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    Michael Mccoll
    The waiting is over and the 2014 World Cup is underway. It may not have been an opening game classic, but there were enough talking points from the Brazil-Croatia game to keep most people happy.
    But we have so much more to talk about than that in Episode 68 of "There's Still Time", the AFTN Soccer Podcast.
    We're bringing you a World Cup podcast with a very Vancouver Whitecaps feel and theme to it, as we talk to some Caps about their countries, the World Cup and their memories.
    First up, we bring you part of Steven Beitashour's conference call from Brazil as he tells us about life with the Iranian team, looks forward to their opening game with Nigeria and shares some of his earliest and fondest World Cup memories.
    Iran get underway on Monday and that game is followed by the big clash between Ghana and the US. We bring you some thoughts from both sides as Gershon Koffie gives his thoughts on the Black Stars and Erik Hurtado on the Stars and Stripes, and both players tell us what it would mean to them to play at a World Cup Finals one day.
    Then it's time for some Latin flair as Pedro Morales talks Chile, nearly making the 2010 World Cup squad and his favourite World Cup memories.
    If that's not enough, Jay Duke and myself take a trip down World Cup memory lane ourselves.
    And there's still time to play you some snippets from something that makes every World Cup complete, "quality" official and unofficial World Cup songs.
    Have a listen!
    You can listen to this week's podcast on iTunes HERE.
    Or download it for your later listening delight HERE.
    We also have an iPhone app, so you can now add our podcast to your phone as an app. Visit the podcast's mobile site HERE and then at the bottom of the screen just click the "Quick Launch" icon and the podcast will be added to your home screen and appear as an app.
    And if that's not enough, we've joined Stitcher Radio Network. Download the app and listen to the AFTN podcast on your device, along with over 15,000 shows HERE.
    Or after all that, you could just listen on the player below!
    Aaron Campbell
    The AFTN team continue their Vancouver Whitecaps' season so far analysis with the thoughts of Aaron Campbell.
    What's Been Great:
    The attacking style the team has played this season.
    It is entertaining and gets butts in the seats at BC Place. Carl Robinson has built a team that leads with style, speed and pace. The additions of Matias Laba, Pedro Morales, Sebastian Fernandez and Nicolas Mezquida have adapted well with returning players like Darren Mattocks, Kekuta Manneh and Erik Hurtado. This team has the right tools to play the game that Robinson wants to play.
    What's Gone Well:
    Defensive midfield pair of Laba and Gershon Koffie.
    Koffie started the season on the bench behind Nigel Reo-Coker who was paired up with Laba. After looking unfit and not match ready Reo-Coker got injured and Koffie hasn't looked back since. Although at times Laba has looked more comfortable playing the lone defensive mid role he has adapted well playing off Koffie. Koffie is able to attack more knowing that Laba has him covered.
    What Needs to Improve:
    The team has been giving up way too many goals and because of it they have left 5-7 points on the table. Jordan Harvey has been out of position a lot but is stepping into form now. Jay DeMerit has had a lot of the blame on his shoulders with penalties called in the box against him. After a slow start, Stephen Beitashour has stepped up and filled in for the retired YP Lee nicely.
    Player of Year (so far):
    Pedro Morales: 11GP 6G 5A
    Vancouver Whitecaps' history of DP's coming in and starting slowly has been the story most of the time. He has showed flashes of brilliance with his passing that has brought praise from everyone who has watched him.
    Who Needs to Go:
    In my opinion Jay DeMerit shouldn't have been signed this past off season. We have depth behind him with Johnny Leveron, Carlyle Mitchell and Christian Dean. Even though he came at a reduced salary he has looked slow and lacking pace in most games this season.
    Unsung Player of the Season so far:
    Erik Hurtado
    He was given a chance to start and he hasn't slowed down or looked back since. With 5 goals in the last 5 games, he is red hot. He has done it with speed, strength and an amazing pace. He has dazzled people with his attacking moves, pin point shots and ability to make defenders look silly and fall down. With Hurtado knowing that Mattocks is right behind him, itchy to get back into the starting XI he has the motivation to keep up his blistering pace.
    Team Needs:
    More defensive continuity.
    It may involve bringing in a high calibre centreback, giving Leveron a chance to bond with Andy O'Brien or giving Mitchell a chance to start. The rumoured CB/RB they had talks with isn't happening, but the search for someone else is thought to be well under way. Robinson has been good playing the players that deserve the minutes but something defensively has to change.
    Once Beitashour gets back from playing for Iran in the World Cup that should help settle things down. But with Reo-Coker providing coverage it is showing we are one injury away from being back into the same situation.
    Guest
    After a rather tumultuous offseason, if you had offered any Whitecaps fan fifth place in a very strong Western Conference they’d have bit off your hand. The fact that the Whitecaps are fifth best in the league in points per game, have games in hand on virtually all their competition, and have looked full value for their current position is all the more reason to be excited if you’re a Whitecaps fan.
