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    Guest
    What now?
    It's a question that's been asked six times. The answer has been the same each time. The club has yet to listen.
    How does TFC drag itself out of the hole it's in? By looking at the rest of the league, stop thinking it knows better and do what every successful MLS team has done in the past.
    Create stability, identify a core group, understand the vital importance of economical, domestic grunts and stop looking for shortcuts.
    Shortcuts like a hopeless addiction to magic beans and home run signings. There is a role for both allocation money and DPs, but no successful club is built on that foundation.
    This isn't complicated.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    What is trickier is getting the right grunts to build around. For that you need to trust that those in charge know what they are doing. And, this is where things get depressing.
    There is little evidence that the newest group of decision makers is any more competent than the last bunch. Yes, Tim Leiweke signed David Beckham, but the importance of Beckham to winning the MLS Cup was overstated and he was the type of big name signing that was as much aimed at selling tickets as it was at winning.
    In fact, there wasn't much winning until Bruce Arena was brought in to chase the less sexy grunts mentioned above. Before that it was an expensive European getting frustrated at bad college players.
    So, that leaves fans that want to believe with just one option: hope that Ryan Nelsen can become as good as Bruce Arena. Or, at least, that the Nelsen/Bez team can become close to as good.
    It's possible. Unlikely, but possible.
    You can reasonably believe that Leiweke will find someone to spend MLSE's money on. And, it's possible that they might be good enough to drag TFC up to the level of mediocracy. Like Montreal they could get themselves into the play-in game. They really aren't that far behind that level.
    If you're happy with that then God bless.
    But, to be truly elite the icing signed by Leiweke must go on top of a much, much, much, much, much better cake.
    I wish I could tell you that I believe that will happen. But, I've followed the team for too long to be that naive.
    Until comments are back on feedback can be sent to @24thminute or duanegrollins (at) gmail.
    Guest
    It was another season of up and downs for Vancouver Whitecaps. One that ended in stagnation according the club president Bobby Lenarduzzi, as the Caps failed to make a <i>stand and deliver</i> on the potential and growth from the playoff achieving year before.
    Every team has their highs and their lows and the Caps were no different. The good times were like a <i>beautiful dream</i>, the bad times were <i>rough stuff</i>.
    When Martin Rennie took over two years ago, the club couldn't really sink much lower than being the worst team in MLS. He brought hope and fans looked forward to having the team running like a highly tuned Ferrari, but ultimately they stalled and had <i>cartrouble</i> instead.
    Not so much dandy highwaymen as begging for scraps at the top table, with crosseyed tactics leaving us looking more like Ben Turpin than Dick Turpin.
    It was a year that started out with so much promise, hope and expectation.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    January brought new signings, with the two most potentially exciting coming from the Caps' two top five SuperDraft picks. It was a patience game with Kekuta Manneh, who was slowly nurtured before becoming the <i>darlin' boy</i> with some excellent performances at the end of the season. The jury is still out on Erik Hurtado, who certainly isn't a <i>goody two shoes</i> and with the terrible touch he showed most of the year, doesn't even look like a goody one shoe.
    The Whitecaps also said an early farewell to another Designated Player, with Barry Robson not returning back from Scotland for pre-season training and he was soon announced as no longer being with the club.
    So it was goodbye to a Scottish sour <i>puss in boots</i> and hello to Japanese playmaker Daigo Kobayashi. Sadly, he also turned out to be less than <i>wonderful</i>.
    The preseason games got underway and Darren Mattocks was on fire, only this time not from a freak kitchen accident. The Jamaican scored a hat-trick in the first 15 minutes of the first match against New England, in a 4-1 win. This was going to be his year and he soon set himself the target of getting 20 goals for the season. Instead he became some sort of <i>miss thing</i>. Rumour has it that he can be found at BC Place right now trying to bag that elusive number four. Still, he did manage two more than Clint Dempsey. Bargain!
    There was to be no preseason silverware this year (beating the RailHawks for a shield doesn't count). The Caps didn't go back to Florida to defend their Mickey Mouse Cup and fell at the final hurdle in the Carolina Challenge Cup in Charleston. Who knew then that this was to be a great summary of their season to come?
    Just before the new season got underway, the Caps revealed their new home <i>strip</i>. Gone were the chest ladders and in were diagonal stripes from <i>navel to neck</i>.
    Finally, the wait was over and the 2013 season got underway with a Canadian derby at home to Toronto. TFC were looking in disarray. Even more than they usually do. The question in the build up was whether they'd actually have enough players to put out a team. They did, just, and performed admirably, with Vancouver only running out 1-0 winners thanks to a Gershon Koffie goal.
    The win was tarnished by the loss of captain Jay DeMerit to an early reoccurrence of his preseason injury. It was to be an injury that would keep him out of the team for six months and force centreback pairing after centreback pairing, as some kind of curse seemed to strike the Caps defence.
    Another home win a week later, 2-1 against Columbus, seemed to set Vancouver up for a good season, but then came one of the first turning points of the season, a 2-1 loss away to Houston.
    Now, not many teams were taking anything from Houston at that point but when Darren Mattocks gave the Caps a first half lead, and with Vancouver in the clear ascendency, it was looking good. Then Matchbox Twenty missed a great chance to put the Caps two up, Houston scored two quick goals and the first defeat of the season was in the books.
    That loss signalled the start of a horrible seven match unbeaten run for Vancouver in MLS and it was starting to look like a case of the terrible twos for Martin Rennie.
    The highlight in that poor run was the game in San Jose where the Caps came back to earn a draw thanks to some horrible boot changing decision making by two veteran Earthquakes and Nigel Reo-Coker showing that he can be a right (legally) <i>dirty beast</i> with a tackle that sent Sam Cronin up in to space as if he was on <i>Apollo 9</i>.
    It soon became apparent that the weak link in the team was the midfield. They were posted missing in action far too often and not stamping their authority on games. We love to see some <i>hard men, tough blokes</i> in the middle, but we know we also need some creative flair. We really didn't get either.
    The Caps did get two non MLS wins amidst that seven match run, beating Edmonton twice on the way to another Voyageurs Cup final. They were made to work hard for their away win and had a lot of luck along the way, unfortunately seeming to use it all up in those games.
    The MLS winless streak was finally snapped in some style, with the Caps first ever win over LA Galaxy on League business. It was a coming of age party for Russell Teibert, who grabbed the first two goals in a 3-1 win. His first strikes as a senior Whitecap.
    The Whitecaps were going for three firsts. The first one was in the bag, just a Voyageurs Cup win and a MLS Cascadia derby win to complete a trifecta that never came.
    A 0-0 first leg Cup draw in <i>Montreal</i>, got people excited, as did an amazing game against Portland at BC Place a few days later, where the Caps would have got their first derby win if it hadn't have been for an amazing Hail Mary touchdown catch by Jose Valencia to earn the Timbers an unlikely point. Look how valuable that proved for them and how costly for us.
    The first major disappointment of the season came on May 29th. The Impact came to town and snatched the Voyageurs Cup right out of Vancouver's hands with a Hassoun Camara goal six minutes from time giving the wannabe, not so <i>young Parisians</i> the trophy on away goals.
    It was gut wrenching and made all the worse because the goal came from removing a man on the post. Argh, Brad <i>baby, let me scream at you</i> for letting that happen.
    The pressure was now on Rennie and the writing was starting to look on the walls. Some fans wanted him out there and then, others wanted to give him till the end of June, whilst others still wanted to give him till the end of the season.
    Rumours swirled that the executive weren't happy and had given him one final drink at the last chance saloon that was the wild West Conference. Could he turn the Caps fortunes around and make them <i>kings of the wild frontier</i>?
    To his credit, he said, no, you will not <i>feed me to the lions</i>, and the team finally started to <i>kick</i> into gear, starting with an uncharacteristic, and somewhat <i>alien</i>, attacking display away to New York that ended with a 2-1 win and the circling vultures went to find some other prey for a little bit.
    An unlikely goalscorer came in the form of Jordan Harvey and his performance helped pave the way for one of the most contentious decisions of the season - the trading of Alain Rochat to DC United for the draft equivalent of a bag of half deflated balls.
    Some cried <i>bullshit</i>, but Harvey's initial form, especially in the attack showed it to be the right decision. Looking like an extra from a Johnny Depp pirate movie, Harvey hoisted the <i>Jolly Roger</i>, turned on some swashbuckling style and grabbed three goals in the month of June. He would finish the season with a career best four. One more than Darren Mattocks.
    The first game of the season against Seattle was next up in June and it was wild ride down at the Clink. Despite going an early goal down, the Caps attack exploded in to life and Camilo's brace saw the Caps take the lead and looking good for winning their first ever Cascadia derby in MLS. Then down went Andy O'Brien to injury on the crappy temporary grass pitch. With the Caps in the middle of a centreback injury crisis, on came Greg Klazura, Jordan Harvey moved into the centre of the defence, and the Caps imploded, losing two goals and the game. <i>That Voodoo</i> doll that some Sounders fan was using worked to perfection.
    But the displays on either coast gave Vancouver some much needed confidence and self belief and with the front three of Camilo, Miller and Teibert banging in goals and assists left, right and centre, the Caps went on a run of five wins and a draw in the next six games.
    They moved up the standings rapidly and all the <i>table talk</i> wasn't so much about whether they could keep it up, but who could stop them? There was even chatter, albeit slight and whispered, about being in contention for the Supporters' Shield.
    Was that possible? Well, there is always <i>room at the top</i>, don't let them tell you that there is not. The Whitecaps were contenders. Brief ones.
    It wasn't to last.
    All the good work of June was soon to be undone with another Whitecaps second half season collapse. It was looking a carbon copy of 2012 all over again, as if someone had put the club through a <i>zerox</i> machine.
    The Caps had been making a big play on social media about the unbeaten home record. It was asking for trouble and it came in the form of Jun Marques Davidson's forehead.
    His early sending off in the July 27th game against Philadelphia for a headbutt can be pinpointed as another one of the turning points of the season. The Caps went down to a 1-0 defeat and they were no longer a <i>killer in the home</i> arena.
    They would go on to lose another two games on home turf, dropping 19 points at home altogether and taking 63% of the points available at BC Place. That's <i>gotta be a sin</i>.
    Vancouver soon found themselves on a slippery slope, both at home and away. The Caps took just six points from a nine game spell. Whatever Rennie had been looking for, his <i>nine plan failed</i> and the team even suffered the ignominy of going two down to Chivas before fighting back for a home draw. Another costly game and definitely one of the games you can pin a playoff missing season on.
    Even a change of goalkeeper didn't help. David Ousted had been brought in as the only addition during the summer transfer window. The club is obviously not <i>made of money</i>, but for a squad that was clearly not deep enough to make a decent playoff run, this was a shocking decision and one which ultimately cost the club and Rennie.
    Had Brad Knighton done enough to be dropped? Was Ousted better? Did the Caps feel they had to play him because they'd brought him in? You <i>can't set rules about glove</i>, so who really knows?
    A three game road trip at the start of September was looking to be key. After a loss to Dallas and a scoreless draw in San Jose, it wasn't looking hopeful.
    The situation looked <i>desperate, but not serious</i> if you listened to Rennie. His chats with the media had more spin that a cue ball in a trick shot. Publically, everything was fine. Nothing to worry about. The team was good, they'd get the job done.
    You have to think that behind the scenes he couldn't have been that full of confidence. He'd been saying such things all year, but apart from that small burst of form in late spring we just hadn't seen the actual evidence that this was the case.
    Was he right or was it a case of <i>never trust a man with egg on his face</i>? Most were starting to tire of hearing it. We <i>won't take that talk</i> they started to say.
    But just when it was looking all over, Vancouver went and got a stunning 3-0 win in Montreal.
    They were back in the hunt, only to blow it big time the following week with an unforgiveable 1-0 loss at home to a Real Salt Lake B team that had one eye on the US Open Cup final the following week. All around it was a case of <i>anger inc</i>.
    Certainly some of the senior players seemed to realise the gravity of the situation, with Nigel Reo-Coker seemingly questioning the team's tactics and system after the loss, but later brushing it off. That wasn't <i>the idea</i> of his comments, he said, he was merely praising the opposition.
    Whatever he was doing, the general assumption was what most people were thinking.
    With four games of the season remaining, back to back Cascadian derbies were next up and in one of the most exciting spells of football seen so far at BC Place, Vancouver and Portland battled back and forth to a 2-2 draw.
    It was a good game but wins were what Vancouver were needing and finding one wasn't going to come easy down in Seattle.
    With Kenny Miller injured, Rennie was forced to put in Kekuta Manneh. Just go in and <i>play boy</i>, he must have said. And the 18 year old Gambian did just that, hitting a stunning hat trick on the way to a 4-1 Whitecaps victory.
