Tomorrow. It's really just tomorrow. Vancouver Whitecaps 2011: The Legend Continues. The Whitecaps stare down Toronto FC to kick off their 2011 season. The opponent is relatively mundane, given that we've fenced with the FCs six times in the past three years. But the day is anything but, as the Whitecaps take to their new stadium at Empire Field as part of their new league, Major League Soccer. Their new players will run out before their new fans, with only the same old die-hards chanting in the stands and the familiar, scowling face of our Icelandic supremo Teitur Thordarson reminding us of the past season.
Shall I analyze the teams for you again? How about the matchups? Did you hear that Dwayne De Rosario wants more money, that Eric Hassli is expensive and French, that Jay DeMerit said something droll on Twitter? Nope. Come on, we've read all that stuff already. We've had months and months of frenzied conjecture and analysis and thinly-disguised guesswork. Right now, you probably know as much about the makeups of the Vancouver and Toronto teams as I do.
No, I don't have any more answers. I just have questions. Ten questions about this Vancouver team, which seems to have been built so deliberately and yet which is really an almost entirely new bunch of unproven, untested, and unfamiliar players. Ten questions that I'm hoping will be answered, at least to some extent, by the blow of the final whistle.
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<ol><li>How legitimate is Russell Teibert? We all know that the two-time Canadian U-17 player of the year is a promising player, but so far promise has turned into real, on-field performance far sooner than anyone predicted. In the preseason, he was one of the Whitecaps highlights and he's earned his recent MLS contract in spades. He'll probably get the start at left wing, to boot. But can he do it against Toronto FC's defense when the points actually matter, the tackles are hard, and the spikes are hard? Teibert's a little guy with no experience at this level. Is it going to show, or is he actually the chosen one?</li>
<li>Jay Nolly or Joe Cannon? There's actually a goalkeeper controversy in Vancouver! Joe Cannon has the experience, but he had a rough 2010 with the San Jose Earthquakes that led to his exposure in the expansion draft. Nolly is a fan favourite, team MVP twice running, and is expected to get the start in goal over Cannon, nursing an ankle injury. There could be some debate over this, considering how equally the two performed in preseason. If Nolly comes out gangbusters against Toronto FC, former DC United backup Nolly might get a run of games while Cannon "recovers".</li>
<li>How quickly is Michael Boxall going to be thrown into the deep end? The 22-year-old signed a contract with Vancouver in Thursday's batch, and as poised as he's looked in the exhibitions games he is just a rookie so little regarded that he fell to the Supplemental Draft. Yet both Jay DeMerit and Greg Janicki are facing minor injuries. On top of that, DeMerit has a callup to the American national team to consider, and the Whitecaps aren't exactly packed with depth at centre back. Young Boxall, who wasn't even a favourite to win a contract when he was drafted, might start his first MLS game before the leaves turn green.</li>
<li>Terry Dunfield in League Two was a hard-nosed ruffian but not exactly a star: you could run him in your starting lineup and he'd strike the fear of God into the opposition but he wasn't going to win you any games. Terry Dunfield in USSF D2 was every bit as hard as advertised, but with a brilliant eye for playmaking and ability on free kicks which turned him into a match-winner. Which Dunfield will we get in MLS? When John Thorrington is healthy Dunfield won't have to carry as much of the playmaking load, but then John Thorrington usually isn't healthy. If Dunfield simply goes in with his usual defensive fortitude terrifying tackles, he'll be worthwhile, but he'll have to distribute the ball as magnificently as ever to keep the Vancouver attack going smoothly.</li>
<li>To my eye, Jonathan Leathers was the Whitecaps' weak link on defense during the Cascadia Supporters Summit. Of course, those games didn't count and Leathers might have lifted his foot off the gas. On the other hand, it's not like Leathers was the picture of defensive responsibility with the Kansas City Wizards either. Which Leathers will we get? Will he be a weak point for this team, or will he be the reliable, hard-to-fool MLS journeyman we all hoped we were getting in the expansion draft. As much as the guy loves running, nobody's expecting too much brilliant transition play out of Leathers. It's in his own third where he'll make a difference one way or another.</li>
