Teibert’s patience finally paying off
Canadian midfielder has pitched in plenty with his passing ability during the team’s 2-0 start
Russell Teibert is here to tell you that nothing has changed. He’s still the same guy, the same player. The difference is you can see it now.
Teibert, the longest-tenured member of the Whitecaps, has started the first two games of the season in a midfield that is arguably the deepest and most competitive it’s ever been.
Playing a front of the defence in what is basically a 4-1-4-1 formation, he’s put his tenacious defence and hustle on display, but it’s his offensive pass distribution that has been getting the attention. He’s connected on 91 per cent of his passes in the first two games.
Against the Montreal Impact, he was busy feeding Alphonso Davies down the left side — picking up a second assist on Kei Kamara’s goal, his first point since April 2015 — while against Houston, he was more vertical with his passes. Several times he picked Kamara out on the counterattack, going through or over the Dynamo press.
“I’m the same player. I’ve been the same player. It’s not like I’ve changed overnight. I’ve always had this quality,” said Teibert. “I think that’s a role change ... It’s just however the manager decides to use me.
“When it’s that single position in front of the back four, I feel very comfortable in that position, getting on the ball and distributing. That’s where I feel comfortable, that’s where I feel confident and that’s where I feel like my quality is best used.”
It’s been the better part of a decade that the 25-year-old has been part of the Whitecaps family. The Niagara Falls, Ont., native joined the residency team in September 2008, then signed a homegrown contract with the club in 2011 — starting in their first MLS match — and signed a new, three-year deal in December.
In the 2013 campaign, Teibert scored twice in a 3-1 win over the L.A. Galaxy — his only MLS goals to date — and had nine assists. But his playing time steadily diminished over the next four seasons, going from close to 2,000 minutes in 2014 to around 700 in the past two. He’s struggled to find his role in coach Carl Robinson’s team as a holding midfielder, finding himself buried deep in the depth chart.
But while he’s been stapled to the bench, his mouth has also been stapled shut. There’s been no whining, complaining or sulking about his role — character traits that have spelled the death of several of Robinson’s past signings — and it’s paid off. He’s started the first two games of the season in a midfield cadre that is arguably as deep as it’s ever been.
“Rusty’s great. He doesn’t complain when he doesn’t play, he’s disappointed. And I want players who are disappointed when they
don’t play,” Robinson said Tuesday as the team prepared for Saturday’s road game against Atlanta FC. “Rusty wants to be at this football
club. He comes to train every day. Whether he’s in the team, out of the team, he trains properly. He comes in every season as fit as anyone. He’s arguably the fittest player on the team.
“If you conduct yourself the right way, you’ll get your chance … and that’s what happened. He was the best player, arguably, in pre-season. He’s played the first two games of the season and done an admirable job. But I still want more from him. And there’s more to come; competition in midfield, especially, is very strong at the moment.”
The addition of Felipe, Efrain Juarez and Jordon Mutch, all of whom could slot into his role, as well as the injured Aly Ghazal have injected that much more talent and competition into training. Robinson hasn’t tipped his hat as to who will be starting Saturday, but the Five Stripes’ strength is their offensive punch down the middle, including their new, US$1-million transfer from Portland: Darlington Nagbe.
“That’s not in my hands. That’s up to the manager and what he wants and what he decides on the game day,” said the 5-foot-8, 150-pound Teibert. “I can only do what I can when I get on the field and I’ve been enjoying my football this year. I enjoyed my football last year, I just didn’t get as much time (playing) as I liked. But again, that’s not down to me, that’s down to the manager.
“He’s going to pick the best team that he thinks is going to go out and win the game. If he picks me, then I’ll be ready. I’ve been ready and I am ready.”
The Whitecaps are 2-0 for the first time since 2012, when they shot out of the gate 5-2-2, including a fourgame undefeated streak to start the year. There’s no secret to their success this year, said Teibert.
“It’s just grinding out results, doing the basic things well and sticking to the game plan. I know those are the fundamentals, but when you do the basic things … you get results,” he said. “It’s very important to start well, but we can’t get complacent. It is only two games. We have to keep pushing.
“When you get a couple wins under your belt, people starting getting behind you, but we’ve seen in this league there’s a lot of ups and downs. We just need to stay evenkeel the whole time.”