    Playoff hopes were raised ever so slightly once again but everyone knew it was a really hard task ahead of them and the weeks to do it in were starting to <i>shrink</i>.
    There was also still some hope for the Cascadia Cup. Vancouver needed Portland to beat Seattle for the Caps to win the trophy. But would the Timbers be a <i>friend or foe</i>?. As it turned out, a friend, and the Whitecaps won their first Cascadia Cup since 2008.
    Scant consolation really for not achieving either the playoffs or the Voyageurs Cup.
    It was a shaping up to be a rollercoaster end to the season, as the Whitecaps looked to <i>stay in the game</i>, but it actually turned out to be a <i>very short ride</i>.
    The Western Conference had been tight all season. It was <i>dog eat dog</i> from start to finish. The Whitecaps had at least given themselves a shot. They just needed two wins against Colorado, but fell at the first hurdle.
    Despite taking the lead and fighting back to level, Vancouver blew their chance thanks to one of the pitfalls that haunted them all season, poor defending.
    The 3-2 defeat signalled the end of the Caps' playoff hopes. They would no longer be one of the big <i>five guns west</i> and finished 7th, three points off a playoff place.
    All that was left was the last game of the season and the Caps went out in style with a Camilo hat trick giving Vancouver a 3-0 win over Colorado and sending the Brazilian home with the MLS Golden Boot.
    A fantastic ending to a disappointing season.
    There had at least been some other highs in October, with Marco Bustos, Marco Carducci, Matthew Chow, Kianz Froese and Jordan Haynes all heading off from the Whitecaps Residency to represent Canada at the U17 World Cup in the UAE.
    <i>The Magnificent Five</i> did themselves, their country, their club and all of us watching proud. Bright lights going forward and much promise for the Caps' future.
    But it will be a future without Martin Rennie.
    His failure to achieve the playoffs and show satisfactory growth and development of the array of young talent at his disposal cost him his job two days after the Whitecaps season came to an end.
    With Rennie's dismissal, the Caps are now left looking for their <i>Prince Charming</i>.
    They may have painted themselves into a corner by emphasising the need for an experienced boss. Will they risk losing face by going back on that and appointing from within with Carl Robinson? It would be a backtrack and some people would mock them for that, but <i>ridicule is nothing to be scared of</i> if they end up with the right person in charge.
    The search is underway and the 2014 season feels so far away. Who ever gets the job in the end, let's just hope he's capable of <i>making history</i>.
    <p>
    <center>**********</center>
    <i>[Following on from our previous Charles Dickens themed season review and Meat Loaf themed Voyageurs Cup preview, we've moved on to one of my childhood musical heroes with this Adam Ant themed 2013 Vancouver Whitecaps year in review. Just because. How much Antmusic did you spot? There's 46 Ants and solo song titles in there!]</i>
    <p>
    Guest
    Despite the advances made by teams such as Mexico and Costa Rica in recent years, the long-held reality of the women's game in CONCACAF still holds true: The USA and Canada are the region's two undisputed powerhouses.
    So the almost-painful-to-watch thrashings that Canada doled out to Guatemala (8-0) and Trinidad & Tobago (11-0) in their first two group stage games at the CONCACAF U-17 Women's Championship were never going to give anyone a realistic picture of where this team sits as it attempts to qualify for next spring's U17 Women's World Cup.
    No, as usual, we're left relying on the Americans as the measuring stick of our place in the grand scheme of things.
    So what did Monday night's final group-stage game -- a 2-0 victory for the Americans -- tell us about what the future may hold for this next generation of hopeful young Canadians?
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Well, sorry to be anticlimactic, but the answer is nothing. It tells us nothing.
    These are kids. There were 14-year-olds out on the field, for both sides. So there are no grand proclamations to be made about how the game reflects upon the women's program going forward. After all, two years ago we had a completely different crop of U17s, and two years from now, the cycle will repeat itself.
    There are a few basic realities of the U17 game, in both the men's and women's game: It's nearly impossible to predict with any reasonable degree of certainty, and the best outcome for any youth team is that it produces a few regular contributors for the senior team in the years ahead.
    Not earth-shattering superstars. Just regular contributors. If two or three players who took the field on Monday night are a part of the women's national team in the run-up to the 2019 Women's World Cup, then this cycle will have been a success.
    By that time, Christine Sinclair will (presumably) have moved on -- and with her will go one of Canada's main advantages over the past decade. In the intervening years, Canadian followers will be desperate to anoint the "next" Christine Sinclair, someone who can singlehandedly change the course of a game by sheer willpower.
    That search will likely be futile and will be terribly unfair to whichever players step into the spotlight after her, as Sinclair is undoubtedly a once-in-a-generation (maybe once-in-a-lifetime Canadian talent).
    Still, somebody's going to be playing up front for Canada in the latter part of this decade. Might we have seen one or two of those players on display this past week?
    Canada's starting strike trio of Marie-Mychele Metivier, Emily Borgmann and Marie Levasseur looked lethal against Guatemala and T&T, scoring 13 goals between them, while super-sub Nadya Gill added four goals of her own. That strike force was complemented by the good work of midfield engine Jessie Fleming and fullback Rachel Jones, whose attacking qualities will almost surely catch the eye of women's national team head coach John Herdman.
    The Canadian attack, though, was largely neutralized by an American team that controlled the lion's share of possession and could easily have padded the two-goal victory, if not for some wasteful finishing and a well-saved second-half penalty kick by Canadian 'keeper Rylee Foster.
    What does the result immediately mean for this team?
    An all-or-nothing showdown against Jamaica on Thursday night in the tournament semifinal. The winner goes to the U17 Women's World Cup; the loser doesn't. The Americans will meet Mexico to determine the other World Cup participant. Then, presuming everything goes as expected, Canada and the USA will meet once more, in Saturday night's final, with bragging rights -- and World Cup seeding -- on the line.
    Canada will be heading into that semifinal as heavy favourites -- but remember, nothing is ever guaranteed, especially at the U17 level.
    So for the time being, there's no need to think too much about the Canada-USA rivalry, or which of these players might catch on with the women's national team, or what it all means in the grand scheme of things.
    For now, there is one singular focus: Beat Jamaica and book a ticket to the World Cup.
    .
    Guest
    The first round proper of the 2013 MLS Cup Playoffs unfolded over the weekend and what a spectacle it was.
    Many deride the playoff system, but few can argue that it was not a dramatic and entertaining round of action, setting up four crucial second-leg deciders midweek.
    Four matches were played, resulting in two home wins, an away win, and a draw, providing some eleven goals - each wonderful and crucial in its own right.
    Eighteen yellow cards were shown – lending serious implication to the return matches; one player, Seattle’s Lamar Neagle, will be suspended for accumulating a second booking through the playoffs – and a single red - to New York’s Jamison Olave, whose absence could loom large come Wednesday.
    Before the results, the goals of the round:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    In chronological order – Kelyn Rowe, Darlington Nagbe, and Sean Franklin earn the nods, but who will take the prize?
    Rowe’s strike, a deft touch from the outside of his right-boot proved the difference between New England and Kansas City:
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/SXetF0FHJBA?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    Nagbe’s touch, turn and finish, a feat of awareness and balance, also provided the separation between Portland and Seattle:
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/4j66XDaOf-U?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    And Franklin’s game-winning right-footed rocket:
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/jU81vwk2JuU?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    What can be said about that.
    Results in Brief
    New England 2 – Kansas City 1
    Saturday’s first match pitted New England, third-place in the East, at home against second-seed Kansas City. Throughout the first half neither side managed to find much rhythm with the ball bouncing uncontrollably on the busily-designed turf.
    Field conditions were only part of the struggle, as Sporting’s stated game-plan of enhancing their already formidable physicality saw the match devolve into a series of stop-starts with lots of little – and often unnecessary – shoves breaking up the flow of New England’s attack.
    There were a series of half-chances, each wasted in turn: Kelyn Rowe hit a free-kick straight into the wall; Teal Bunbury got a good glimpse at goal from a ball over the top, but shot straight at Matt Reis, and Graham Zusi dragged a shot wide to end the half.
    The Revolution came out lively at the start of the second with a trio of attacks – first Lee Nguyen having his cut-back pass cut out, then Diego Fagundez and his quick break forced wide by Aurelien Collin, before a short corner kick was played back to Jose Goncalves atop the area, but his shot was closed down and blocked.
    A breakthrough finally came in the 55th minute:
    A long, hopeful ball into the Kansas City box was cleared to Rowe deep in the midfield, he immediately returned the ball forward, picking out Juan Agudelo on the right, isolated against left-back, Seth Sinovic; Agudelo won the aerial challenge, flicking a header further wide right into the path of Nguyen.
    His initial low shot was kick-saved by Nielsen – the best in the league at using his legs – only for the rebound to bank off the tracking Agudelo and then bobbling off the prone Nielsen before trickling towards goal.
    Andy Dorman walked the ball to the line before deciding at the last second it needed to be tucked in with a quick right-boot.
    That final touch spark protestations from Peter Vermes and his charges – was Dorman offside? Sporting seemed to think so – it was very tight, but probably was not.
    Buoyant, New England would add a second twelve minutes later when Dorman, a surprise replacement for rookie, defensive-midfielder, Scott Caldwell, forced a turnover in midfielder, shielding Zusi away from a stray pass, to be collected by Agudelo.
    The Stoke-bound forward turned towards goal and cut a diagonal path from the right of the centre-circle, jinking in-field around the challenge of Uri Rosell and passed Lawrence Olum before laying off to Nguyen – crucially the Colombian-born attacker continued his run, dragging the Sporting clump with him to the left.
    Nguyen adroitly rolled a ball against the grain to the right, where Rowe had gotten the jump on Sinovic, finishing a low shot across the keeper to the left-side of goal with the outside of his right-boot.
    New England led 2-0.
    Kansas City are never to be taken lightly; they found a way back into the contest two minutes later in the 69th minute:
    A long Zusi free-kick from the left was popped straight up in the air by Goncalves, falling down wide right near the end-line. Jacob Peterson was on hand to head back to Chance Myers above the near-post and his low ball into the middle, ricocheted off the standing leg back-flick of CJ Sapong before falling at the feet of Collin at the left-post to stab in with his left-foot.
    As the match began to get really chippy and a flurry of yellows – six from the 69th minute onward - KC nearly leveled in the 72nd, when a low Rosell drive was beyond the stretch of Matt Reis, but caromed off the outside of the post and then crafted an even better chance in the third and final minute of stoppage-time when substitute Dom Dwyer got past Andrew Farrell from a long ball and nearly beat the keeper – Reis was equal to the challenge with a huge save.
    The one-goal difference heading into the second leg sets up what should be a compelling encounter on Wednesday night in Kansas City.
    Despite the win, New England’s Jay Heaps knew things would be different in the away leg, “I think it’s a step forward, but at the same time it’s a very difficult road ahead. If we’re talking three or four goals, then maybe this is a big step forward. But it’s a battle … we have a one-goal lead - it’s halftime and we have a big, big battle going to Kansas City.”
    His opposite, Peter Vermes, after complaining about the officiating – no surprise there, “We haven't gotten any of those calls all year long, and I guess we're not going to get it now. It doesn't change. It just doesn't change” – looked forward to the return match, “I’m not worried about them. We’re going back to our place, and it’s going to be a fun atmosphere for us. That’s what I know.”
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/nNr9o6adwjQ?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    Seattle 1 – Portland 2
    In short order came the night’s second match, fourth hosting first in the West, with Seattle entertaining their Cascadia rivals, Portland.
    A mere three days removed from moving past Colorado in the play-in round, Seattle started bright, aided by a few nervy moments from Futty Danso on the Portland back-line: blushes from a poor clearance were spared by a deflected Brad Evans shot and then a scrambling back-header was sent mercifully over his own goal from a long throw for a corner kick.
    Enduring a spell of pressure, the Timbers were aided by a lack of sharpness from the Sounders: Clint Dempsey’s corner kicks repeatedly failed to beat the first man; an Evans bouncer was straight at Donovan Ricketts, and then Lamar Neagle’s curling attempt, having made space for himself, was way off target.
    Portland would punish that wastefulness after fifteen minutes:
    Compressing the field on the left and moving the ball quickly with a series of sharp passes – Michael Harrington in to Darlington Nagbe, Nagbe forward to Diego Valeri, and Valeri back to Diego Chara – Portland opened up the right-flank for Chara to swing a ball into space for the bursting run of Jack Jewsbury.
    Adam Moffat could not get over in time to prevent the cross and both Jhon Kennedy Hurtado and Djimi Traore failed to either track Ryan Johnson or cut out the cross in their scramble to retreat, allowing the Jamaican forward to make his near-post run and win the flicked header that beat Marcus Hahnemann, putting the visitors in the lead, quieting the crowd.
