News » Whitecaps off season

There’s still work to be done, but the Whitecaps are on the cusp of a playoff berth, an MLS club record point haul, with CONCACAF Champions league representation already sewn up. And it was all achieved with a younger squad, and without a 22 goal scorer. The great untold story of this campaign has been the recruitment of quality characters who have contributed to a new dressing room culture. It may be the most difficult and risky aspect of building a club because, how do you measure character? There are no analytics for it. It comes down to networks, gut, and trust in the guts of others. And it also requires hours upon hours of cross referencing. Gone are the days when YouTube clips and an agent’s word are good enough to sign someone. The Whitecaps off season recruitment began with the acquisitions of Mehdi Ballouchy and Steven Beitashour. Carl Robinson knew Ballouchy from his time in New York, while Beitashour’s reputation was impeccable. Between them; almost 300 MLS games played. Then came the unheralded signings of Nicholas Mezquida and Sebastien Fernandez, from an obscure club in Uruguay. At the time, many thought these were simply squad signings to improve the club’s overall depth. The quality was evident from day one. The work ethic was infectious. The personalities were magnetic. The most important transactions occurred during the Whitecaps pre-season stint in Portland, where they landed their two DP’s, Mattias Laba and Pedro Morales. If there’s one truth about Major League Soccer it’s that you must get your designated players right. They need to be your best players. They need to justify the designation and they need to be respected by their teammates. The on field contributions were instantly recognizable. But no-one could have expected the off-field roles both Laba and Morales would play. They became the new leaders in the Whitecaps dressing room. The Mauro Rosales trade was a one sided transaction in the maintenance department. Rosales is a consummate professional with an elite class resume and an abundance of MLS moxy. He too became an instant Lieutenant. But it was the signing of Kendall Waston which may have been the coup of the summer. It wasn’t as if Waston was some random pick from the Central American ether. He had a trial with Real Salt Lake, but they ultimately weren’t interested. The background research on Waston’s character was as thorough as all of the previous recruits, but Waston still represented a sizable leap of faith given his patchy form and the league he played in. The club’s technical team wanted to know everything about the player. His background, where he lived, what he ate, going even so far as calling opposition coaches to get their impressions of the strapping Saprissa Centre back. Carl Robinson and Martyn Pert have bird-dogs in virtually every corner of the world, long standing relationships built exclusively on trust. It may be the most important and exciting factor going into the off season, because there are more Wastons and Morales’s scattered around the globe and the Whitecaps know where to find them. Waston’s play of late has already attracted attention from other clubs. It’s just a matter time before the Whitecaps get an offer they can’t refuse for any number of their players. As hard as that may be to understand for the fans, the selling-on of talent is a huge part of the long term building of any club. The trick will be to maximize the value, while ensuring there’s always a pipeline of talent to fill the vacancies. Character is a critical aspect of any successful organization. In a short period of time, the Whitecaps have proven an ability to find players who have it. Now if they can find someone who’s exemplary temperament can match his ability to score, the club could be in for a banner 2015. 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