflection of where the club was. During the 90 minutes they sang and cheered as much as the person beside them, but the losses no longer stung. They stayed at the park.
    However, if their Euro club lost...well, duck. Things might fly at your head.
    Although I wasn’t quite as jaded as my friend, even I had to admit a Manchester City loss stung in ways a TFC loss did not. Toronto had become about the people I shared the experience with, rather than the club itself. Years of losing and a truly insane amount of player turnover assured that.
    However, something is changing with TFC, or, more specifically, my relationship with the club this off-season. It’s a subtle change and one that’s not likely to have been felt by many outside of the most plugged in.
    TFC is interesting again. Not interesting like a raging kegger might be (in, say, 2007), but interesting in a what-is-going-to-happen-with-this-experiment kind of way.
    The change started late last season as fans saw the beginning of what the senior club might look like under Aron Winter and the Ajax model. Beating Dallas to advance to the CCL quarterfinal was an obvious moment, but the most important change might have just taken place last week when TFC announced the hiring of Thomas Rongen.
    Now, we have a full fledged science experiment at play. Rongen provides Toronto with the perfect mix of the Ajax philosophy combined with North American knowledge. He’s exhibit 1A in the MLSE isn’t cheap defence (I’ll suggest with confidence that he’s the he’s got to be the highest paid academy director in MLS), but more importantly his hire underlines TFC’s continued commitment to the academy model of building.
    I would argue that no other club in the league is headed in that direction with as much abandonment as the Reds are. Sure, there are other great academies in MLS – DC United has produced stars, RSL and Vancouver have gone the residential route with promise and Dallas is likely doing the best of all right now. But those academies all lack something that TFC seems to have – trust. For the great work that they are doing on the development level elsewhere, it still takes an exceptional player to break through. At Toronto, the club seems to believe in the value of young players that come through the system and in the importance of getting those players into the mix faster and in more important roles than they typically would find themselves in on other MLS clubs.
    That Toronto had the most homegrown players playing significant minutes in 2011 was partly because the team was struggling, yes, but it was also partly philosophical.
    Dan Gargan was likely slightly better than Matt Stinson, and on 18 other MLS teams Gargan would have got the minutes down the stretch last year. At Toronto, however, Stinson’s long-term upside was more valuable so he played while Gargan went to Chicago (I’m using the two players as an indirect comparison. It wasn’t simply a case of Stinson in, Gargan out, of course).
    I suspect you’ll see more of this thinking as long as Aron Winter is in charge, or even after he leaves, so long as the Ajax model continues to be pushed.
    It might not work. Actually, it might fail terribly, with TFC never becoming a championship team. It’s never been tried in MLS before. We have no way of knowing what the outcome will be.
    But, it will be interesting to see how it plays out. And, interesting is welcome after the abyss Toronto walked through over most of the last 18 months.
    Guest

    Galaxy injury blow

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    A key component of the LA Galaxy’s 2011 championship team is out for an extended period of time.
    The 2011 defender of the year, Omar Gonzalez, tore his ACL while on loan in Germany. He has returned to LA to receive surgery and is almost certainly out for the long-term.
    Gonzalez, arguably LA’s most important player after Landon Donovan, is highly unlikely to be ready in time for Toronto FC’s Concacaf Champions League quarter-final tie March 7 and 14.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Guest

    Toronto looking to move down draft?

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Although we don’t typically give space to rumours, there is some interesting – and logical – noise coming out of Toronto FC right now.
    Holding a valuable asset in the No 4 overall pick, but lacking in cap space, it’s being suggested that Toronto is willing to move down the first round if a team is willing to flip its first round pick along with substantial allocation.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Toronto feels it can get Generation adidas defender Andrew Jean-Baptiste with its No 12 selection. Without a true stud defender in the draft, and less of a need for a creative midfielder than other MLS sides, Toronto may take a gamble that even if Jean-Baptiste is gone there still might be a useful player. Austin Berry is another name that’s been mentioned – a defender that has slipped a bit this year, but that many still think can start at CB immediately.
    However, the allocation is vital. As it stands, Toronto has limited options to sign a foreign player and it’s clear that there is a much better chance of finding a difference maker on the transfer market than through the draft. Without more allocation – or releasing more players – TFC does not have the funds to be active in the transfer market.
    Currently, there is no specific trade rumours. However, it’s thought that there would be several teams interested if one of Kelyn Rowe or Luis Silva were still on the board.
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