    Starting to find his range, having finally broken his duck in the final game of the regular season, Dempsey forced Ricketts to tip a free-kick over the bar before another skimmed just over.
    Progressing at an electric clip, the pace continued into the half and picked up where it left off with the start of the second.
    Content with their lead, Portland relied on their smothering defense to limit the chances and the emotion of the occasion proved costly for Neagle, who picked up a yellow card for a late tackle on Valeri and will miss the next match, having also been booked against Colorado.
    Seattle would not let their spirits drop, doggedly pursuing a goal.
    Eddie Johnson wasted a glorious chance, when he sent a free header from a Dempsey free-kick wide, and Oswaldo Alonso inspired his team forward with a brilliant tackle on Nagbe in midfield.
    But Portland were playing it wise, waiting for their windows and then executing.
    They nearly found a second ten minutes into the half, when Zach Scott emphatically shouldered the goal-scoring Johnson to the ground in the box, but the referee waived play on.
    In the 67th minute, they would get that second goal:
    Nagbe played back to the other Johnson, Will, from the right and sauntered in-field. Johnson helped the ball wide right to Kalif Alhassan, who proceeded towards goal. Meanwhile, Nagbe was ghosting on the edge of the crowd in the box, walking a tightrope between the spheres of Alonso and Traore, before curling a run to the high near-post.
    Alhassan spotted his movement and fed him a low pass, Nagbe beat the lunge of Traore to the ball, then fluidly turned and hit a right-footer past Hahnemann, Smooth; very smooth.
    Substitutions were made, including the additions of Mauro Rosales and Shalrie Joseph, who had not been heard from since late August, for the Sounders. The value of experience and presence on the bench would become evident.
    Still not able to concede defeat, Dempsey again threatened when his header from a Mauro Rosales free-kick skimmed the top of the bar.
    And finally, the Sounders found their goal in the final minute of regulation:
    A long Evans throw-in from the right, deep in the Portland half, was knocked back to the penalty spot from the near-post by Joseph, setting up Alonso’s left-footed volley.
    The low, hard drive straight down the middle found the back of the net and dragged Seattle back into the contest – a two-nil deficient heading into Portland would be near-insurmountable, given current form, but one is a different ball-game.
    They would nearly level in the 94th, but Dempsey’s header from a clipped Alonso ball was straight at Ricketts, who made the save.
    Another series separated by a single goal, however, it was the road team, Portland, who take that advantage into their own backyard for the second leg on Thursday.
    Sigi Schmid recognized what that goal meant, “The goal at the end of the game was very important for us because it gives us the opportunity to go down there and win. We showed that we can carry the game to them. So we just have to go down to Portland, carry the game to them and score” adding, “It’s halftime of the game. We feel very confident we can go to Portland and win. Just as Portland came here and won, we feel very confident we can go there and win.”
    While Caleb Porter sees things differently, “You’ve got two good teams, teams that don’t want to lose, our team refuses to lose and Seattle is in our way right now. We want to move on in this playoff tournament. Seattle is the team we drew, and now we’re one step away.”
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    Houston 2 – New York 2
    For Sunday’s opener, the action returned to the Eastern Conference, with Supporters’ Shield winners, New York, gracing the pitch in Houston, where the Dynamo emphatically progressed past Montreal on Thursday.
    The first good look of the match came from the visitors, with Thierry Henry attempting an audacious lob from the top of the box that fell marginally wide of testing Tally Hall.
    New York kept up the pressure, resulting in an opener in the 22nd minute:
    Peguy Luyindula played out of a crowd on the right to Johnny Steele in the middle, who in turn, dropped the ball back to Dax McCarty. He would keep the ball moving, swinging wide left for David Carney to lay a ball down the outside for Henry.
    The Frenchman sharply let the service run across his body and hit a first-time cross to the back-post, over the watch of Eric Brunner, where Tim Cahill had gotten in front of Corey Ashe and leapt to meet it, powering in a header.
    Slightly stunned at conceding so easily, Houston would respond with a good look of their own – Kofi Sarkodie sending a shot sailing over the bar from an Oscar Boniek Garcia cutback.
    But ten minutes later, New York had doubled their lead on a quick break:
    McCarty sent a long, early ball up to Cahill, Brunner tried to cut it out, but missed, and Bobby Boswell stepped in with a challenge, but was too late, as Cahill had already pushed a pass into the space behind the back-line for Eric Alexander.
    Moving in from the right, Alexander cut inside onto his left foot, around the recovering Brunner, shaping to finish at the far side, before tucking it in at the near-post.
    Houston would send another chance over the target in the waning moments of the first half when Bruin was put in by Garcia; New York, entered half-time looking imperious, with a solid lead, having scored on the only two shots they had – however, they would not find any more.
    Even without Dominic Kinnear on the sideline – he was suspended for entering the field of play as the match against Montreal threatened to break into escalating violent – it is folly to ever rule out Houston and the match began to turn with poor clearance from Carney:
    Warren Creavalle sprung Brad Davis down the left with a leading pass and Davis outpaced Marcus Holgersson towards the outside and hit a cross to the back-post. With no targets arriving, Carney let the ball bounce before sizing up a clearance, but his attempt sliced back into the middle, straight to Ricardo Clark to the left of the arc and his right-footer made its way through the crowd, kicking off of Jamison Olave to beat Luis Robles in goal.
    Progressively the match became more physical and the cards – and stern words from the referee – became more frequent. Henry and Garcia were each booked, before Olave’s woes were compounded with a rash and dangerous scissor tackle on Omar Cummings in the 65th minute for which he saw red and left the pitch.
    Against ten men, the hosts ratcheted up the pressure winning several corners - Brunner flicked a header from one wide – and finding space within which to operate, culminating in Will Bruin squaring a ball across the top of the box to set up Andrew Driver moments after he joined the fray, but his low shot went wide.
    Driver would make amends for his poor aim with a strong run that saw his cross deflected into the side-netting for another corner kick in the 91st minute and seconds later – in the 92nd - Cummings would prove to be the unlikely hero:
    Davis sent an out-swinging delivery from the left-side that was met by Boswell at the near-post and headed on target to the far-side. Robles scrambled to make the save, but succeeded in only pushing the ball to a lurking Cummings, on hand to tuck in the rebound.
    Comeback complete, Houston had a good shout for a winner in the 94th minute, when the energetic Cummings was upended in the box on the turn by the lazy leg of Ibrahim Sekagya, but the referee waived play on, denying them a penalty kick.
    An electric 2-2 draw sets up the second leg to be a classic: Houston rounding into their usual playoff form against New York who must wrestle with their playoff demons without their best defender, as Olave will be suspended for Wednesday’s return leg.
    Wade Barrett, standing in for the suspended Kinnear, reflected on the inspired comeback, "We didn't script it this way, but we talked to the guys about not being too high if we scored first and not being too low if we got scored on first. It is 135 minutes to go from halftime, and the guys came out with a great attitude in the second half. The red card obviously helped us a little bit. We've got two goals against us, but the series isn't over yet. It was a fantastic performance in the second half, and the way things turned out, it feels really positive going into Wednesday."
    New York’s Mike Petke was introspective post-match, "Poor clearance on our part, the red card killed us, and at the end of the day those goals were our fault - it wasn’t something creative, it was self-inflicted. But we’ll look on this on the road, and now we’re going to our place, and it's pretty much 0-0, so that’s a good thing. But our guys are injured with the way that we allowed them back into the game, and the Dynamo are extremely happy."
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    Los Angeles 1 – Salt Lake 0
    The final match of the round was a high-profile Western meeting with third-seed LA hosting second-placed Salt Lake.
    The tone of the match was set early when Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane caught Salt Lake sleeping from a throw-in in the fifth minute and spliced through the Salt Lake defense far too easily with a one-two, only for Keane to shank the attempt horribly – missed chances were the tale of the night.
    In the nineteenth minute, a Chris Schuler turnover to Donovan saw him play in Keane down the right, but the low shot was straight at the keeper.
    Two minutes after the half-hour mark, Schuler would make amends, cutting out a Robbie Rogers goalmouth ball for Keane, though the more dangerous run from Donovan - arriving late and open - was squandered by Rogers not lifting his head.
    Schuler again made a miraculous intervention, cutting out a ball bound for Donovan from Keane and managing to push it wide of his goal, where many would have conceded an own-goal in that situation.
    The second half began in that same vein, with another wasted chance from LA – Donovan feeding Keane down the left, only for the ball to get tangled in his feet and the attack to disintegrate.
    Three minutes in, the Galaxy would finally get their breakthrough, from the most unexpected of sources – right-back, Sean Franklin:
    Gyasi Zardes corraled a poor very poor Kyle Beckerman giveaway – one of many from the usually precise Salt Lake passers – and played wide left to Keane. The Irishman worked to the end-line before cutting back an odd-angled ball straight to the top of the box, well above the arc.
    Franklin ran onto it and hammered a right-footed curler to the right-side of goal from thirty-plus yards.
    In the lead, LA would return to their wasteful ways, when Rogers played to Donovan at the near-post, only for his touch to trickle wide.
    Having attempted to quell Los Angeles with a five-man midfield – all for all intents and purposes, failing to do so - Salt Lake reverted to their tried and tested diamond 4-4-2 and brought attacking substitutes into the match, starting with Robbie Findley before the hour mark and showed a little life.
    Alvaro Saborio had a crack from outside the box – it was wide; Beckerman drew a nervous dive from Galaxy keeper, Jaime Penedo – it too was probably wide, but the keeper was playing it safe, before their best look arrived in the 80th minute, when Chris Wingert’s clipped ball fell to Luis Gil at the right-post and his cross was whiskers beyond the stretch of Devon Sandoval, who was slightly impeded by Todd Dunivant.
    With Salt Lake looking forward, chances opened up at the other end, but true to the theme, Keane would drag another shot wide and even a poor clearance for the visitors that nearly played in Donovan, was spared embarrassment by Nick Rimando alertly rushing out to smother.
    Given all the looks they had, a one-goal lead in such a one-sided match seems insufficient heading into Salt Lake on Thursday, where they surely will not have as poor of a showing - will LA rue not taking advantage of those chances?
    Bruce Arena commented briefly on the frustration, “We had our chances. A couple of players were a little off tonight. I think Rimando did very well. He was very composed in goal and didn’t make things very easy” before stating pragmatically, “I’d rather be the team ahead. These are always difficult matches. All the games in the league are all competitive going into the second game. It’s going to be difficult. Obviously, having the one goal is a real plus, but it’s going to take a heck of an effort in the next 90 minutes.”
    Jason Kreis was blunt in his assessment, though the relief was palpable, “We can't afford to give away that many chances. On a different night, Keane and Donovan are going to kill you with those.*We've got to pay attention to the chances that were created against us that didn't score” continuing on to say, “We just need to play better, that’s it. The passes are there, you can see that the options were there, we’re just missing simple passes so some of our most important players need to play better, and they will.”
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    CanCon
    Will Johnson become the first Canadian to take the pitch in the MLS playoffs starting and going the full match in Portland’s win at Seattle. He was excellent in the midfield, moving the ball well and stifling any attacks through the middle.
    Kofi Opare started his first career MLS playoff match in LA’s win over Salt Lake, getting the nod in the back-line and barely put a foot wrong throughout.
    Overheard
    Though he played just 190 minutes in the regular season, enduring a year marred by repeated knee injuries and muscle strains, Omar Cummings was elated to get that goal as a reward for all his hard work after a season of trial and tribulation.
    “Games like this and scoring a goal is what’s been pushing me. It’s been very difficult physically, but also mentally. You’re not getting the playing time you’re used to even. Yes, the season’s past, but I’ve still got a lot of important goals to score for this club.”
    Playoffs are all about getting every last bit the squad and the roles played by the likes of Cummings, Shalrie Joseph, Andy Dorman, Sean Franklin, and to a lesser extent, Ryan Johnson – who found his time at the end of the season curtailed - are vital to post-season success.
    Heckle of the week to the LA fans who yelled, “Nice Rat Tail, Velasquez!” in mockery of his Colombian style - there was some serious hair on display in that match with Velasquez, Gyasi Zardes, and Kyle Beckerman all involved.
    See It Live
    It was a tough weekend on the eyes as the combination of throw-ball lines crisscrossing the surface and the unwatchability of bouncy turf was headache inducing.
    Still some wee tidbits to enjoy:
    In New England, there were streamers that so vexed Jimmy Nielsen, a tiny island of travelling KC supporters in a sea of tarps at the abandoned end of the stadium, and Lee Nguyen’s goal-line block on Aurelien Collin that drew unwarranted penalty shouts.
    There was Peter Vermes’ fury on New England’s first goal – more on that in a moment - and Seth Sinovic sarcastically clapped the next offside call, Chance Myers’ cheap shot to the back of Kelyn Rowe that left the midfielder shaken, and that Matt Reis save at the death.