    The pessimist in me is waiting for it all to come tumbling down. Yet the best part about the current Whitecaps team is that they aren’t just eking out close matches at home or getting hammered and sneaking a point on the road. They’re well and truly beating teams. It’s not been abnormal to see 20 or more shots in a game, and certainly the fact we’re seeing multiple games with 3 or more goals is a testament to what is proving to be a dynamic attacking group.
    That attacking group is being led by Pedro Morales. He may be most peoples favourite for team MVP, and it’s understandable considering how difficult it is to be a consistent creative force as he has been all season. It seems that there hasn’t been a single game this season that he hasn’t created a handful of scoring chances. However, in my books, Matias Laba edges out Morales for most valuable.
    As was seen a couple of times this season, when Laba isn’t in the game the product is much different. Laba had his first poor outing as a Whitecap in Philadelphia, and the result was the first game of the season where the Whitecaps were truly hemmed back with no way out. It goes to show that while we still may create chances and goals, the main reason the Whitecaps have dominated so many games, home or away, is Matias Laba acting like a foundation for the rest of the team to build around.
    The other player worth noting this year is Jordan Harvey. An ever-present fixture of the squad, Harvey has shored up some of the defensive lapses that were so common in the last couple of seasons and has continued to be involved offensively, notching a couple goals and otherwise being quite active in the build-up play and springing some excellent passes. This may mean eating some humble pie on my part, as I’ve been very critical of Harvey’s overall play over the last few seasons. At this rate, I’m plenty happy to see Harvey continue to be named to the first eleven, and it’s for that reason I rate him as this years 'Unsung Hero'.
    A common theme the last few years has been a lack of a real identity. The picture on the pitch never became clear and the message from the coach never seemed to clear anything up.
    This year it’s started much different.
    The Whitecaps are a team who have attacking talent all over the pitch, are full of youthfulness and athleticism, are comfortable with the ball on the ground, and are absolutely lethal on the break. All the parts are seemingly working together well and the vision from Carl Robinson is matching the results on the pitch. It’s all very encouraging for a year that was looking like it may take the first half of the season just for the squad to settle into a new coach, new tactics and new key players.
    That’s not to say there aren’t problems. Jay Demerit has had a fairly inconsistent season, and while Andy O’Brien has been pretty solid all year, but he certainly looks like a man who’s beginning to have to fight with father time.
    Due to injuries and inexperience, the cover at fullback is virtually non-existent, and although he’s had some very good moments, Nigel Reo-Coker is not only not a fullback, he’s probably not going to be around for long anyway. Even the opportunities given to Leveron have ended up in an underwhelming shrug by Johnny’s biggest supporters, myself included.
    Luckily for everyone, the World Cup break comes at a perfect time. Robinson gets a chance to readdress some recent defensive meltdowns, old injured bodies get a chance to recover, and Steven Beitashour is that much closer to returning to help shore up what has been a very leaky right side.
    The biggest question will be what Robinson decides to do come transfer season.
    The Whitecaps have mentioned bringing in a pure finisher, but part of the Whitecaps success has been young players taking opportunities and making the most of them. It’s hard to think that a new striker wouldn’t have an effect on the likes of Hurtado, Manneh, and Mattocks who have done everything asked of them all season and rewarded Robinson with plenty of goals.
    The only thing with young players is that they will be inconsistent, and the Whitecaps may be wise to pick up an experienced goal scorer, although should tread carefully as he’ll likely have to sit on the bench until the kids falter.
    The most likely move to happen would be for an experienced defender, preferably one who can play across the back line. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see a starting centre back brought in, as it appeared Jay Demerit wasn’t exactly Robinson’s favourite even before he went down with what could be another lengthy injury, and our depth at fullback is questionable.
    Other than the somewhat expected Reo-Coker departure, there likely won’t be much movement in the midfield, as Teibert and Alderson are both capable short term cover at defensive midfield, Mezquida, Teibert, or Fernandez could cover at the point of the diamond, and Mehdi Ballouchy is returning from injury.
    It’s possible a true winger could be brought in, as no one on the Whitecaps really provides that heels-on-the-chalk-and-go-for-the-end-line style of wide play.
    The only player I can realistically see leaving is either a depth centreback, should we bring in a new starter, or possibly Omar Salgado.
    Poor Omar has had nothing but bad luck with the Whitecaps. Some of it he has created himself with a bit of a fiery attitude on the training pitch, but it may be too late for Omar in Vancouver. He has plenty of ability and will likely excel given the right circumstances, but it’s hard to see a way through for a player with other youngsters in front of him on the depth chart and all three playing well.
    So maybe for the Whitecaps, who will have plenty of cap space should the suspected Reo-Coker departure come to fruition, the right move is to not change anything.
