New Whitecaps coach expects lots of changes - Canada.com This article made me happy for a number of reasons: 1. Rennie. I trust this guy to do good things for us. It's like this gut feeling I had about Soehn, only the "this is a really good thing" version, as opposed to the "I'm not so sure about this guy" version. 2. Chiumiento. I know a lot of fans are on the fence about this guy, but I think he is IMMENSELY talented, but just prone to frustration which affects his performance. Since I am a hell of a lot like that, I can tell you that whenever I have had a supervisor over me who had a positive outlook, talked straight, showed me respect, and had high expectations, I did well. I think Soehn was EXACTLY the wrong kind of coach to have around Dede, and Rennie seems like a lot more like the right kind of coach (I also thought TT was the right kind of coach for Dede). Rennie seems to think he can get a lot out of Dede. 2a. Chiumiento part 2. If Rennie gets Chiumiento going consistently, we will have a happy Hassli since they are both good friends AND linking teammates.
Well, there is certainly optimism with Rennie; and rightfully so. But we still have TS working the player search and so he still could mess up the team if he gets more poor signings. I secretly hope Jarju stinks out the pre season next year so the cut him. I would like that salary cap money going elsewhere. As for Davide.... I remember a lot of people were critical of Teitur for where he was playing him. And thinking the coaching change would do wonders for Davide. It didn't. I really think he is a player that can only give you a 30 minute effort per game. I think you won't see much better under Rennie.
Im really looking forward to next year. I think Rennie will do well. I just hope they dont panic if results start to skew away for awhile. Just a quick shout out to the fans of the whitecaps who despite the results still supported to club in great numbers, Well done.
Lots of my friends ask "so how was the season?" and my reply is "The results were horrible, but I had an amazing time at every game" I too have a good feeling about Rennie. His CV seems to show that he breeds a winning attitude amongst his players. I'm on the fence with Dede as well, although I disagree with the Sheik. I think he has the ability to be a 70-90 minute player. He just needs some better support across MF so he doesn't have to do it alone.
I think the thing about Dede is that it matters VERY much what kind of coach he has. Even the biggest fans of Dede will admit he is moody and sometimes a mystery to motivate, but if you read recent articles about what he is saying about the club, he sounds downright ecstatic about Rennie's leadership style and tactics.
as long as he is stroked and massaged in all the right places and ways by the coaching brass, then chiumiento can prosper into a 'complete 60 minute player' IMO, once the honeymoon with rennie is over- about april/may-- he will revert back to his old habits of being moody and disgruntled and be a 30-40 minute player sorry to say, but that is his MO and i doubt he will change- that's why he has been around in euro football and has been found wanting... not much different in MLS and if hassli follows him, like he seems to have done in the last 2 1/2 months of 2011, scoring O goals, then adios-- you dont develop a winning TEAM by catering too far with a player's moods-- it undermines the TEAM spirit and chemistry same with jarju-- 2012 is too important to the club to carry BIG egos/salaries who dont 'deliver the bacon' My hope is that the top brass of the caps support rennie as he develops his TEAM
I am giving Chuimento the benefit of the doubt last season. It was as difficult a season for the players as it was the fans. He admitted he was not in shape early into the season, and with the coaching changes, coming in last, losing the Nutrilite, he didn't have much to get up for. Not really excusable, but, he is skilled enough to be dangerous in every game, even if only for 70 minutes. I felt most of our team was only good for the same amount of time much of the season. We would play a solid 30 minutes in the first half, then most of the team would disappear for the last 15 minutes, and would do the same in the 2nd half as well.
I understand why you think that of Dede, and I think his rep is deserving, but I think you are underestimating two things: Rennie's ability to motivate, and Dede's maturity as a human being (which I think we see evidence of in his interviews). Sportie, care to make a friendly wager on Dede's performance next year? Not cash, just something small and fun to make it interesting? =)
I will make a wager. If Dede has a sub-par season as I predict (or even is shipped out the door), then you make me a moderator.
the only thin you need to know about Chiumiento is that he WAS at Juve, and has fallen as far as MLS...which says everything you need to know about him. Awesome player skillwise, all the "tools" but "no toolbox"
I watched the Whitecaps’ intra-squad game Saturday at Town Center in Coquitlam, and there were a few things I found interesting. Here they are, see what you all think: 1. Alex Morfaw played the whole game, and was a one-man wrecking crew. He played some good through balls and was generally all over the midfield aggressively challenging ball-carriers and making tackles. He was one of the only players with multiple fouls in a game that was generally very clean and tame. It looked to me as if he’s listened to what Rennie has said in the media about needing to find a strong central mid, and is overtly auditioning for that job. 2. Chiumiento played the whole game, and played harder than I’ve seen him all year. By that I mean he ran the field 18-to-18, tackled consistently to win balls, and stayed on his feet and fought back when someone tried to take it from him. 3. Demerit: After playing the first half, he spent all of the second chatting with Rennie in the referee’s shelter as Rennie watched the game. The most interesting part was that Demerit was doing 90% of the talking, while Rennie listened and made the odd interjection. At times Demerit was quite animated, while Rennie remained pretty reserved. To be a fly on the wall… 4. A number of young players I’ve never seen before played for long stretches, mainly up front. I assume they were residency/PDL players, and some looked fast and good with the ball. One young blond kid played in center mid for the first half and part of the second. Don’t know his name. He was OK—didn’t make mistakes—but did nothing terribly exciting like move the ball forward either. 5. Russell Tiebert played most of the game on the left side in front of Rochat. They played off and overlapped very comfortably with one another. Tiebert also seemed to be able to link up with Camilo pretty effectively. 6. Jarju looked very average, in terms of his effort, involvement in the play and skill. He had a plum opportunity in the second half where he had time to tee it up from the top of the 18, and missed the net with a side-footer—even after actually pausing to tee it up. How did he get a DP contract? 7. Bobby Lenarduzzi was in the stands watching. Paul Barber was not, and Tom Soehn was nowhere to be found. 8. Rennie kept himself aloof from coaching the two squads, obviously wanting to step back to watch and evaluate. Grootscholten and Ritchie each coached a side. Those two spent the better part of the second half standing together on the touch line in front of Rennie (& the talking Demerit) watching the game, exchanging the odd comment. The impression was of two coaches very comfortable with one another and, if I didn’t know better, two people who’d known each other for quite some time. 9. The score at the end of the game was 0-0. Few scoring chances, although a couple shots hit post and crossbar (the net at the south end actually collapsed on top of Nolly in the second half after he made a finger-tip save and fell into the post—no one was hurt. Thanks Coquitlam Parks & Rec!) Overall, I was surprised, as I had expected more intensity. It’s only been a few days since Rennie’s taken over, I know, but it looks like the old habits are dying hard. The body language of many players had not visibly changed at all.