    In Seattle, there was a fancy, new, high-tech subs board – very flash – and Mauro Rosales not paying enough attention when collecting a bouncing ball for a corner kick, getting hit in the face as his eyes surveyed his options.
    In Houston, Ricardo Clark knocking over the referee was the only lighter moment in a very serious contest.
    And in LA, Chris Schuler’s block was a miraculous bit of defensive play, while Robbie Keane had a little laugh with Nick Rimando, first exchanging a word, then miming as though he was going to nod the ball out of the keeper’s hands as he prepared to distribute.
    Check out the Roberto Carlos-esqe action on Sean Franklin’s blast:

    Controversy
    Was Andy Dorman onside?

    Was Zach Scott’s shoulder-barge on Ryan Johnson worthy of a penalty kick? What about Michael Harrington’s flailing elbow that caught Mauro Rosales? Fair or foul?
    And did Brad Evans step onto the pitch as he launched the long throw that led to Osvaldo Alonso’s late strike?
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    Did Jamison Olave deserve his red card?
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    And should Omar Cummings have had his penalty shout at end acknowledged?
    Opinion Poll
    How did the visual chaos of those extra lines and the bounciness of turf affect viewing of a great weekend of MLS playoff action?
    Did it make these matches harder to watch?
    Once thought to be banished from memory, what do the unfortunate confluence of factors that brought about their return do for the league’s credibility around the world? Should something be done to ensure the image of the spectacle be sacrosanct?
    Upcoming Fixtures
    All four series are delicately poised with only one-goal between the sides in three and the other tied. The Second Legs are coming up in short order with two on Wednesday followed by two on Thursday:
    Wednesday: New York-Houston; Kansas City-New England. Thursday: Salt Lake-Los Angeles; Portland-Seattle.
    It is recommended that all be watched.
    All quotes courtesy of MLSsoccer.com
    Each week James takes a look at the league as a whole.
    You can follow James on twitter @grawsee or read more of his writing at Partially Obstructed View
    Guest
    As the search for Vancouver Whitecaps' new manager continues, one of the things that has become clear over the past week is that whoever ends up in the hotseat will be responsible for overseeing a more rapid progression of the Caps' younger talent from the Residency program to the MLS squad, and he will be held accountable if the developmental returns are not more plentiful to what we've already seen.
    Whilst results, primarily the inability to achieve either of the club's two main goals on the pitch this season, were at the top of the list of reasons for Martin Rennie's dismissal, not far behind it was the failure to bring on the Caps budding young guns at an acceptable level.
    The message is clear. Vancouver's footballing future lies with fully developing it's own homegrown talent more than the luck of the draw with draft picks.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    It was a key role and expectation of the manager to do just that, as Bobby Lenarduzzi explained to us when Steve spoke with him after last week's press conference.
    <i>"Our Head Coach in each of the three seasons, the priority was to get results on the pitch. But, we also wanted to ensure that the coach also understood that as a club it was important for us to develop players. We've invested a lot of money in to it."</i>
    So will the new manager be getting the exact same message? Lenarduzzi says yes.
    <i>"Ideally, that coach when he comes in, the same will apply. We need to get to the playoffs, we'd like to win an Amway Cup, but at the same time we'd also love to see more Sam Adekugbes and Russell Teiberts."</i>
    For all of Rennie's talk about <i>"we've had a number of young players establish themselves in the group"</i>, the results in front of our eyes beg to differ, with the young players in the squad more often than not reduced to substitute roles, if they were even in the gameday 18 at all.
    Although it's not where they would have ideally wanted it to be, has that "development" pleased the Caps and somewhat met the owners' ambitions?
    <i>"We are relatively pleased that we now have two that have played, not significant minutes, but Russell has and it appears as if unless Sam's performance was a one off, he's capable of doing the same."</i>, was Lenarduzzi's thoughts on that, but what of Greg Kerfoot, who has spent a lot of money in setting up the Residency program to try and develop more Canadian talent?
    <i>"I think he's excited that the development system is finally paying dividends."</i>
    Of those young players in the current MLS squad, four have come through the Whitecaps Residency program but none of them have had an easy passage.
    Russell Teibert was there before Rennie came on board and at one point seemed so far out of the picture that the widest angled lens in history would have struggled to pick him up. Bryce Alderson was signed, unplayed, injured and shipped off to Charleston. Caleb Clarke got a few minutes, deserved more, slipped down the pecking order and was eventually send on loan to Germany, where he has seemingly impressed. Sam Adekugbe was added late in the season, got to play due to a suspension and should have the chance to shine next season.
    Add in Ben Fisk, who inexplicably can't find himself with a spot on a MLS squad full of strange additions who have somehow got themselves ahead of him, and there's not been a lot of role models and shining examples for the latest crop of Caps talent to take too much inspiration from.
    Despite having their academy up and running long before they joined MLS, the Whitecaps have somewhat fallen behind some of their peers in bringing through the young players from there, not only into the first team but playing them.
    All that should soon change and the new Caps boss will be tasked to make sure that it happens.
    But will the philosophy and playing style of the Residency also change under a new coach? Or will the Residency coaches be allowed to continue their own development of the young talent?
    <i>"Our philosophy is really for Gordon Forrest, our primary Residency coach, to make the players good players and to have those players be adaptable to different formations."</i> continued Lenarduzzi.
    <i>"We haven't zeroed in on any one formation and I think for the time being we would limit our coach to come in, understand what's going on at the Residency level but focus your energies on ensuring that we give ourselves the best chance of success by making the playoffs and the Amway Cup."</i>
    If senior players like Nigel Reo-Coker had their way, the introduction of more Residency players into the Caps MLS squad would be happening right now.
    <i>"We've got a good bunch of young players all set to come through. I've seen some of these players in training, I'm excited about what the future holds for this club. It would be great if the fans could see what I see in training.
    "There's a good bunch of lads who are playing right now in the Under 17 World Cup. For me it would be great if these guys were included in the squad for next season. Even though they're young, my mentality is if they're good enough, they're old enough, and I'd love to see them involved in the first team next year, getting some games. Regardless if they're 16, 17. these kids can play."</i>
    As a young player, and Residency graduate, who has made the breakthrough into being a semi regular starter in the first team, does Russell Teibert feel that's realistic to expect?
    <i>"Absolutely. You saw it with Sam. He came in and did fantastic. Showed his quality and showed that he can play at this level. Sam is just the tip of the iceberg, I think there's a more to come."</i>
    Anyone who's watched any Residency, PDL and even Reserve games these last two years knows that this is the case.
    It's now up to the new Whitecaps manager to make it happen.
    <p>
    <i>[You can find out for yourself just how good the current up and coming crop of Caps talent is by taking in the Residency's final home game of 2013 this coming Saturday at Percy Perry Stadium in Coquitlam. It's a Cascadia derby as Portland Timbers come to town. The U18s kick off at noon and the U16's at 2.30pm. Get out and support the future and see the Whitecaps' MLS stars of tomorrow, today.]</i>
    <p>
    Guest
    The first two matches of the 2013 MLS Cup Playoffs have taken place to determine which teams will move onto the post-season proper, setting up this weekend’s conference semifinal first legs.
    Both matches resulted in shutout home wins with five goals scored – one from the penalty spot, while nine yellow cards shown and four reds – one accumulative.
    Before diving into the results, the goal of the round:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The pick of the bunch was undoubtedly Will Bruin’s opener for Houston over Montreal, precipitated by Rico Clark’s deft back-heel set up.
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    Results
    Seattle 2 – Colorado 0
    The playoffs kicked off on Wednesday with the Western Conference play-in match where fourth-placed Seattle hosted fifth-seed Colorado.
    Neither side entered in particularly strong form – the host having gone winless through seven and the visitors losing (and going goal-less through) their last three on the road; Seattle were emboldened by the fact that they had won eight of the twelve all-time meetings and had never lost at home to Colorado.
    It took just three minutes for the Sounders to find their first chance on goal, coming through Adam Moffat, who found himself in space on the left-side of the box, only for Clint Irwin to parry his shot well.
    Colorado struggled to string passes together on the wet and bouncy surface, while Oscar Pareja’s decision to field German Mera and shuffle his back-line rather than go unchanged, looked puzzling when the rusty centre-back misread a bouncing ball, leaving it to his keeper, only for Lamar Neagle to steal in and nod forward - Irwin got enough to push the threat wide.
    The match looked to be turning into a physical war of attrition when DeAndre Yedlin and Hendry Thomas took turns running into each other, but then Mera’s rust and the lack of cohesion in the reformatted Colorado lineup proved costly:
    Brad Evans sparked the play that led to his goal in the 28th minute by playing up to Clint Dempsey on the right-side of the pitch. Dempsey exchanged passes with Eddie Johnson, moving from right to left, before laying a ball out wide to Leo Gonzalez on the left.
    The left-back’s cross into the middle was cleared by Mera, but fell kindly to Evans, who had continued into the box, controlled the ball on his chest above the right-post and hit a right-footed half-volley to the bottom left-side of the goal.
    The ease with which Seattle swept through the Colorado midfield, Mera’s poor-placement of his clearing header, and Deshorn Brown falling asleep, failing to track Evans deep led to the opening goal.
    Brown was more involved shortly thereafter when he went up for an aerial challenge with Yedlin; the Seattle full-back caught the Colorado rookie high with a stray arm before landing awkwardly and rolling his ankle – both would require treatment and Yedlin would not return for the second half.
    Colorado’s best chance came in first half stoppage-time when Martin Rivero volleyed a shot from the top of the box straight at Michael Gspurning after a half-cleared free-kick.
    The Sounders came out for the second half energized by their best half in months and nearly crafted another, prompting Rapids keeper, Irwin, to range out of his box to confront Dempsey as he bore down on goal, knocking over the forward and seeing yellow for his troubles. Marc Burch would smack the ensuing free-kick off the bar.
    Colorado responded with Brown troubling Gspurning with a curling shot, but then nearly conceded a penalty kick when Mera and Drew Moor each appeared to handle a goal-bound Neagle shot.
    With the match fizzling out, Gspurning ensured a tense finale when he inexplicably misread the bounce of a long ball and handled outside his area, earning himself a red card in the process.
    The Seattle wall would block the free-kick and Thomas would squirrel his header from the ensuing corner, sparing Gspurning and his replacement, Marcus Hahnemman, any unnecessary blushes.
    Time ticked down, the board showed five minutes of extra time, and Dempsey wasted a chance to seal the result, shooting off-target on a break in the 91st.
    Two minutes later any chance of a Colorado comeback was neutered when Johnson added a vital second goal:
    Mera again played a role, sending an aimless header up the right flank, Edson Buddle could only flick it in-field, where Osvaldo Alonso collected the loose ball. The Cuban destroyer rolled up to Dempsey, who threaded a ball inside the full-back for Eddie cutting in from the right. Johnson nutmegged Mera as he cut past him, opened up his body and side-footed with his right-boot past Irwin at the short-side to kill off the contest.
    Seattle end that seven-game winless run and progress to the Western Conference Semifinals where they will face Cascadia rivals, Portland – the series begins on Saturday.
    Sigi Schmid reflected post-match, “It’s been a long time since we won a game; we get reminded of that all the time. For us to win a game is just a good feeling. It’s always been our belief that when we get our people on the field, we are a team that can win games. For us it’s a win over a team that embarrassed us the last time. It’s not just a win; it’s the way we played as well.”
    The loss eliminated Colorado from the post-season, though they can look to the absence of influential midfielder Dillon Powers – recovering from concussion-symptoms – and the need to hold Vicente Sanchez in reserve until the hour mark – he was revealed to be nursing a broken bone in his shoulder post-match – as partial reasons.
    Pareja backed his team, “This stadium, against one of the toughest teams in the league, with this atmosphere, to perform the way that they did today, with that energy and that level of commitment with the game, I’m proud of what the boys have done during this season. I feel bad for them because I know they wanted to advance, but that’s the game,” but did not conceal his disappointment, “My philosophy is about every day and every game. I don’t plan anything. I want to win every game, whether it’s in the season, whether it’s in the playoffs or the offseason and that’s the way I feel, that’s the way I play the game. If you ask me today, I feel terrible. I’m not happy, obviously. I can see great things that happened in the season, but we are competitors here and obviously there is some bitter in this result. But I say we keep moving forward and there's nothing else we can do.”
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    Houston 3 – Montreal 0
    On Thursday in the East, the other play-in match featured two teams headed in opposite directions.
    Houston, late-season risers that they are, entered the match having lost just one of their last seven matches, taking fourteen of 21 available points to thrust into the playoffs, while Montreal backed in, winning one of their last eight and losing six.
    The Impact looked lively at the start, with Collen Warner’s fleet-footed run through the middle in the second minute leading to a Marco Di Vaio chance – he was, however, ruled offside.