    After all, they’re a team that outplayed Seattle, the best team in the league, had good showings against a very good Galaxy team, and have thoroughly outplayed most of their opponents.
    If it ain’t broke, why fix it?
    Michael Mccoll
    Vancouver Whitecaps are on a break. It's like Ross and Rachel in Friends, with the World Cup being the cute, hot girl that works in the copier shop. Full of something different and tantalising, but we'll all be back to what we know and love best before you know it.
    The Caps have two and a half weeks off now before Montreal Impact come a calling to BC Place on June 25th. Carl Robinson feels the break "comes at the right time for us", but on the back of a magnificent seven game unbeaten streak, you have to hope that it isn't too much of a momentum killer.
    With all this kill time on our hands, we thought we'd bring you some thoughts on the season so far from all of the AFTN writing crew. Aaron, Jay, Steve and myself will each bring you our thoughts on Vancouver Whitecaps' season to date over the next couple of days.
    There will be different opinions and different styles. I'm choosing to do mine with a theme of songs by The Clash. Why? Just cos I like doing these (I refer you to our previous Charles Dickens, Meat Loaf and Adam and the Ants themed pieces!). I've already slipped three song titles in by the time you've reached this point, so you may as well just continue.
    Now let's be totally honest right off the bat. When he was appointed the leader, we hoped Carl Robinson would get off to a flying start in his managerial career, but it was really something of an unknown as to whether that would happen.
    With preseason well underway, it was looking a frighteningly young Whitecaps team and you were wondering just where the goals were going to come from.
    Slowly but surely, the team that Robbo built started to take shape and the South American influence has definitely been one of the main reasons for the Caps' great start to the season, but by far not the only one.
    But before we look at some of the individuals, let's look at the team in game action.
    When defending Supporters' Shield holding New York Red Bulls came to BC Place for First Kick on March 8th, I'm not sure too many people were expecting a 4-1 win for the Caps, never mind the emphatic nature of the match.
    But it started what was an unbeaten March, with two away draws thrown in for good measure, which was then quickly followed by a winless April. The ups and downs of football management!
    April was a strange month. It started with Laba's bizarre sending off by grabbing the ball against Colorado and the Caps' first home defeat of the season. It ended with two good draws against strong Western Conference opposition.
    And those two draws set the Whitecaps on their unbeaten seven match run in MLS.
    I said this at the time, and still feel it. The Colorado loss was ultimately a good things for the club. I may not feel that way if it proves to be three crucial points when the playoff race shakes out, but it brought everyone back down to earth. Yes, the 2014 Whitecaps were an entertaining and exciting side. Yes, the postseason was a distinct possibility. But they were not, and still are not, anywhere near the finished article that they'll need to be to make any impact in the playoffs.
    Temper those expectations. The Colorado loss did just that and it also meant that there could be no home fortress diatribe that just sets us up to have shots taken at us by opposition teams. Don't give them any more motivation than they already have.
    May kicked off with the big Whitecaps 40th anniversary match and celebrations. The Caps wanted the day to go with a bang against San Jose and man, did they do just that with a stunning three goal burst in the opening 20 minutes that would not only rock The Casbah and the 1906 Ultras, but a lot of other fans throughout MLS.
    Two wins and a draw against Seattle made for a good month and four points from a win and a draw in June's two games has continued that.
    There was the unfortunate and heartbreaking Canadian Championship loss to TFC in May, but at least they young Caps fought well and came so close to a fantastic aggregate win.
    And of course, that youth aspect has played heavily for the Caps all season. Robinson said he wanted to make Vancouver younger and he's been true to his word. Too many times in the Rennie regime, it felt that if you were a young player, your career opportunities in Vancouver were slim and you were just turning up to train in vain.
    The Caps now have a exciting and talented young group of strikers. Darren Mattocks and Kekuta Manneh lit up the early part of the season with their form and Erik Hurtado has now taken on the goalscoring crown with five goals in his last five competitive matches. Add in Omar Salgado, who is waiting for his turn to shine, and that's a strikeforce that could be around for many years to come and have the ability to cause damage to every team.
    But can they keep it up? Robbo had made it clear that he'd like to replace Kenny Miller and ideally bring in a big targetman. With the recent form of Hurtado and the others, he seems to be having second thoughts and said after Saturday's game that they may have the regular goalscorer they need and that bringing in anyone new would possibly stunt this young group's development.
    That latter part is certainly true, but it is a lot to expect some young 20-somethings to keep up this pace and scoring for the whole season. They will go through droughts and it's how they bounce back from those is key. Miller shared his wealth of experience with the young group and they learned a lot. Another experienced figure in there would be a real boost to their development.
    Part of that second thought process has been brought on as well by the need to strengthen the defence as the most pressing option.
