2015 Whitecaps

[mtkb]

No, but there are 15,000 season ticket holders all standing in the same post-game lineup for their complimentary monthly scarf... intimate atmosphere indeed...

 

[cascadesoccer]

No, but there are 15,000 season ticket holders all standing in the same post-game lineup for their complimentary monthly scarf... intimate atmosphere indeed...

SWEET!!!! There's a new one?!?!

 

[mtkb]

Not until July...

 

[dutch08]

There are monthly scarves?

 

[utah]

Only if you sit in the 'Rain City Brigade' section.

 

[trece verde]

Dibs on the camper roof top if they're going back to Swangard...

Any obsession at that level isn't healthy. Look at Dude's obsession with his hair products...

 

[Dude]

Trece...it's different when it's a necessity. I need the product to contain this mop. There's just oo much of it. Always too much, so many haircuts...


Like x 1: Dude

 

[Sniffer]

Whitecaps new Centre Back, looks like he played with Morales at Malaga.

http://www.whitecapsfc.com/news/2015/01/whitecaps-fc-acquire-centre-back-diego-rodriguez

 

[dezza]

Meanwhile Andy O'Brien will not be back. Currently exploring options in Europe after the Caps reportedly offered him a contract with a 50% paycut.

 

[Mr Base]

New addition to Caps is 6 foot two Tim Parker from University St Johns. Caps also get to pick in 38 spot. Tim Parker was the pick in 13th spot.

 

[STD]

Meanwhile Andy O'Brien will not be back. Currently exploring options in Europe after the Caps reportedly offered him a contract with a 50% paycut.

I know his pace is a problem but I am a little concerned with the lack of MLS experience we have at Center back without him this year.I would have liked to see one more year to bring the younger players along. Waston as dominate as he can be is going to miss a lot of games due to suspension.

 

[Rangerforever]

Agreed.

I thought Andy had a good year last year and as much as I know business is business, I would have liked him offered a bit better contract considering his decent tenure here.

 

[cascadesoccer]

by any chance did we draft a grass field?

 

[dezza]

I agree it would have been nice to keep AOB. He posted to social media himself, and said it was not a financial decision, but rather based on length of contract and the role he'd have in the club. It definitely would be a risk to give him a multi-year deal considering his injury history and age.

 

[bulljive]

I totally agree, when you have a guy who loves being here and is still playing well you hope to get the deal done. I know they were trying to lead him more in a direction of helping coach more then play. However you hope they basically said look we want to get younger in that position and start bringing someone through but whoever is performing will get every opportunity to play. Feel its a pretty big "team" loss even if he would of played a lot less. Hard to lose those character guys, especially with that wealth of experience for our young and fast(semi retarded) young core.

 

[Reds-16]

Its actually kind of funny that the pros wont play on anything but grass....but every time a local ( fvsl ) team hits a grass field its like the end of the world.

 

[Mr Base]

Caps add Kay Banjo in second round today. A six foot 186 lbs striker. Another east coast player. I did see Parker play few times on TV. Strong guy plays hard good addition. Banjo I am not so sure what he brings. I just hope he can score in MLS. Most likely will end up in development side. Parker on the other side could stick with the first team. AS he can also play D on any side, true spark plug.
Club is making a big mistake on not adding big Irishman. Robbo will find out how much he is needed here. I think Robbo thinks big Irishman could become a coach soon. The less trouble the better in Robbos opinion.

 

[Dude]

Its actually kind of funny that the pros wont play on anything but grass....but every time a local ( fvsl ) team hits a grass field its like the end of the world.

Ummm...who are you talking to?

I'd LOVE to play on grass more often. Problem is, there are almost no grass pitches under the lights anymore, and all our games except for the odd Sunday are in the evenings on turf.

More and more, I'm not so sure what the draft contributes. Dean, last season, was supposed to be a specimen, great athlete, good footballer...and he looked absolutely lost on the pitch in his few moments. Tim Parker is yet another central defender out of the draft.

I guess you need to aquire assets by whatever means necessary, but going forward I'm not sure how relevant it will be for clubs w/ a good homegrown set-up...

 

[dezza]

Ummm...who are you talking to?

I'd LOVE to play on grass more often. Problem is, there are almost no grass pitches under the lights anymore, and all our games except for the odd Sunday are in the evenings on turf.

More and more, I'm not so sure what the draft contributes. Dean, last season, was supposed to be a specimen, great athlete, good footballer...and he looked absolutely lost on the pitch in his few moments. Tim Parker is yet another central defender out of the draft.

I guess you need to aquire assets by whatever means necessary, but going forward I'm not sure how relevant it will be for clubs w/ a good homegrown set-up...

The draft is a bit of a crapshoot, and it is getting weaker and weaker every year with a lot of top NCAA players now being tied to MLS clubs and joining as homegrowns bypassing the draft (Shipp (CHI) and Yedlin (SEA) are the top recent examples). That said, there is some value to the draft as getting a player with the Generation Adidas designation means his salary does not count towards your team salary cap, even if those players are still raw and underdeveloped. Dean was an example of this, and as long as he stays GA he will stick with the caps. If he hasn't developed to the point of being a contributor by the time his GA status expires then he will be traded/released. The hope is that in drafting a CB this year who is a college senior he will be mature/experienced enough to step in and contribute right away. Steve Birnbaum did a great job in similar circumstances with DC United last year.

 

[Dude]

Makes sense, I guess.

How much of this complicated formula for identifying tallent is left over from the original set-up of the league?

I mean...salary Caps, I get it. Good idea for developing a competitive league, and avoiding NASL implosion. I'd like it to be higher, but I like it. Import restrictions as well. But holy crap, what is the point of this draft, at this stage of the MLS growth? And the different designations? Was this all originally set-up to both appease the NCAA to continue investing in programs, since there was a need to pick-up that tallent? How much is redundant now w/ more and more clubs establishing true patway systems, and even reserve teams?