    The first goal would change the outlook of the match after a mere sixteen minutes:
    Houston cycled the ball from right to left before Corey Ashe played in-field to Will Bruin. Bruin rolled a pass up to Ricardo Clark, which Matteo Ferrari stretched to intercept, but missed, allowing Clark to collect on the left-side of the arc and press to the right, appearing to take on Nelson Rivas only to back-heel a pass into the space vacated by Ferrari and into the path of Bruin.
    Bruin took a touch then smashed a right-footer high to the right-side of goal past Troy Perkins to open the scoring and firmly put the home team in the driver’s seat.
    Eleven minutes later Houston put their foot on the throats of their guests, when Hernan Bernardello rashly lunged in on Oscar Boniek Garcia, facing down three defenders, a foot inside the Montreal box, handing over a penalty kick.
    Garcia took the attempt himself, stepping up right-footed and sending Perkins diving to his left, before finishing a low drive to the keeper’s right, if not entirely tucked into the corner.
    Down two goals and failing to click, desperation began to set in.
    Montreal first got physical – with Rivas perhaps lucky to only see yellow for his forearm to the face of Giles Barnes – and then looked for a breakthrough, but Tally Hall was equal to a Di Vaio chance after Justin Mapp, their lone bright spot, slipped the Italian striker down the right.
    The second half wrought changes for Montreal, making all three of their substitutes within seventeen minutes of the restart, in the hope of spurring some forward momentum, but a second yellow card and subsequent red to Rivas – who was making his first appearance of the season – quelled those hopes of a comeback.
    Rivas went up for an aerial challenge with Bruin and once again raised his arms, catching the forward in the head, and was dismissed in the 70th minute.
    Two minutes later Bruin had his second of the match:
    Bruin powered a headed pass for himself from the centre-circle, forcing a footrace between himself and Ferrari, outpacing and powering the defender down the left, before cutting across the recovering Jeb Brovsky, rounding Perkins at the top of the area and right-footing into the open net.
    Down three goals and a man, with Ferrari slowed by an apparent hamstring issues having overexerted himself in the attempt to bring down Bruin, Montreal could muster little and Houston were content to remove their starters and see out the result.
    The dying match sparked in the 88th minute when Kofi Sarkodie shielded a ball in the right-corner from Andres Romero, who was whistled for a shove in the back. In frustration, Romero kicked out at the ball between the defenders legs, catching more than a fair chunk of Sarkodie, and drawing a crowd.
    Romero would see red, as would Di Vaio, who appeared to repeatedly try and claw Ashe’s neck – Ashe saw yellow for inserting himself into the incident from afar.
    An indignant end to the match and Montreal’s season.
    The solid win sees Houston through to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, where they will tangle with New York, starting on Sunday.
    Dominic Kinnear lauded his charges, “All credit to the guys, they’ve been fantastic. They go from Sunday to Thursday, a little bit of travel, and to put on a performance like that is something to be inspired by as we head into the next round.”
    Playing their best when it matters most – that’s the Houston way.
    Montreal’s season comes to close – though they stopped playing a few months ago – on a sour note.
    Marco Schallibaum was distraught with the outcome, “I’m very disappointed, because we wanted to make it 2-1. That way, we could have turned the game around, but we couldn’t. It’s been this way for weeks. If we don’t score, we don’t have a chance.
    "We are really disappointed that we weren't able to reach the next round. We needed to go all out but today just wasn't our day. We started the game well, in the first 15 minutes, before they scored their goal, but we were unable to come back after that. The cards we received do not put the club in the best light."
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/5111amshv9M?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    CanCon
    The were no Canadians involved in this play-in round, though both Patrice Bernier and Wandrille Lefevre were on the bench for the Impact.
    Overheard
    Patrice Bernier kept it classy with his post-match tweet:
    <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Merci à tous nos fans! Vous avez été grandiose cette saison. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23imfc&src=hash">#imfc</a></p>— Patrice Bernier (@pbernier10) <a href="
    ">November 1, 2013</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
    While other players around MLS were less kind in their assessment of the end:
    <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>First commercial after the game ends? "Don't Cross The Line"...</p>— AJ DeLaGarza (@AJD_20) <a href="
    ">November 1, 2013</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
    Tally Hall was a little disappointed in the lack of numbers that came out to support the Dynamo on Halloween night, “It was a pretty good game. I think there were a lot of fans who had a good time, and, looking back I bet there’ll be a whole lot more fans that wish they had gone to this game. And hopefully they make the correct decision this weekend.”
    Kinnear stepped in to smooth over that possible rift, “The electricity in the air was still very vibrant, the communication between the players and the fans was playoff-like, the ‘ole’s’ were fantastic. For me, I thank every single fan that came out and obviously we have a couple of days to pass on the word and hope we have this place rocking on Sunday and absolutely full.”
    The official attendance for the match was 10 476.
    See It Live
    Wasn’t really a whole lot worth pointing out:
    In the West, the physio who came out to attend to Deshorn Brown dropped a pill bottle on the player as he knelt down to check on him; Oscar Pareja kindly took Eddie Johnson by the wrist moments before half-time to point something out – the two have a relationship from their days at Dallas, so it was all friendly enough – and referee, Silviu Petrescu executed a neat block on a dangerous Colorado pass, ending a potential attack.
    Out East, the only thing funny about that match was Hassoun Camara’s bull-charge move on Bobby Boswell during a free-kick, falling down, then thrusting his head into the defender’s midsection to try and force him away from the ball.
    Controversy
    A good amount of controversy, considering it was only two matches.
    Should Seattle have had a penalty kick for the handball by German Mera?
    Did Clint Irwin deserve more than a yellow for his foul on Dempsey?
    And what was Michael Gspurning thinking with catching that ball?
    Did Nelson Rivas’ deserve a red card for his first yellow?
    And was the second worthy of a sending off?
    What got into Andres Romero and Marco Di Vaio at the end?
    Opinion Poll
    Should Schallibaum go? And will the league throw the book at the Impact for their ungraceful exit?
    Upcoming Fixtures
    The playoffs begin in earnest on Saturday and Sunday with the away legs of the Conference Semifinals.
    Saturday: New England-Kansas City; Seattle-Portland. Sunday: Houston-New York; Los Angeles-Salt Lake.
    A mouth-watering collection of fixtures: New England’s vivacious attack against KC’s smothering defense; a Pacific Northwest derby; perpetual contenders Houston against regular stumblers New York and then there is a rematch of the 2009 MLS Cup, the match that sparked the Salt Lake era.
    Should be good.
    Each week James takes a look at the league as a whole.
    You can follow James on twitter @grawsee or read more of his writing at Partially Obstructed View
    Guest
    This is not for Montreal Impact fans. They aren't blind. They can judge for themselves what the state of their team is. They also know that last night was a bit of an embarrassment, both in terms of the score and the shameful way some of the players took their exit.
    This article is for TFC fans, especially those that have been preaching about how wonderful the Impact were put together. If I have to hear another TFC fan tell me how much they wish Joey Saputo was running TFC, so help me God...
    Saputo undoubtably cares about the Impact. He should since it's his favourite play toy. Throughout the years, his fingertips have been all over the team and, most importantly, his money has been too. In the lower levels that led to the Impact having a good degree of success.
    Money really can buy titles in the second tier. Look at the New York Cosmos right now.
    Not so much in MLS. In MLS you need good, smart management. There is literally no evidence Saputo is that. His "passion" is a thin line from meddling when the club starts to lose.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The 2013 Impact finished with more points than their play would suggest they should have. I'll be publishing league-wide stats demonstrating this early next week, but simply put Montreal finished near the bottom of the league (close to TFC, actually) in the incredibly predictive stat TSR. Hockey fans can understand TSR to roughly be the same thing as Corsi in that sport. Those unfamiliar can think about it as a measure of how much a team is controlling play and creating scoring chances. If a team is scoring a lot with a low TSR number more often than not there will be a correction and that team will crash back to earth -- like, say, the Impact did this year (San Jose's slip in 2013 could also have been predicted by TSR).
    Basically, the Impact's great start (and it was an amazing start) came down to a hot striker (who is close to the end and inevitable slow down in production) and a whole lot of luck. Good luck replicating that in 2014.
    History tells us that if the Impact struggle out of the gate next year Saputo will demonstrate some of that infamous "passion" and make changes.
    Constant change is a surefire way to ensure constant losing in MLS. But, you already knew that TFC fans, didn't you.
    There are a lot of teams in MLS that Toronto should want to copy. The Impact are absolutely not one of them.
    If you want to yell at me while the comments are down on CSN you can do so on Twitter @24thminute
    Guest
    As much as it is tempting to do so, you can't paint all TFC players in the same brush. Below the jump our annual report card of player performance:
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Gale Agbossoumonde D+
    A lot of raw physical ability, but raw is key word. Ultimately lost his job to a 20-year-old Canadian. Chance he's back (CHB): 85%
    Manuel Aparicio Inc.
    They are high on him, but no chance to earn grade yet. CHB: 100%
    Kyle Bekker C-
    Low grade because he sat rotted to bench most of year. Looked promising when did play at end of year and with Canada. CHB: 90%
    Joe Bendik B-
    Good shot-stopper. Exactly a MLS replacement level keeper. CHB: 100%
    Mark Bloom C-
    At best looked like a replacement level back. That's all club wants in that position because money better spent elsewhere. CHB: 95%
    Justin Braun F
    A terrible season for a player that looks out of depth at MLS level now. CHB: 15%
    Steven Caldwell A
    Probably the best overall season of any Red. The cornerstone to Ryan Nelsen's plans. CHB: 100%
    Bobby Convey C
    Good veteran that didn't get a lot of chance to stand out because of club's overall struggles. CHB: 66%
    Bright Dike C-
    Looked game, but very, very raw in limited time. CHB: 98%
    Robert Earnshaw B
    At times he looked like he was here for a laugh -- a nice North American adventure at end of career. At other times he looked every bit the goal scorer he's been elsewhere in career. CHB: 50%
    Richard Eckersley B-
    The sad thing about Eckersley's end here in Toronto is he finally seemed to be improving on the weaker parts of his game. He is above average as a fullback, but few want to play close to his value at that position. CHB: 0%
    Jonas Elmer F
    He barely played, but was here long enough to earn the F for barely playing. CHB: 5%
    Stefan Frei Inc.
    Class to the end. CHB: 1% (there is a possibility that he might agree to play at a minimum if he doesn't get another offer)
    Jeremy Hall B-
    Quietly, one of the better turnarounds. He's only ever going to bring so much though. CHB: 66%
    Doneil Henry C+
    Athletic. Good for at least one NOOOOOO!!! moment a game. CHB: 100%
    Danny Koevermans Inc
    Injuries likely ended career. CHB: 5%
    Chris Konopka Inc
    Next year's back-up. CHB: 100%
    Matías Laba B+
    Historically about one out of every five Kevin Payne signings work out. Laba is the 20%. CHB: 100%
    Reggie Lambe B-
    Probably the biggest surprise on the positive side in 2013. Lambe went from scapegoat to solid contributor this year. CHB: 95%
    Ashtone Morgan C
    The promise of a couple years ago has failed to materialize, but he seemed to emerge from the funk he had been in during the second half of 2012. Hope still for a breakout. CHB: 100%
    Jonathan Osorio B+
    The hometown hero made good. Fans are likely over inflating his current standing, but Osorio is a MLS starter on most teams. Add the homegrown status and he's going to be a mainstay. CHB: 100%
    Alvaro Rey B+
    Looked solid if not fully adjusted. Could finally be the winger TFC has searched 7-years for. CHB: 75% (he's paid a lot)
    Ryan Richter D+
    One of the rudderless additions made to fill a hole that should have been filled if Payne had done his job properly. CHB: 10%
    Quillan Roberts Inc
    Kid needs to play. CHB (on loan): 100%
    Darel Russell D
    Not MLS quality. CHB:10%
    Michael Thomas Inc
    Who knows? CHB: 25%
    Emery Welshman F
    It seems increasingly clear he was taken because his passport. He didn't play, but earned he F because he was there all year and didn't play. CHB:25%
    Andrew Wiedeman C-
    He's fine as a fifth striking option. Might be best if he moved on and away from the best finisher of the modern era comments. CHB: 33%
    Players already gone:
    Matt Stinson F
    He never had the drive.
    Ashton Bennett Inc
    Only was on roster because they needed to fill space at start
    Taylor Morgan Inc
    See above
    John Bostock D
    Hogan Ephraim D
    I'm going to grade these two together because they seemed interchangeable. Had a nice summer vacation. Played a little football. Went home.
    Terry Dunfield C-
    Right to the end, tassels hustled and contributed above his skill level.
    Darren O'Dea B-
    His salary was terrible. His play fine. Seemed to genuinely care bout club, which is worth something.