<li>Who's going to seize the day in central midfield? I talked about Terry Dunfield above, but there's still another starting spot to win plus whoever comes off the bench. Alexandre Morfaw, Gershon Koffie, and John Thorrington are all scraping for that second starting place, with Koffie the favourite to start Saturday. Morfaw and Koffie are youngsters while Thorrington is an MLS veteran. Koffie and Thorrington are skilled players, primarily playmakers, while Morfaw is less talented but grittier and perhaps a superior all-rounder. Koffie has more ability and inclination to range forward on the attack, while Thorrington and Morfaw play it more conservatively. They're three very different players, but none of them is yet well ahead of the others. If somebody grabs the baton, then one of the youngsters could win a place in the starting eleven far sooner than expected.</li>
<li>Is Atiba Harris really a forward? He's been moved up front after spending most of his MLS career as a winger. Teitur Thordarson loves his big target men and got a lot of success from Charles Gbeke in that role many moons ago. Harris is certainly big and has all the knowledge to get through MLS defenses. But he hasn't got a natural nose for goal, his first touch isn't the best, and he's not terribly quick. Meanwhile, Eric Hassli has arrived as a designated player to start in the position Harris otherwise would have taken. Thordarson has shown no inclination to move Harris back to the wing so far. Of course it's ridiculous to expect that Harris would adjust immediately to playing striker in MLS: it'll take time for him to adjust, just like everyone else in the world. But can he ever play that position to the standard the Whitecaps require?</li>
<li>Is Nizar Khalfan really an anything? He was a midfielder until Thordarson moved him to forward last year because, well, who the hell else was going to do it? He looked okay but not great. Now Khalfan is back in the midfield, probably starting on right wing. He's looked, erm, okay. But not great. A step too slow sometimes, a day late, a dollar short. His bag of tricks was adequate for USSF D2 but is it deep enough for MLS? I'm not sold on Khalfan, but he's always been a slow starter and a quick learner. For the longest time in the second division, he looked utterly dire until he started to figure the level out. I'm willing to accord him some benefit of the doubt in MLS, particularly given the lack of choices on right wing. But I'm still worried about him. When Shea Salinas comes back from injury, Khalfan will probably be back to the bench. It might be sooner if Philippe Davies gets back into contention for a starting spot. Until then, it's all up to Nizar.</li>
<li>Are we going to miss Luca Bellisomo? Bellisomo is an old favourite of mine and won my vote for team MVP last year. He was a young central player who could play both defense and midfield. His greatest strength, beyond his utter reliability, was his quick mind: he could read the situation and turn defense into offense better than any of his peers including Dunfield. Forget the obvious depth a player of Bellisomo's calibre could provide this hurting team: have we found anybody to replace his skillset? Alain Rochat can certainly play a great transition game, but he's out wide and his impact must be limited. Thorrington has the mind and the passing ability but doesn't track back far enough and, besides, he's hurt. Gershon Koffie might get there but isn't there yet. So many of this team's chances last season came on sudden, overwhelming counterattacks. That arrow may not be in the 2011 team's quiver.</li>
<li>Finally, how are the international players going to adjust to MLS? Alain Rochat, Jay DeMerit, Davide Chiumiento, Eric Hassli, Camilo Sanvezzo... there are a lot of guys who'll be getting their first taste of professional North American soccer against the FCs on Saturday. They can't all be winners, surely. One of them is going to at least stumble out of the gate. It's a fact of life. Yet the Whitecaps will be heavily relying on almost all of them to make a quick, positive impression. If Hassli finds his service not what he's used to, or Rochat realizes that MLS is too rough for his blood and winds up exposed, this team might be in serious trouble. If they, somehow, all make the adjustment, if Tom Soehn and Teitur Thordarson found the right men, then all of a sudden we have a team more competitive than anyone would have guessed.</li></ol>