andrew jacobson has announced his retirement- savings of $175 000 a quality utility professional, but would never take a team to being an elite team- happy retirement, A J reyna is a loose cannon- whitecaps need to cut bait with him- saves another $534 000
Jacobson was an excellent bench player who could fill in quite capably at CM and CB. Intelligent player.
carl robinson's poor signings are continually coming back to haunt him- rivero, morales (2016 resigning), rosales, perez, earnshaw, reyna, nosa, flores, williams, montero, ghazal (i think jacobson was a better player), aird, smith, rodriquez dont listen to the spin from him- unfortuantely most people do- watch what happens to his signings
Reyna is under contract until end of year so they need to find someone willing to take him at current wages. Probably not easy to do given his situation.
Jacobson was the kind of MLS journeyman whose position should be upgraded by Cancon, even if they have to acquire it from outside their program. But I sense that they draft a replacement this year.
The position (bench sub, multi positional) is there for a Canuck to take but who will? Russ? Davies? A draft pick? An academy grad? Russ is my bet for defensive situations (we are up a goal). I don't think he'll crack the starting 11 but he provides energy and has played good as a sub. Davies will be it for the offensive situations (we are down a goal).
we need to remember that MLS HQs pays for players' salaries; teams can pay down any salary over the top salary using TAM money; if no TAM money, then the owners must make up the difference the Caps have 3 DP salaries- laba, shea, and kamara, all under $1 mill and probably some of their salary is paid by TAM (ie MLS) - if the Caps could scuttle laba and shea, i think they would- not worth the money that the owners might have to pay all-in-all, the Caps owners will continue to drop the salary budget- its why players like nosa, bolanos, montero, harvey and ousted are gone
Sign somebody with the physical attributes of Mark-Anthony Kaye: tall and pacy with a good engine room. Doesn't need anything else to fit into the coach's tactical approach. And if not that, then an NCAA draft pick. An academy grad? That's strictly for Vees Cup stuff and loans to Fresno.
Draft picks are rare where they turn out well. Vancouver has done extremely well with Parker and Nerwinski but I would not expect those kind of finds very often in college draft/MLS combine.
depends if you believe he is a suitable player for the entire season- i would cut bait- lots of reason why the Caps can forego the contract IMO; his problems might endure for a long time- lets not forget his involvement with a 16 year old death- absolutely terrible judgment at the least- and now another incident in short order i also suggest to you that this kind of stuff- off-field problems- is nothing new for yordy and its why he came here as a free agent- he has never been a sustainable player to build a team around as your valuable #10- both myself and old fan stated that from the moment he signed is reyna talented? YES would i bring him back? NO
he Apparently had a meeting with peruvian coach Gareca following his latest incident he had a very very slim chance of making the roster for the wc but thats probably improbable now
^Yeah, I would think they will have given up on him as far as the National Team. And yes, condor, the Caps should be pushing him to get back up here now. Get him in an environment where he isn't tempted to party and do things like that . They cant force him to, but they sure should impart on him that this is going to hurt his career if he has incidents like this in Vancouver.
I don't disagree with this point. Maybe they will get lucky again with the LB they selected out of Washington.
are you saying that vancouver doesnt have a night life that yordy would partake of??? walk down granville street at 2:00-4:00 am on a friday/saturday night- naive thinking, old fan if a player wants to find a night life. he will find it in any city in the world.... and we all know that reyna loves a night life and its why his career has never been stable and progressive- too bad, really, as he has talents to go further, but probably never will if he was foolish to be involved in another club incident while still being questioned about the 16 year old girl's death, then he really lacks maturity, self-control and just plain common sense- STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES
^Vancouver does. But he may be less likely to explore it if he has to report to the club to train and has someone talking to him and mentoring him. There were no rumors of night club behavior from him this past season so it seems to be something he does in Peru in his off season. I didn't catch any rumors that he was out partying in Vancouver during the season other than doing stuff with the players.
good point- but you have stated that the Caps should cut bait with reyna, havent you ? and whats your take on the whitecaps present team heading into pre-season training- hopeful? disappointed? worried ?
Reyna has another year on his contract. Whitecaps can't just let him go and Reyna probably isn't very attractive to other clubs given the drama. It seems Caps will be paying Reyna this year unless he winds up in jail or something that would allow contract to be voided.