    Luis Silva C+
    The one that got away will likely be missed in future, but he was having a subpar season at TFC before he was moved.
    Logan Emory D+
    He tried his best.
    Danny Califf F
    Never really wanted to be here and probably shouldn't have been.
    Jeremy Brockie C-
    He was a decent, hustle forward --Chad Barrett with an accent. I'm giving him a 25% chance of returning on a full-time deal.
    Maximiliano Urruti A+
    By far the player that best summarizes both 2013 and the entire TFC experience. An A+ for the LOLs.
    Guest
    Putting the ball into the back of the net is the goal.
    That's the bottom line and last night Canada's bottom line was three goals better than Korea's.
    And, that's positive. Getting results has not been the main focus of the women's national them this year and it was important that they not lose focus on the end game — winning football games.
    But, man.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    It was not the overall effort that John Herdman was looking for. He said so himself when he told the Canadian Press that it "looked like there was a lot of work to do."
    There is. Give Korea another 20-months to prep and that game isn't 3-0 in 2015. In fact, the Asians might have left the stadium on top. Diana Matheson, Christine Sinclair and Erin McLeod aren't getting younger. They desperately need someone else to step up. So far we're mostly still waiting.
    To that end, Canadian fans should be hoping from someone from the youth teams to emerge. The women's game is more likely to see the development of wunderkinds. It's possible one day that this country might produce (another) one of them. If they don't then some reevaluation of goals for 2015 should be in order. As it stands, the quarter finals would be a remarkable accomplishment all should be proud of.
    Winning would be a miracle.
    You can start searching for the next Sinclair today, as the u-17s start their qualifying campaign. The games will be on Sportsnet.ca.
    Michael Mccoll
    The move has surprised many, with Vancouverite Yallop expected to be a shoe-in for the Caps coaching job, ticking all the boxes that club's now infamous committee are looking for, in particular experience, success in MLS and a history of bringing on young players.
    You have to feel that the lure of an actual job offer was far better than playing the waiting game for what was a dream job in his hometown. We can only speculate as to whether Yallop expected to be installed by the Whitecaps right away and didn't want the uncertainty when it became clear he wasn't going to be without a full interview process.
    There's also that lingering talk that the whole "committee" aspect of the Whitecaps was putting off Yallop and the move to Chicago, who had already spoken to him about becoming the technical director at the club, would give him more freedom to make all the decisions and have complete overall control.
    In Monday's article where we broke the news of Rennie's release, we asked the question of Yallop - "was his 2012 Quakes a blip and he is a manager whose best days are behind him and he is coming to the team with outdated ideas that won't be a success here?".
    We'll find out next season with Chicago, but losing Yallop to the Fire may actually be a blessing in disguise, depending on who ends up applying for the job, and the Whitecaps should end up with a more modern and dynamic new coach.
    The Caps had confirmed that Yallop was someone that would be on their shortlist, but it now throws up the intriguing question as to who is on that list now and who will ultimately get the job?
    There's already a lot of sites out there listing and analysing candidates, so we're not going to bore everyone by overdoing that. Some names are available right this second (Bob Bradley, Gary Smith), whilst others are still in jobs (Bruce Arena, Dominic Kinnear, Jason Kreis).
    Tuesday's press conference was keen to play the "experience" card. Bobby Lenarduzzi, Jay DeMerit and Jordan Harvey all talked about the need for experience and you left feeling that the new manager would be more of a veteran than an up and coming young buck.
    Now that the dust has settled, and having given it a bit of thought after losing out on Yallop, I'm not sure that would necessarily be the best or only route to go down right now.
    For me personally, I would narrow it down to two candidates, either of whom I would be happy to see as the new Caps head honcho.
    My first choice is Jason Kreis. We first mentioned him as a bit of a pipe dream in a podcast back in May when we were sure Rennie was getting fired back then.
    The RSL boss has a lot of invaluable MLS experience and success behind him. He is only 40 but has been in charge in Utah since 2007.
    Whilst it is felt that he is currently at the stage of his career where he will be tempted by a new challenge, the downside is that he has been strongly linked with being the inaugural manager at New York City for 2015. But that is a whole season away. Would a manager like him be happy to not have a hands on, active role for a whole year?
    I love what he's done at Salt Lake, especially this year, where he lost key players, rebuilt his team, again, and whilst many thought he would struggle, he proved his doubters wrong and came close to winning the Supporters' Shield.
    He also has a track record for developing young talent, which is right up there along with results as to why the Caps brass felt that Rennie had failed.
    I think the Caps would love to have a guy like Kreis at the club and are bound to put feelers out to him, which I'm sure they already have.
    He couldn't come until RSL were out of the playoffs, which could be as late as December, not giving him a whole lot of time to make decisions on which players are kept and which ones are binned and would hopefully rely on someone already at the club adequately informed to help him make those decisions.
    And that person would be Carl Robinson, who is now my second choice for the job if we can't lure Kreis.
    This might surprise some because we were on the experienced manager bandwagon for the last few weeks.
    When we first got wind that Rennie was going, I didn't think Robinson was the right man for the job at this specific time, mainly down to him not having managerial experience as the leading man so to speak and we can't afford another project that doesn't work out.
    I could easily have seen Yallop grooming him for that position down the line before moving upstairs, but you know what, why not give him a shot?
    He's a great coach, respected and cited by players and I know for a fact that he is highly thought of by some of the Caps top brass.
    Talk with him and within minutes you know that he knows the game inside and out and has a passion to succeed.
    The huge advantage with Robinson is that he knows the squad. If the general feeling is that we fell just short, he'll know exactly what and who is needed to take us to that extra level and who needs to go now to achieve it. But could he get the necessary results and would he be given the necessary time if things started off badly?
    What I like about Robinson, and Paul Ritchie for that matter, is that they tell it like it is. There's no spin, just refreshing honesty. And do you know who else likes that? The players.
    Both are highly respected by the current squad, including the veteran players who know they've played at a high level and worked hard to get their coaching qualifications.
    If Robinson got the coach's job, I'd expect Ritchie to stay around as his assistant and would be delighted by that young and ambitious pairing and I think they would bring success if they are allowed to make the moves that are needed, which for me is still to clear out a lot of the deadwood and bring in up to 10 new players.
    You can be certain they'd play exciting and entertaining football both home and away, and from speaking with both of them in the past, they are very big on developing younger players and feel that bringing through young Canadian talent from the Residency is the only future for the Caps.
    But does Robinson stand a realistic chance or have the club painted themselves into a corner with the experience comments? How would promoting the assistant to a perceived failed manager look to the general fanbase? Are the owners bold enough to take the gamble with another young manager, and a rookie one at that? Or do they have to go out and get a "name" to appease and stop disillusionment?
    It's going to be an interesting couple of weeks, but as we keep saying, this next appointment is one of the most important in Whitecaps history and will define the future of this football club.
    It's added pressure, but with Yallop's Chicago appointment, they perhaps now have more time and are less rushed to make sure they get the right man in place.
    The powers that be can't afford to get it wrong.
    If they went for Kreis, Robinson or both, then I don't think they would be.
    Guest
    Let's take a moment, right off the bat, to revel in the biggest margin of victory that a Canadian national soccer team has been able to achieve in 2013.
    (reveling, reveling, etc.)
    Now then. Goals from Christine Sinclair, Brittany Timko and Adriana Leon -- and an excellent first-half performance from goalkeeper Erin McLeod -- lifted the women's national team to a comfortable 3-0 victory over South Korea in a friendly on Wednesday night, in front of over 12,000 fans at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium.
    Given the relative paucity of home friendlies for our senior national teams, the instinct is to simply enjoy the game's existence (and ratchet up that enjoyment after the favourable result). But the responsible Canadian fan (contradiction in terms?) in me says we need to figure out what -- if anything -- it all means. So, here we go.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    In the grand scheme of things, every game at this stage needs to be viewed as an evaluation tool for Canada going into the 2015 Women's World Cup. Funnily enough, the main subject of evaluation on Wednesday night was the venue: Commonwealth Stadium will host Canada in the opening game of the tournament, and head coach John Herdman spoke of the importance of acclimatizing to the facility in advance of WWC2015.
    In terms of his lineup on the night, the realities of NCAA soccer (oh those lousy kids, needing to "go to class" and "earn an education" and everything) meant that many youngsters on Herdman's radar were unavailable, leaving him with plenty of familiar faces from the podium run at the 2012 Olympics, and a few relative newbies.
    The biggest surprise (in many facets) was Sura Yekka, a 16-year-old who won her first cap for the senior team and started at right back. After impressing Herdman with her performance at a U-20 camp, the Mississauga, Ont. youngster -- like 18-year-old Kadeisha Buchanan before her -- got plunked into the mix for CanWNT with generalized sink-or-swim parameters.
    And full credit to Yekka: On this night, she swam.
    Sure, there were some deficiencies in defensive positioning, but like Buchanan, she has a composure on the ball that makes you forget she's an inexperienced teenager. And her willingness to burst up the wing as a fullback was refreshing -- in fact, it was her run on the right side that helped create Canada's first goal, as she forced a corner kick that was ultimately swung in by Diana Matheson onto the head of Sinclair.
    As for the two other youngsters, Leon and Melissa Busque? Both are attempting to stake a spot in Canada's future post-Sinclair attacking setup, and both made some solid claims on the evening. Busque had energy and some good off-the-ball movement, while Leon showed the strength and finishing touch (capping off a splendid sequence on Canada's third goal) that have some Canadian supporters (i.e. me) tabbing the 21-year-old for big things in the years ahead.
    Beyond the newcomers, what did we learn? Well, nothing new, really.
    Sinclair is really good. Matheson continues to explore her attacking side (with exciting results) as her career progresses. Desiree Scott is called "the destroyer" for a reason. Lauren Sesselmann continues to be a significant asset to the team. McLeod is part of a remarkably good line of goalkeepers that Canada has produced (Stephanie Labbe came in at halftime to maintain the clean sheet).
    But in a general sense, even a "Tier II" team like South Korea -- who were defeated 3-0 on the night, remember -- showed sparks of technical proficiency and passing ability that the Canadians simply couldn't match. Canada utilized their size, speed and strength to full advantage on Wednesday, properties which were relevant on at least two of the goals. Still, as the global parity continues to increase in the women's game, it's important not to misconstrue results such as Wednesday night's as a sign that all is well within the Canadian system.
    C'mon, though, those ever-present concerns about the future can be suppressed for a day, though, right? After all, how often does a Canadian national team win 3-0 in front of an adoring home crowd? (Bonus if the opposing team comes into the game with more than 11 players dressed for the match.)
    The 2015 Women's World Cup is two and a half years away, which is both a huge stretch of time and not that much time at all. We saw a good chunk of Canada's core on display against South Korea, but we didn't see a good number of other players (returning veterans like Melissa Tancredi, Jonelle Filigno and Kara Lang, as well as additional youngsters) who'll surely factor into the mix as well.
    So to hell with it. Let's learn to stop worrying and love the good results when they happen. One of them happened tonight, and thousands of young fans in Edmonton were sent home with smiles on their faces.
    Come to think of it, the women's national team seems to have a good history of inspiring youngsters with their performances in Edmonton.
    Let's just hope that can carry through to 2015.
    .
    Guest
    As soon as the words <i>"We have a football committee"</i> came out of Bobby Lenarduzzi's mouth at yesterday Whitecaps press conference, it was obvious that Martin Rennie's firing as Caps coach wasn't going to be the main talking point once the dust had settled.
    The words certainly set tongues wagging, with confusion and questions rife in the aftermath. Perhaps a little bit too much, with some being far too hung up on the committee part of it all.
    That's not to say that there aren't concerns, but there are far deeper questions out there about the football club as a whole.
    Why did it all go wrong? Are the right people in the right positions elsewhere in the front office? What direction do the current ownership group want to see the Club taking as the Whitecaps get set to enter their fourth year as a MLS club?
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The committee consists of owners Greg Kerfoot and Jeff Mallett, COO Rachel Lewis, Director of Professional Teams Greg Anderson and Whitecaps President Lenarduzzi. Only one of whom has played or managed in the professional game.
    Their role?
    <i>"Any strategic decisions that are made go through that particular committee and Martin reports to that committee. So it's a coordinated approach that we're taking to those decisions."</i>
    With interest piqued, he was keen to stress that the manager <i>"does have autonomy. Whatever players he wants, he gets."</i>
    As the questions poured in, it was a point he rightly felt he had to get across a few times, placing blame for poor personnel decisions firmly at the foot of Rennie's door.
    <i>"Once Martin was hired, he was hired to do his job. There was no interference from the committee. Lots of discussion. We had football committee meetings and lots of discussion took place, but ultimately it was always with the view that Martin had the final say."</i>
    Such a set up is certainly likely to deter some coaches, especially experienced ones, from managing the Whitecaps but it's one that Lenarduzzi doesn't see as changing any time soon.
