Whitecaps Goalless Against MLS Rivals

The Whitecaps finished their second training trip set of matches in Arizona without a victory in four games including losing their last game today against LA Galaxy 2-0.  They failed to notch a single tally in their three matches against MLS opponents and were outscored five goals to nil.  The first squad played Friday against Chivas USA (1-0 L) and Monday against the Galaxy (2-0 L) while it was mostly a reserve squad on Saturday against the US U18 (2-2 D) and the game today against the reserve Galaxy side.

Whitecaps Local Broadcast Options Plus Other News

With TSN gaining MLS national rights in Canada to broadcast 13 Whitecaps matches on TSN/TSN2, there are 21 games available to be aired locally.  The Whitecaps have stated they will try to broadcast every match this season and as tweeted by Matt Kieltyka of Metro News the Caps hope to get it finalized in the next few days.  In addition to the games the Caps would most likely require their new partner to put together a weekly recap show with features on players.

If the Caps are looking to reach the widest audience then Rogers Sportsnet or CBC would be the obvious options.  Both networks have the announcers in place as well as the large potential audience and Sportsnet has multiple channels in their hand.  Since Sportsnet is owned by Rogers there may be some conflict with Bell being major sponsors of the Whitecaps.  Will CBC feel it's worth the cost to produce games for just a western Canadian audience instead of the national audience it normally did in the past.

2011 Vancouver Whitecaps MLS Schedule

A few notes on the Whitecaps 2011 Schedule:
--If everything goes according to plan the Whitecaps will close Empire vs Seattle on Sept. 24 and open BC Place on Oct. 2 vs Portland
--Vancouver will play a total of 3 games in BC Place ending the season vs Colorado on Oct. 22
--Surprising that MLS did not schedule the Caps and TFC match on July 1st, playing two days earlier on the 29th
--The Whitecaps(along with NY and DCU) will play the most mid-week games with all seven games being scheduled on Wednesday
--The Caps will have three weeks in which they play three games with the toughest week being May 7 to 14 when they play in Chicago, come home midweek and then travel back to New England.
--In addition to those weeks there will be an additional three times where the Caps will play two games within three or four days
--The Caps will play six matches in both April and June and play three games in September
--Month of June will be the busiest on the road as they play five of six games away from Vancouver (The max road games in any other month will be two) and only play one road game in October
--The Caps will enjoy the most time at home playing four at Empire but June and September the Caps will play only once at home.

Full schedule can be found here

Whitecaps Add Two Internationals. Who's Next?

The Whitecaps signed two international players today, as it was announced the team has inked Gerson Koffie and Nizar Khalfan to MLS contracts.   The signings are the first non-domestic footballers on the squad as both players originate from the continent of Africa.  Both Khalfan and Koffie are holdovers from the 2010 NASL squad, as the Whitecaps are allowed to sign an unlimited number of players from that roster.  The Caps still have eight international spots to fill in having acquired two through trade during the expansion draft.

Whitecaps End First Trip With Win

The Vancouver Whitecaps completed their first preseason trip to Arizona as a MLS club with another victory over a club still alive in the CCL.  They defeated the Columbus Crew 2-1 with tallies from Atiba Harris and 1^st pick Omar Salgado and missed making it a two goal victory when Davide Chiumiento’s missed penalty.  They opened the trip with a 2-1 decision against Real Salt Lake who will be the Crew’s opponent in the CCL quarterfinal.  Sandwiched between those victories was a competitive 1-0 loss to Cascadia rivals Seattle Sounders.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC versus Real Salt Lake Highlights- 02/01/11

The Whitecaps played their first exhibition as a MLS team yesterday against RSL.  After 135 minutes of play the Caps came up with a 2-1 result with Dunfield and Teibert scoring for Vancouver and Alvarez replying for RSL.  According to the majority of reports Teibert was the best player for the Caps adding an assist to the goal he scored.  Salgado also made a late appearance and impressed the staff with his skills in his first match with the Whitecaps.  German midfielder Hartmann, the newest addition to the camp,  was the last player substituted on at the 115th minute.  Highlights courtesy of Rogers Sportnet.

Whitecaps Add Hertha Midfielder to Camp

As first reported by Marc Weber in Phoenix, the organization has brought in German midfielder Lennart Hartmann for trial, a day after a Canadian midfielder left the Whitecaps for Europe .  The U19 national player was released from Hertha BSC to look for another team as his contract was set to expire this summer.  His former manager at Hertha, Micheal Preetz, stated in this article that it was a tough decision but there was too much competition on the club’s roster for his position.

Gage Completes Move From Whitecaps to Reading

A week after the local media discovered that Ethan Gage would not be training with the Caps and was on trial with Reading FC in England, it is official and the reigning U20 player of the year has transferred overseas.  When he did arrive a couple days after news broke Gage told reporters that he felt the trial went well and he were waiting to hear from his agent if a contract would be offered.  The signing of Gage is another example of how successful the Whitecaps residency program has become in developing young football players.  Gage will be the fourth player in four years to move to Europe on transfer or loan with Straith (2008), Latendresse-Levesque (2009), Haber (2010) being the other previous higher profile prospects to make the move overseas.