    Jay DeMerit's injury might actually be a godsend, as Robinson doesn't have to worry about public reaction to dropping his captain, and he needed to be dropped.
    Andy O'Brien struggled against Philly but otherwise he's been a rock this season. Johnny Leveron on the other hand has had a couple of chances to come in and stake a claim to a starting spot and just simply hasn't taken them. He's looked poor and now Carlyle Mitchell may get his chance and if he doesn't take it, a new face will undoubtedly arrive in the transfer window, with Christian Dean maybe being a season away from getting a sniff.
    It was looking like the Whitecaps had identified one such face, in Colombian central defender Stefan Medina. The 21-year-old can also play at right back and would have been ideal to bring in before the first transfer window closed in May as cover for when Steven Beitashour received the call up to the Iranian World Cup squad. Unfortunately, an ankle injury and monetary issues seem to have scuppered that deal, at least for now.
    But something has to be done at the back. As Robinson said at the weekend, you just can't rely on the Caps to score three goals every week to get at least a point. They have to clampdown on the mistakes and loose play in their own box.
    Four points from road games in Portland and Philadelphia may look great on paper, and in reality they still are, but the nature of the defensive collapses is one of the biggest concerns from this first part of the season for the Caps. In both games Vancouver looked to be in complete control, before letting Portland nearly sneak a point with two late goals and Philly nearly getting all three after a triple whammy in the second half before Pedro Morales hit the equaliser.
    Beitashour's been good. Not outstanding, and not as much of an attacking threat as I would have hoped, but solid. Same is true of Jordan Harvey (my unsung player of the first part of the season). The problem with both of these positions though is that injuries have meant that neither of them are being tested and challenged for any subpar performances as there's not much alternative.
    Of course Nigel Reo-Coker has stepped in to cover Beitashour for now. And he had improve a little game on game. He is still not a right back though and has been caught out of position in the last two games, which hasn't helped keep the goals out.
    The rumours have swirled about NRC's imminent departure from Vancouver. He simply isn't going to get the minutes in the midfield, but he does like what the team is doing. Is that enough for him? He will be asking himself "should I stay or should I go?", but at 29-years-old he needs to be playing to keep his career on track, so he will undoubtedly head off in the summer and find a safe European home, freeing up a big wad of cash for Robinson to strengthen the squad and keeping Vancouver's bike racks safe once more.
    More Latino flair? The additions of Pedro Morales (my player of the season so far) and Matias Laba have had a massive impact on the team, with Sebastian Fernandez having a large role to play as well. Some excellent Designated Player additions. Well worthy of the money and the tag they come with and a far cry from the merry Mustapha dance we had in 2012.
    Morales leads the team in goals and assists. He's scored some crackers, bringing some of those La Liga Spanish bombs with him from Malaga and spraying the ball around the pitch with pinpoint accuracy. More bullets than the guns of Brixton.
    Whoever Robinson brings in, they have to fit the right profile of the current team. Finally, the Whitecaps actually have a style of play and not only that, it's working.
    They attack and entertain, whether at home or away. That's four games on the bounce now that the Caps have gone on the road, played nice football and taken at least a point. Two wins and two draws and it could have been more. Can we finally talk about Vancouver being a king of the road? It's been great to watch.
    I actually look forward to every Whitecaps game now and not think I'm in for some kind of borefest that then can't be changed when they go down by an early goal and their chances of taking anything from the game go straight to hell.
    So that's the season so far. The Caps have played three of the eight regular season months and 13 of their 34 games. They sit in fifth place, and could go down to sixth and out of the playoff places by the end of today depending on the Portland result.
    They will have a minimum of two, and as much as a staggering four, games in hand on all of the teams above them. I always prefer points in the bag, but still, that's promising.
    The big thing now that we need to see that Robinson has changed is that the traditional Whitecaps summer collapse is no more. The Caps had a great May and June last year then fell like a rock. A real pressure drop.
    That freefall in Rennie's two season showed that Lightning strikes not once but twice. Let's hope it's third time lucky. You already get the feeling though that Robinson's Whitecaps won't be suffering the same fate.
    So what will the remainder of the season hold in store? Death or glory?
    Going in to the season, you hoped for a number of things. Lifting the Voyageurs Cup, making the playoffs, actually have a good postseason run, entertaining football, development of our younger players.
    What will be deemed to be a successful season now? If the Caps continue to entertain and just fail to make the playoffs, will fans and the owners be happy with what Robinson has done with the team?
    After all the excitement and hope given in these first three months, does Robbo have to deliver the playoffs to keep everyone on board?
    Our hope is that no matter where the Whitecaps finally finish in the table everyone will see the advancement this club has made under Carl Robinson's reign.
    If you think it's been good so far, well we honestly feel that the best is still to come and if that doesn't excite you then you're following the wrong sport.
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