    This is thought to have been a stumbling point for Frank Yallop in the past, but one that he is prepared to deal with to land his dream hometown job if the Caps act quickly.
    If the coach has carte blanche for player decisions, there should be no issues at all, and that is what Lenarduzzi is saying will be the case.
    <i>"When it came to player selection or player recruitment Martin always had the last call on that and so will any future coach coming in."</i>
    Well, apart from Designated Players that is. That has to be approved by the committee.
    <i>"The day to day activities of the coach and the cap, that obviously we all know what that is, the coach is responsible for that. If there is a decision to assign a designated player, then that would be over and above his responsibilities and he would have to make a case for that particular player and the committee would make decisions on that."</i>
    I think the big mistake Lenarduzzi made yesterday was using the "C word". In many ways, there is little difference to how it is in the UK a club's board of directors. It's not some kind of secret society of decision makers that some are making it out to be.
    The Board manages the day to day running of the club, makes decisions, stays out of team affairs and managers go to the Board with their wants and ideas and the board say yay or nay from a financial or logistical standpoint.
    If you're an owner that's put a considerable amount of money into a team, you want to know what's going on and have some input on it. Better a hands on one that keeps out of team affairs, than one who meddles or one who is absent and doesn't seem to care at all.
    However, as soon as you use the "C word", things sound different. Even the way Lenarduzzi said "the committee" yesterday just conjured up a whole lot of images in my head based on TV shows and films.
    There's an almost sinister image you can conjure up, of smoke filled rooms, full of deep Italian voices. Or the more comical <a href="
    " target="_blank">"Oh No, It's Selwyn Froggitt"</a> (70s UK TV show!) stylings of sitting round a table taking votes, saying <i>"Show of hands.....carried unanimously"</i>.Although it wasn't directly said yesterday, it was hard not to read between the lines that the canning of Rennie was not an unanimous decision of the five person team.
    Which isn't surprising as fan reaction has also been pretty much 50/50 on the whole should he stay or should he go issue.
    If "committee" was one buzz word to come out of the presser then "inconsistency" was the other.
    <i>"Ultimately, the rationale behind the decision was the inconsistency".</i>
    That early message from Lenarduzzi continued later in the presser.
    <i>"It's not just this season, it's also last season as well. In both of those years, we started well and we tailed off towards the end."</i>
    It's a message not lost on the players, as captain Jay DeMerit noted.
    <I>"I do believe, especially in this league, there are a lot of inconsistencies on every team. Every team I've been on in my career, over a ten month season, people forget that that's a long time and there's going to be peaks and troughs throughout that year.
    "I think the resounding answer to that is where it matters, where are you? And we're just like every other team this year where we had some good runs and some bad runs but I think if we had finished the season on a great run no-one would be talking about this, but that's not the case."</i>
    It was also a subject addressed by fellow defender Jordan Harvey.
    <i>"I've been in this league 8 years. Every team is inconsistent to a certain degree and you want to maintain a little less level of inconsistency. You want to be more consistent than the rest and that usually means you make the playoffs.
    "We were inconsistent and I don't think we were consistent enough to make the playoffs and then changes will be made."</i>
    For us, the fundamental questions to now ask are for the owners. And it's all about the "A word" - ambition.
    What exactly is their ambition and long term goals for the Club? How happy are they right now with how things have played out since they splashed out their $35 million?
    Three years into the MLS era, how much of that ambition has been met and what are the ambitions and expectations for next year under the new coach?
    We put that to Lenarduzzi and it certainly made him think carefully about the answer. And it pleasingly seems to boil down to success on the field but achieving it with the help of homegrown players.
    <i>"Well obviously we've fallen short of making the playoffs and winning the Amway Championship. They are the ownership's objectives, but we also want to establish ourselves as a club that develops players and those players graduate through to the senior team."</i>
    There's a lot more questions that need to be asked to the owners and it would be interesting to sit down and do that at some point.
    Just how content are they with every aspect of the football club three years into MLS? Head coach apart, are they happy with others in the front office executive? How relevant is Bobby Lenarduzzi's experience and skillset in MLS? Does there need to be another Paul Barber type figure appointed as the middle man between the coach and the committee? If there does, it needs to be someone who understand the modern game here and not how things are done in Europe.
    So many questions to come out of one dismissal. There needs to be ambition. Martin Rennie's canning is part of the need to achieve that.
    No matter who the next coach may be, that won't provide all the answers. A lot of them still lie with the ownership group.
    <p>
    Guest
    The Toronto radio show Tim & Sid has a segment they call "That's so TFC."
    Set to a '80s sitcom laugh track, That's so TFC features the hosts talking about the latest bit of inanity that the club has been up to. The punch line That's so TFC is delivered at the end of each news story as the pure hilarity of incompetence is revealed.
    This is the only regular TFC segment on Toronto radio. And the hosts are actually soccer fans.
    The best TFC fans have is a sardonic segment where two guys who want TFC to matter make fun of the fact they don't.
    TFC is now irrelevant in this market. They were getting there last year, but the losing in 2013 drove in the last nail. A year ago, we were asking how we could get excitement back into the stadium. This year we'd be happy with just getting people back in.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    If you still care about TFC you're part of a tiny group of zealots that can likely never be driven away. That's great, but it's not enough. The result of the lack of bums in the seats is that the club will need to do the type of things that TFC fans used to make fun of at other clubs.
    Bouncy castles? Blow 'em up and get jumping.
    Mascots? Tim Leiweke probably has the name the...bear? Beaver? Raccoon?... contest already planned.
    Ethnic pandering? Where's that DP rumour coming from again?
    If you're in the supporter's sections you would be right to be worried that new management might be looking to censor some things. FamilyFunDays!!1!1! could be coming to BMO soon and yelling "douchbag ha ha ha" at the opposing keeper might not help attract mom and the kids.
    TFC essentially has to start over and that creates uncertainty about what the new version of the club will look like. If winning is a part of it then that's great, but if the culture at the stadium drastically changes then much of what many of us fell in love with the TFC experience could be gone. And, that would be sad.
    These worries could be nothing, but that doesn't change the underlying truth of what the biggest thing that went wrong in 2013 was:
    We lost the magic.
    Guest

    HERDMAN: It's Time for results

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    For Canada, getting results was always going to be a struggle in 2013. It was by design. Head coach John Herdman has told anyone that will listen that the team would need to take a step back if it was to spring forward and compete to win the 2015 World Cup at home.
    However, according to Herdman it's time to start moving into the next phase of the rebuild.
    "The games have been built around making sure the players get the right experience at the right time," Herdman said by telephone last week. "When we play against those (top) teams it's important we learn what they are doing and we change our tactics slightly (to reflect that)."
    However, that's different when playing what he refers to as "tier two" teams, those nations raked at or below Canada's current level.
    "It's a stepped approach and I think there are some games where you expect against a tier two team you expect to win those games," he said.
    So, tonight's game in Edmonton against South Korea is a must win in Herdman's mind.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]"The only game I've lost in my career was that one against South Korea. I want to make sure that doesn't happen again."
    That's something midfielder Diana Matheson agrees with.
    "We're definitely still in the (building) process...but, I think, now at home against a team like Korea we should go in expecting to win and that's the expectation we have for this game--we want to come out with a result," she said following training Monday.
    "We lost to them earlier this year and that's more than enough."
    Matheson suggested that playing games that emulate what they will see in 2015 is key to ensuring they are fully prepared for all the pressures a home World Cup will bring.
    (Dealing with the pressure of hosting is) something we're going to have to work on with that and that comes with demanding results and its also about perpetration --replicating games like we will see in 2015. So this game in Edmonton is a great warm up for our opening game (which will) probably be against a team like Korea," she said.
    Matheson and Herdman will get their chance to get that needed result tonight in what's expected to be a cold Commonwealth Stadium. Despite the wether, about 10,000 tickets have already been sold.
    Matheson encourages Albertans to show up and lend their voice.
    "Dress warm and come out," she said. "We might not be back next year so it's (tonight) or 2015."
    Tickets can be purchased at Ticketmaster.ca
    Guest
    An extension to Canadian Soccer News’ MLS Week in Review, this article provides a closer look at the performances of the Canadian players who saw the pitch this week.
    Strictly speaking, the top three spots go to familiar names - Will Johnson, Kyle Porter, and Jonathan Osorio – but special mentions must be given to two new faces – Kyle Bekker and Sam Adekugbe – who both impressed this weekend.
    Find out what they did to deserve recognition and who else earned their keep this week.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Will Johnson
    Johnson made his eighth-straight start for Portland in the 0-5 hammering of Chivas on Saturday – it was his 28th start of the season, assisting his side in locking up top spot in the West and their first ever playoff berth.
    Paired again at the base of the midfield alongside Diego Chara, Johnson was his usual effective self.
    Getting forward regularly, he crafted a great chance for Darlington Nagbe, who opted to pass rather than take on a shot, wasting the opportunity, and it was his initial ball for Jose Valencia that led to Diego Valeri’s opening goal after sixteen minutes:
    <iframe width="640" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/JGUnck1gXIw?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    When not picking apart the terrible Ameri-Goats with his passing – completing 45 of 58, by the way – he was sending inviting free-kicks into the box – a delicate chip lead to a Pa Modou Kah chance – or testing the keeper with stingers – this one was punched away – before capping off the night with a fifth goal from a free-kick in the 76th minute on the left-edge of the box, after winning the chance himself:
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/EDVrQVIEPWg?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    It was his ninth goal of the season – triple his career-best set last season.
    Johnson had four shots on the night – two on and two off (including this slicer wide) – won four fouls and a tackle, made four recoveries, two clearances, and an interception, while losing possession fourteen times.
    Post-match the Toronto-born midfielder commented on entering the playoffs on such a positive note, “I don’t know if it motivates us any more than we were. We are excited. We are ready to go. Obviously, it gives us a little boost of confidence. Valeri gets a few goals and Rodney Wallace gets another nice goal, and these are guys that we need scoring goals in the playoffs. I think it just gives the team a good boost and a good shutout for our defenders as well, so everybody is going in nice and confident into the biggest games of the year.”
    And declared no preferences on whom their opponent will be, “No, I don’t think so. LA, Seattle and Colorado are all quality teams. We have had great battles with all of them throughout the year. I don’t think anyone is more advantageous to draw than the other. I think it’s a total even fill this year.”
    Johnson appeared on Pitch Pass midweek, discussing a wide range of topics, including music, life in Portland, and Dutch Football.
    Kyle Porter
    Porter returned to the starting lineup for DC United in their 1-2 loss to Houston on Sunday – it was his first start in their last four matches and just his second in ten. He was a late addition to the eleven when Collin Martin pulled up injured in the warm-ups.
    With both Chris Pontius and Nick DeLeon returning to fitness, Porter has found his playing time limited of late, though with this inclusion his totals - 27 appearances and eighteen starts – are impressive enough for his first season in MLS.
    On the right-side of the midfield, Porter was energetic; tracking deep into his own box early and getting forward with abandon, while linking up well with Chris Korb – nearly responding shortly after DC had fallen behind in the twentieth minute, chesting a ball down to Korb, who tested Tally Hall with a blast.
    Porter himself would find that equalizer in the 27th minute, winning the header at the back-post over Corey Ashe after Pontius had hung an end-line cross up from the left for him to finish:
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/w2XlEzj5UGo?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    It was his third goal of the season – two of which have come in the last six weeks, when minutes were scarce – to put him into a tie for most on the team, though trailing own-goal (of which DC has scored four, on themselves).
    When not scoring, he was springing attacks – splitting the defense with a lovely ball for Conor Doyle that should have led to a chance, but was wasted – and mixing it up with the Houston defenders, before making way for DeLeon after 59 minutes.
    The Toronto, Ontario-native completed a strong 21 of 24 passes, took one shot – his headed goal, made five recoveries and a clearance, won a pair of fouls and one tackle, while conceding possession five times.
    Post-match he reflected on the season, “We got the Open Cup out of this season. It’s just been a tough year, overall. The leading goal-scorer is only with 3 goals. I think three of us are tied for that. It’s just tough. Games like this, we just slip away. That’s been the story the whole season. It’s tough.”
    And looked forward to next, “We have some time now to reflect on the season and bounce back for next season. Hopefully, this is the opposite. We are at the top of the league next year. Hopefully, things can change. We showed we can play with the best teams in this league. We have great players on this team. This is a learning experience this year. We can only grow from here. I have all faith in our organization and our team to get the job done next year.”
    Porter was a guest on Anthony Totera’s Red Card last week.
    Jonathan Osorio
    Osorio made a third-straight start for Toronto in their 1-0 win over Montreal on Saturday – it was his eighteenth start and 28th appearance of the season.
