New season, new start
’ Caps coach Martin Rennie pins team’s hopes on his past.
SPORTS
The Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact played in different leagues last year but their intense rivalry didn’t miss a beat. The Caps edged Montreal in a hardfought two- game Canadian Championship semifinal series before a couple of off- field transactions stirred the bad blood between the two clubs just a little bit more.
Vancouver signed Carolina Rail-Hawks coach Martin Rennie — a strong candidate for the Impact’s head coaching job — to take over the Whitecaps squad. Three months later, Montreal plucked Jeb Brovsky off the Caps roster in the league expansion draft. Tit for tat?
The teams renew old acquaintances this afternoon in the Major League Soccer season opener at BC Place when Montreal debuts as an MLS team and Rennie debuts as an MLS coach.
“There’s some bad blood there,” Whitecaps goalkeeper Joe Cannon said after training Friday. “Hopefully we continue that and keep the rivalry going.”
Montreal head coach Jesse Marsch knows all about the rivalry and the controversy that ensued after the Impact were defeated 6- 1 by Toronto FC in the 2009 Nutrilite Canadian Championship, allowing TFC to win the title by goal difference over the Caps.
“I’m very aware of the history of the two clubs and the fact there have been many storied games played between each other,” he said in an interview. “There’s certainly a healthy competitive relationship that we’re trying to translate to our current players.”
Vancouver easily defeated the Impact 3- 0 in a pre- season game in Florida last month but Caps captain Jay Demerit cautions against reading too much into pre- season results.
“We have to stay humble and remember that nothing has happened yet,” he said.
“What really matters starts [ today].”
The Whitecaps opened their debut season last year with a spectacular 4- 2 win over TFC but didn’t win again for nearly three months.
Demerit said his new- look team has more confidence these days but it hasn’t totally shed the bad memory of last year’s disastrous 6- 18- 10 season.
“It’s important to get on the right track before you start to kill those learning experiences,” he said. “We need to use that to our advantage.”
Caps striker Eric Hassli, who scored twice in the season- opening win a year ago, expects a tougher game from Montreal than the one in Florida and doesn’t care who scores for Vancouver.
“I just want to win the game,” he said. “Who scores? Who cares?”
Hassli said Rennie has already instilled more confidence in the Whitecaps since his arrival four months ago.
“That’s really important for us because last year was bad, just bad,” he said.
Rennie wants to build an organized, hard- working team that will get on the ball and attack whenever possible.
“It takes time to build a team and really stamp an identity on it but that’s what we’re aiming to do,” he said.
Hassli practised with a left knee brace Friday but said he will be fine for the game against Montreal.
He will likely start up front, with attacking support from Sebastien Le Toux, Camilo Sanvezzo and possibly Davide Chiumiento, in the absence of injured midfielder/ forward Atiba Harris.
Marsch said his expansion team is well organized defensively and will count heavily on the leadership and talent of 32- year- old former Inter Milan defender Matteo Ferrari.
Other team leaders include captain Davy Arnaud, Canadian international midfielder Patrice Bernier and Jamaican international goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts.
Marsch said the challenge for any expansion side is to learn how to handle tough moments and good moments and how to put together a string of good results.
He feels his team is ahead of schedule in its development but refuses to predict how it will fare in its first MLS season.
“I like our group but it’s a futile exercise to talk about making the playoffs, something that is months and months away,” Marsch said.
“We’re in the process of creating a team that Montreal will be proud of.”
SIDE KICKS: Teenage Caps mid-fielders Bryce Alderson and Russell Teibert have been called up to an eight- day Canadian U- 23 Olympic training camp in Sunrise, Fla., that begins March 13. Coach Tony Fonseca will select 20 of the 23 players at camp for the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament that begins in Nashville on March 22.
Trialist defender Bilal Duckett was released this week after getting an extended look from Rennie. The thirdround 2011 Superdraft pick played for the Whitecaps last year but was waived by the club at the end of last season.
Rennie said he was impressed with Duckett’s potential and feels he could be ready for MLS after getting more playing time in the NASL.