Hassli did play for the first half and was subbed out in the second. Nothing exciting from him. He looked very much like he did toward the end of the season. He came over to the crowd with Camilo and Chiumiento after the game to sign autographs and take pictures--kids flocked around him, and he stayed to take every last photo. A friend of mine who watched the game with us took a photo with him, then chatted to him for a couple seconds. He asked Hassli about the new coach. Hassli could have given a non-committal response (would have been understandable for a number of reasons), but he chose, in laboured, broken English to say this: Rennie is a very smart soccer guy, and a very good coach. Says he likes Rennie a lot.
Dissapointed. Morfaw is a great talent that never got to demonstrate his abilities early in the year due to injury, and he then fell into a typecast or role with Soehn. Sad to see him waived.
So what does the Morfar decision tell us about Rennie. A previous poster mentioned how good he looked in the training sessions, Johnny thinks Morfaw is getting a raw deal - but if he is getting a raw deal, is Rennie being influenced by Soehn? If this is ONLY his decision, what does it tell us about what Rennie is looking for or would rather spend money on?
I think Soehn is part of the decisions; so who knows if this was Rennie's decision or something the club did. I don't think Soehn liked Morfaw too much.
Have a look at this Sun article (Nov. 7): http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/...umiento+2012/5671433/story.html#ixzz1d961AXKE Based on his comments, looks like Rennie's trying to get something out of Chiumiento. At the intrasquad game on Saturday, Chiumiento played the attacking mid role for a bit in a 4-4-2 diamond midfield formation. If that's where Rennie wants to play him (and in the above article, that seems to be what he's saying), he needs to find a beast to play the holding mid role. While Morfaw looked the toughest of the bunch on Saturday, that was the toughest of a very tentative bunch. And by beast, I mean Bastion Schweinsteiger-ish beast. Another point Rennie brings up in the article is conditioning. I wondered about that at various times this year when the Whitecaps looked knackered, especially in humid conditions. Against RSL in BC place, where they played hard all game, they looked ready to collapse by the end. Could that be the root of all those injuries this year? As for Soehn, I don't think he's in on the decisions. Rennie's too outsoken and has openly, if indirectly, criticized Soehn's tactics Rennie's regularly said this week that the team plays a possession game but does nothing with the ball. That was Soehn's great innovation after Thordarson. I think they'll make him Rennie's scout/errand boy, and wait for him to resign of his own accord. Soehn always came across to me as a bit of a jerk, based on comments about players in the media, etc. It wouldn't surprise me if he doesn't have much support in the organization.
Has anyone heard anything about who'll be hired as the second assistant after Ritchie? All I've been able to find is this, from the Province's Marc Weber (Nov. 3): Ives Galarcep, a well-regarded U.S. soccer writer, tweeted Thursday that Welsh midfielder Carl Robinson, a 35-year-old currently with the New York Red Bulls, is Rennie’s target. Rennie would only say Thursday that he’d “spoken to a few candidates.”
Rennie says he needs to change the Caps team-- between a tweak and a major overhaul-- i suggest the latter-- a last place finish in MLS tells us that outside of a few players like demerit, rochat, koffie, harris and camilo, no one else's place is secure- we will know by the end of this month and then pieces to rebuilding-- a major overhaul-- will begin to be announced
The articles I've read suggest that Rennie is high on Chiumiento as well (two articles had Rennie specifically talking about Dede's skills and contribution). Rennie sees himself as a motivator which is what Dede needs. He's safe.
Rennie's been pretty clear about Chiumiento, but I'm having trouble reading his intentions around Demerit. In some quarters I've heard Rennie speak well of Demerit, and D's been solid at times this year. But then Demerit's also made some major errors, especially later in the season, and Rennie's been pretty open about wanting to get another central defender. Also, I think Demerit is one player that may bring something back in a trade, and Rennie's said he wants more players with MLS experience.
Bryce Alderson has been signed by WCFC: http://www.whitecapsfc.com/news/201...residency-youngster-bryce-alderson-mls-roster http://www.whitecapsfc.com/news/2011/11/alderson-impressing-caps-coaches-evaluation-camp After watching him play in the first intrasquad game, I was surprised to hear that he's only 17. I find his early signing and Rennie's open praise of Teibert to be an encouraging sign for young Canadian talent on this team.
I found this article in the Vancouver Sun about the re-signing of Atiba Harris interesting: http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2011/11/04/whitecaps-keep-atiba-harris/ Remains to be seen if Berrisford's assessment of Rennie's approach is correct. Hopeful, though, if he is right. But I too am eagerly waiting for the trades/signings that will hopefully come in the next few months, to figure out what new direction the team will take.