    Paired in the midfield with fellow Canadian, Kyle Bekker, Osorio was immense, moving the ball incredibly well, stifling the more-experienced Impact midfielders, and generally bossing the match.
    It was his shot that led to the match’s only goal, redirected by Robert Earnshaw in the 16th minute – earning his first assist of the season:
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/cQvz60xRxmM?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    His tenacity nearly created another when he forced a sloppy turnover out of Hernan Bernardello and unleashed a shot, drawing a good save out of Troy Perkins and later dragged another shot just wide of the far-post.
    It was his corner kick that prompted the need for a goal-line clearance of a Steven Caldwell dribbler from Bernardello and his cross that Bright Dike nearly turned in at the back-post, though he tried to play one too many passes when breaking into the box, allowing Wandrille Lefevre to steal in with a last-ditch challenge.
    The Toronto, Ontario-native completed 59 of 73 passes, took four shots – one on, two off, and one blocked, won two tackles and two fouls, conceding one, and made eleven recoveries, two clearances, and one interception, while losing possession seventeen times.
    His post-match interview
    Kyle Bekker
    Bekker made his second-straight start for Toronto against Montreal – it was his third start and ninth appearance of the season.
    Patrolling the centre of the pitch alongside Osorio, Bekker was again excellent, leading to the obvious question of why it took so long for him to see significant minutes with TFC’s season clearly ended months ago.
    Whether moving the ball well or tracking deep to support his back-line, Bekker did very well, at least until he started to tire around the hour mark and TFC started leaving too many spaces for Montreal to exploit, leading to a nervy close.
    He had a weak shot on goal, getting his range and power set, before dinging a sweet left-footer off the bar.
    Defensively, Bekker still showed some holes in his match, failing to spot the danger of Davy Arnaud – forcing Joe Bendik to make a brilliant save – and then allowing Andrew Wenger to attack the near-post unfettered, though his attempt went wide.
    The Oakville, Ontario-native completed 56 of 67 passes, took three shots – one on and two off, made five recoveries, three interceptions, two clearances and a block, conceded one foul and lost possession twelve times.
    His post-match interview
    Ryan Nelsen heaped praise on his young, domestic central-midfield pairing, “It was two rookies playing in midfield against a very experienced Montreal midfield group and I thought they were fantastic. I thought they controlled the midfield very well. Both are so comfortable on the ball and they looked like experienced players out there.”
    Russell Teibert
    Teibert returned to Vancouver’s starting lineup in their 3-0 win over Colorado on Sunday after entering from the bench through their last three meetings – it was his nineteenth start and 24th appearance of the season.
    Stationed on the right-side of the four-man midfield, Teibert was tasked with a slightly more defensive role than he was allowed in Martin Rennie’s 4-3-3, limiting his ability to roam. But still he would occasionally pop up at various spots on the field, spraying passes all over the pitch, including this switch wide-left to Daigo Kobayashi to set up a chance for Camilo early.
    With the start of the second half, Teibert appeared to move more centrally, swapping places with Kobayashi in order to increasingly get on the ball and provide his teammate with a little more space on the right.
    From that central position, Teibert set up Camilo’s hat-trick-completing and Golden-Boot-winning goal in the 84th minute, lifting a pass over the back-line for the Brazilian to finish:
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/w2XlEzj5UGo?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    The two would celebrate in the corner, with Camilo giving his precious boot a good polish in gratitude.
    The Niagara Falls, Ontario-native completed a thorough 49 of 55 passes, made eight recoveries and two interceptions, won two fouls and a tackle, while losing possession eight times.
    Sam Adekugbe
    Adekugbe, an eighteen-year old left-back who was signed to a homegrown contract on August 28 and called into a national team camp in September, made his first MLS appearance for Vancouver against Colorado.
    A product of their residency program, the London-born defender of Nigerian-descent gave a strong account of himself, barely putting a foot wrong against several much more-experienced opponents such as Edson Buddle, Nick LaBrocca, and Marvell Wynne.
    Vancouver did a very good job of surrounding the youngster with considerate teammates – Jay DeMerit to his right and Nigel Reo-Coker in front of him, who both made sure he was never put into a bind, always available for a pass.
    Adekugbe kept his game simple, making short quick passes and being conservative in getting forward.
    His first cross early in the match was a little over-hit – working out the nerves – though it drew a response from Clint Irwin, who peeled to the back-post to collect it, but soon he got into the proceedings, scything down Wynne – for which he received a talking too – before getting hacked down by LaBrocca, drawing a yellow card.
    Gaining confident throughout, he attempted to take on Wynne, but his nutmeg attempt did not get through, and he made a brilliant recovery after being beat by Buddle on an initial header, to intervene on a loose ball in the box, for which he was crunched – requiring treatment and returning to the pitch shortly thereafter, if still smarting.
    The rookie completed a solid 53 of 68 passes, made four recoveries, two clearances and one interception, won three headers and one each of tackles and fouls, losing and conceding one each as well, and conceding possession seventeen times.
    His post-match interview
    Kofi Opare
    Opare made his fifth-straight start for Los Angeles in their 1-1 draw at Seattle on Sunday – it was his sixth start of the season, all of which have come in the last two months.
    As the left-sided centre-back, paired with Omar Gonzalez, Opare was again impressive, containing a hungry Seattle attack and limiting their chances to a minimal.
    His duel with Eddie Johnson carried on through the night, began early with Johnson gave his the slightest of nudges into the ad boards, but Opare had the last laugh – repeatedly – coming out wide to block a cross, reading the potential danger with a good recovery run to clear – for which he earned praise from Taylor Twellman on the broadcast.
    The Niagara Falls, Ontario-based defender looked a little shaken up after taking a whack from Michael Gspurning on a Landon Donovan free-kick, but recovered his wits to make a huge last second block on a Djimi Traore overhead kick from a stoppage-time corner kick.
    Opare completed a near-perfect sixteen of seventeen passes, made fifteen clearances, three recoveries, and a block, won two fouls and a header, and lost possession just once.
    Ashtone Morgan
    Morgan made his seventh-consecutive start for Toronto against Montreal – it was his twentieth start and 22nd appearance of the season.
    From his left-back position, Morgan struggled a little defensively, but did much better in possession than he had in recent weeks.
    When isolated out wide against Justin Mapp, Morgan, like many other MLS defenders, struggled to prevent the in-form wide man from getting balls into the box - leading to a first half chance for Wenger (his header went wide).
    He later let Mapp cut inside onto his left-foot to set up the Arnaud chance and allowed Hassoun Camara to get in the low ball that led to the Wenger chance in the second half, both mentioned above.
    It was not entirely of his own making; with Bobby Convey ahead not tracking back and Nelsen opting to play without a designated defensive midfielder, Morgan was regularly stranded and left with the unenviable task of overstretching himself and getting burnt.
    That said, the Toronto, Ontario-native got forward well and was slightly more careful with the ball – completing 33 of 51 passes and ten of fourteen throws – while making five recoveries and two clearances, winning all three of his tackles and a pair of fouls, conceding two, while losing possession 21 times.
    Afterwards, he spoke of getting one over on Montreal, “Definitely, we came out today to break some hearts, especially against our rivals. It’s a great feeling to get the points, get the win and you know, and our defensive line play together and we were all on the same page and that is what helped us win the game.*“
    And ending on a high note, “This was a playoff atmosphere game. We’re going to take all the positives out of it and carry on forward for next season.”
    His post-match interview
    Doneil Henry
    Henry made his fifth-straight start for Toronto at home to Montreal – it was his nineteenth start and twentieth appearance of the season.
    He spoke prior to the match with TFC TV.
    As the left-sided centre-back, Henry was his usual solid self, enjoying a running battle with Wenger, while helping to keep Marco Di Vaio under wraps.
    At the offensive end, Henry got a flick on an Alvaro Rey corner kick from the near-post that led to Caldwell’s header that nicked off the top of the bar.
    He did make at least one mistake, letting the cross get through to Di Vaio that the forward touched into the net with his arm, but was spared by the sharp eyes of the officials.
    The Brampton, Ontario-native completed seventeen of 28 passes, won six headers and both his tackles, made ten clearances, three recoveries, three interceptions, and a block, while conceding a pair of fouls and losing possession eleven times.
    His was interviewed post-match as well.
    Dwayne De Rosario
    De Rosario made his first start in five matches for DC United against his former club, Houston on Sunday – it was his seventeenth start and 24th appearance of the season.
    Paired up top with Conor Doyle, functioning more as a withdrawn forward rather than a true striker, De Rosario was active, linking up with teammates and making the best of the end of a bad season.
    It was his pass to Pontius that helped create Porter’s goal and he nearly sprung Pontius again later with a long pass that came to nothing. He also threaded a ball down the right for Korb that the right-back in turn squared for Pontius, but again DC could not make the attacking moves count – the story of their season.
    He sliced one of his five shots – two off and three blocked – horribly wide and he and Doyle wasted that glorious Porter ball by failing to combine effectively on the break.
    There was an interesting little passage late in the match where Brad Davis played the ball out thinking Dwayne was injured and De Rosario preferred to play on rather than return possession to Houston - cheeky.
    The Scarborough, Ontario-native completed thirty of forty passes, made two recoveries and one interception, won a pair of fouls and conceded three, and lost possession twelve times.
    Post-match he spoke about his prospects for returning to the club next season, “I like it here. I think the future definitely looks bright for things to come. Obviously, Champions League is huge. It’s always a good competition to be a part of. It’s going to come fast – I think the first game is somewhere between February or March – so we just have to be prepared…”
    And, on what needed to change for the club, “A lot of things need to change, so hopefully we can work on those things” before delving into specifics, “I think a lot of us could do a lot of improvement in the offseason, mentally and physically, preparation-wise. So, all of us have to come to the table next year, first and foremost, look in the mirror, say, ‘What could I have done better?’ And as a group, how can we move forward and learn from our mistakes.”
    He has a few more seasons in him yet, but will he be in DC next year?
    Wandrille Lefevre
    Lefevre returned to the Montreal starting lineup in their loss at Toronto – it was his fourth start (all in the last month) and sixth appearance of the season.
    Stationed on the left of the centre-back pairing, Lefevre struggled to shine in a dismal Impact side that was lacking the effort called for by such a match.
    With little movement ahead of him, he was too often trying to force long, low percentage passes under the high-pressure of TFC, a combination that led to the only goal when, under pressure from Dike, Lefevre’s pass was intercepted by Osorio to spring a counter; the centre-back then dove into Dike in the box, leaving space for Osorio to take his shot.
    The French-born centre-back took a glancing blow in his battles with Dike and looked a little shaken up, but stayed in the match and made an excellent intervention when Earnshaw and Osorio attempted one pass too many.
    He was shown a yellow card in the 93rd minute for tripping up Justin Braun in transition.
    Lefevre completed just twelve of 29 passes – too many long attempts, won four headers and two fouls, conceding one, made five each of recoveries and interceptions, and three clearances, while losing possession some eighteen times.
    Karl Ouimette
    Ouimette made his third-straight start for Montreal against TFC – it was his sixth start and seventh appearance of the season.
    Again stationed at left-back, Ouimette was troubled by the constant cycling of the Toronto forwards and midfielders, each drifting out wide to outnumber and pass circles (well, more triangles) around him.
    Like Morgan for TFC, he was left a little isolated with Felipe, Arnaud, and Bernardello roaming about.
    The Terrebonne, Quebec-native completed sixteen of 25 passes, won seven headers and a pair of tackles, made five interceptions, three clearances and three recoveries and lost possession eleven times. He did have one shot – off-target – a header before making way for the attacking addition of Andres Romero in the 84th minute.
    The Rest
    Mark Watson appears to in line to have his contract with San Jose made permanent into next season, according to reports:
    <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23SJEarthquakes&src=hash">#SJEarthquakes</a> GM John Doyle announced that the club will sign Mark Watson to a long-term deal to be the permanent head coach.</p>— Robert Jonas (@robertjonas) <a href="
    ">October 28, 2013</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
    Not overly surprising given the glowing endorsement he received from their designated player, Chris Wondolowski last week, “I think he’s done a great job. He definitely has my backing. I think he’s been a great coach. With that being said, I have no idea what the plan is.”
    While it appears that former San Jose Mananger, Frank Yallop, is bound for Vancouver.
    Nana Attakora has recovered from his concussion troubles and recently returned to full training with the Earthquakes, taking part in a their reserve outing against Chivas in the middle of October – playing over an hour.
    Maxim Tissot was an unused substitute on the bench for Montreal.
    All quotes courtesy of MLSsoccer.com
    Each week James takes a look at the contributions of Canadians in the league and the league as a whole.
    You can follow James on twitter @grawsee or read more of his writing at Partially Obstructed View
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