New Quota Is Not A Problem For Whitecaps

After much negotiation with the CSA, the MLS announced that there would be a Canadian player quota for the Whitecaps and TFC in 2011.  Overall it was reduced from eight players that TFC required last year to each team needing to have three Canadians under contract.  Both teams already have the quota filled on their roster as the Whitecaps have three signed for 2011 and Toronto have five on their roster.  There may be even more Canadians signed by each team as they a number of players on trial during the preseason.

Post Draft Whitecaps Roster Analysis: Part III

The players that the Whitecaps have brought in to compete for the attacking positions will not strike fear into the opposition’s defenders and goalies.  There are only two pure strikers in camp, one who is on trial and the other, who is signed, can’t play for the team until he turns 18 in September.  I purposely made this the last part of the series because I was hoping management would have brought someone new through the transfer window.  Some of the players I have included in this piece will play the majority of their time as midfielders but they also have the ability to move up top to play the forward position.

Is Ornoch An Option For The Whitecaps?

Late yesterday it was reported that Canadian international Andrew Ornoch was not offered a contract by TFC as it was assumed it would be at the beginning of the transfer window.  The initial offer was proposed by the interim management team which was enticing the 6-3 striker by the fact that he bought out his own contract.  However, when new management led by Aaron Winter took over the Toronto club, the offer was rescinded and Ornoch was left out in the cold.  Also in the same report Ornoch is said to be understandably upset with this news and feels he was misled by TFC but may have some other options in North America and Europe.  

Rochat Returns Home.....Sort Of

Six days into the winter transfer window there finally was a tweet from the Whitecaps organization that a new player signing would be announced on Friday.  Was this the striker that every fan in the lower mainland was hoping for or at least a midfielder with a scorer’s touch?  Hopes were dashed a few hours later when Marc Weber of The Province reported the signing was of a player that the majority of Whitecaps fans knew was a lock for the 2011 roster last summer.

Whitecaps Add Another Three Through Draft

The Vancouver Whitecaps selected another three more college players on Tuesday through the Supplemental draft.  The Whitecaps having the first pick gave their scouts another opportunity to go over their reports and take their time to pick the best player not selected in the Superdraft.  They ended up selecting an import with the first pick and two domestics, a relatively unknown Canadian and an American with soccer bloodlines.

Michael Boxall, DF, UCSB

Not So SuperDraft Preview

On Tuesday, the MLS will conduct the Supplemental draft which will consist of the NCAA players not selected Thursday in Baltimore.  With the rosters expanded to 30 players this is an opportunity for teams to fill their team in with cheap talent who may have a chip on their shoulder for being passed over.  There is always a chance a diamond in the rough could be picked and given the chance to develop in the reserve league and become a regular in a couple of seasons.

Before being eliminated in 2009, the previous four supplemental drafts have produced some talent in the MLS including 2010 Golden Boot winner Chris Wondolowski.  Other players to come out of this draft include Colorado’s Jeff Larentowicz, Chicago’s Dasan Robinson and Chris Tierney of the Revolution.  The following players are potential picks for the Whitecaps who have the first pick on Tuesday.

Daniel Keat, MF, Dartmouth

Vancouver Whitecaps SuperDraft Review

One thing was clear from how the Whitecaps went through the selection process at MLS SuperDraft.  They weren't just going to select players just to make the draft experts happy as the management team selected a player who while young, flashes a high upside and spent over a week training with the team last summer.  There were some definite themes in the way the Whitecaps made their draft picks with all four players being able to use the left foot.  Both first rounders are left footed players while the two Notre Dame selections are considered to be two footed players.  Except for Nanchoff, size also seemed to be a factor with the other three players being 6'1" and taller.

At the combine earlier in the week, the Whitecaps stated that they felt they were not looking at any of these players to come in on day one to start for their team.  With the selection of Salgado it gives a definite message that the Whitecaps are going to operate their club on their own terms.


F OMAR SALGADO-1^st overall selection

Vancouver Whitecaps SuperDraft Preview

In a year of firsts, the Whitecaps will select college players in their first MLS Superdraft and in the week leading up the speculation is running wild.  The stories started at the MLS combine that the consensus top prospect, Darlington Nagbe, was not attending the combine as he was told by the Whitecaps  that he was assured the top pick.  By the end of the camp a rumour was spread that Nagbe did not want to play in Vancouver as it would affect his citizenship in the United States.  Vancouver's front office, Sohen and Lenarduzzi especially, have fueled some of this speculation by disclosing to the media that they open to listening to offers and that they had narrowed their choice down to two players.

With the winter transfer window open soon, the Caps will be bringing in a number of veterans to fill in the opening roster against TFC in March.  It makes it difficult to identify what players they may select, however they do have three picks in the top nineteen to help fill out the roster.  After winning the coin flip last summer against expansion cousins, Vancouver have their own selections at 1, 19 and 37.  In addition the Whitecaps traded Nathan Sturgis, an expansion selection, to TFC for their 1st round pick which is 8th overall.