Yes, I do feel they should do something. Yes, he is under contract. But a trade can be pursued, they can approach his agent for a mutual termination, or even just not use him until he demands a trade. These are not good options, but to me, there are still so many unanswered questions that I don't want my season torpedoed if something blows up and it becomes a huge distraction. They are standing beside him so they have made their choice and hope for the best. I feel the same about the Caps going into the season as I would the last couple of years. The moves are more lateral than anything. Lose a player, gain a player, decent players coming in, no game changes. Average coaching that is pretty much the same for 4 years. The Whitecaps under the current regime will be a C + organization that makes the playoffs one year, misses the next year, and stays within that trendline. This year they could finish 2nd just as much as finishing 8th. I have been a supporter/fan since I was a child so I won't leave the club or stop caring. But I certainly do not have excitement towards the organization; they bore me. There are exciting moments in a game for sure and I enjoy the in game experiences. But outside of a game experience, looking at the whole thing, what I see is a dull uninspired organization that is growing mold. A lot of mold. I know Bobby is the face so he takes a lot of the heat, but it starts at the top with Kerfoot, through Rachel Lewis and Bobby, and then down from there. Hopefully they at least wake up from the boring dull "rain city" campaign of last year and that shirt that was sold to very few people.
Boredom is a poor choice of brand, unless it's Listerine or Buckley's Cough Syrup, because those products convey reliable effectiveness. I don't see anywhere the same level of performance here. The only way something significantly changes in this power structure is if the team goes on a free fall in the standings with consecutive losses, much like how Aron Winter's second and last season at TFC started off in 2012. Now granted, the expectations were much higher because of how 2011 ended, with the playoffs looking like they were a reality and the rebuild a success. The problem here is that too many people in the seats seem to accept the "meh" product and results you describe. People don't stay away in significant numbers (unless it's a mid week match against a lower level opponent, maybe like the opening round Vees Cup) Robbo is pretty adept at generating underpromises/excuses when things aren't going right (blame reffing, the lads need more time to gel, not having so in so is a struggle, the travel factor), and I expect more of the same this year. I also expect to see some notable squad turnover during the season, be it through summer transfer window acquisition, player releases, or trade. But I really want to see this team do well and prove to me that they are a consistent top notch side under this coaching staff. I hope they can make it happen this year.
they wont make it happen- aiming for mediocrity means we will range between C- to C+... and thats the rub- Old Fan has it right- but i would say between #5-9 spot- the west conference will be better this year- i expect an uptick from LAG, colorado, SJ, portland and an exciting LAFC and the strength of seattle there wont be any easy patsies
^The big difference last year from the previous couple of seasons is that they avoided the summer swoon of dropped points which had plagued them. If the West continues to be weaker, they're in the hunt for the playoffs. If the West improves, they might struggle to get to the dance. In year five Robbo has to show he has a team on the rise as opposed to something that is more or less a flat line. Unless his team does something special this year, this one will probably be his last with the club and he can apply what he has learned here to a new coaching opportunity, more likely back in Britain.
while i do get tired and pissed off with robo's continuous rhetoric phrases and his drive for DMFs, the fact is that without the owners' deciding and committing to investing more into the club- rather than going the loan, MLS TAM and free signing routes-, the club would continue to be mr mediocre... and this fantastic soccer market will continue to be stagnant changing the head coach will not change the outcome- MLS has moved from 2.0 to 3.0 with additional TAM of $2.8 mill being allowed- AT OWNERS'S EXPENSE- wedges will begin to be spiked between those who will and those who wont
That's part of it, but they also don't get enough bang for buck with the product they produce. They have been in the top ten for total player budget the last two seasons: some perennial quality sides like SKC and (if you take last year as an outlier) FC Dallas spend much less. I don't think this is as much a case as you-get-what-you-pay-for as it is a case of underachieving as group.
^We haven't had great coaches either. Soehn, Rennie, Robinson, that is not exactly a list of highly successful head coaches and managers. I won't include Teitur in the list as he didn't have much of a chance with a one year deal and being sacked 10 or 11 games in when he had injuries and a shitty expansion roster. So yes, under achieving goes hand in hand with the club's cheap behavior. Better coaching could get more out of the players the have had these past few years (last seasons home playoff game was a disgraceful coaching display for example), but ultimately , they will continue with free transfers, low level DPs who should not even be DPs , and no impact players. I wonder how long the 15,000 not rich in history with professional soccer in Vancouver will put up with this before drifting away? This is a mature CFL and NHL market and their fans leave in mass numbers after only one or two shitty seasons. The Caps still seem to have that new market honey moon. Part of that maturing is the media too. Neither paper has a full time Caps writer, and when they had one, he was a softball and not steeped in the game. They have guys writing articles, but not putting on serious heat like the papers do with the other sports. So, the casual fans are not getting in depth analysis when they read the papers and the Caps are still getting a pass from the market. (yes, a lot of people still read them).