Rennie pleased with Whitecaps play in Arizona
Coach and his assistants will have to make roster decisions soon with 28 days to go before season starts
Ten days of sunshine, two 1- 1 draws and just 28 days until the first game of the season.
Those are the numbers the Vancouver Whitecaps take from Arizona as the team concluded its Casa Grande pre- season training camp Friday with a 1- 1 draw with Real Salt Lake.
It’s the same result achieved against Seattle earlier this week as head coach Martin Rennie again mixed and matched his squad during two 45- minute periods and one 35- minute period of play.
Whitecaps first- round SuperDraft pick Darren Mattocks scored his first goal for his new club, calmly beating RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando after taking a through pass from Atiba Harris in the 27th minute.
The play was set up by rookie defender Greg Klazura, who intercepted an RSL pass. The Notre Dame product – taken in the second round of the MLS Supplemental Draft – has impressed in the pre- season and started the game on the back line with Jay Demerit, Carlyle Mitchell and Jordan Harvey.
Salt Lake tied the game later in the opening period when Fabian Espindola scored on a penalty kick after midfielder Ned Grabavoy was taken down in the Caps box.
Rennie was pleased with his team’s overall play, noting it gave up few quality scoring chances against two good MLS clubs this week.
“We’re defending well as a team and defenders are not getting pulled out of position all the time, which allows them to defend more consistently,” he said Friday in a telephone interview after the RSL game. “I feel very good about where we are.”
Rennie said the speedy Mattocks has progressed well in pre- season.
“He’s very lively and sharp and today he showed really good composure with his finish,” he said.
“He’s starting to grow in confidence and he’s realizing he’s going to do well at this level and that’s the first thing that needs to happen.”
Rennie and his assistants have to assess which players stay and who goes as the club prepares for its March 10 season opener against the Montreal Impact and new players may still be brought in.
“But we do have enough players now to make a very good starting team,” Rennie said. “There’s still a lot of work to do and we’re well aware of that but [ 28] days is quite a long time to do that.”
He said midfielder trialists Patrick Cregg and Floyd Franks both played well in Arizona and will give coaches a lot to think about as they consider the eventual makeup of the club’s 30- man MLS roster.
“They both showed good composure on the ball and a real willingness to win the ball back,” Rennie said. “They certainly showed well and should be very pleased with how they performed.”
SIDE KICKS: The Whitecaps will train in Burnaby next week and then leave for two weeks of training in Florida, where they will play the Impact, Houston Dynamo and Sporting Kansas City in the Disney Pro Soccer Classic in Orlando.
For the second straight year, Caps rookies put on a pre- season Rookie Idol show for their teammates in Arizona.
Part of the show involved the young players impersonating Whitecaps veterans and Rennie said the performance was very well received.
“It was really fun,” he said. “Those are the types of things that help a group bond.”