Captain’s return to helm up in the air
Demerit sidelined by concussion, but was seen heading the ball in practice
A good indicator of Jay DeMerit’s status going into Saturday’s match against the Portland Timbers came Thursday at Vancouver Whitecaps training.
Out of the lineup since sustaining a concussion on Aug. 11 in a match against Real Salt Lake, the Whitecaps 32- yearold defender and captain was up in the air on several occasions Thursday, heading the ball with the same confidence and efficiency since before his injury, when he knocked heads with goalkeeper Brad Knighton nearly two weeks ago.
Vancouver Sun sports reporter Gary Kingston reported Tuesday that DeMerit headed the ball “a couple of times” at practice; however, there seemed to be no reservations on the part of the central defender when leaping for the ball two days later.
He could be available for Saturday’s Cascadia Cup match in Portland, although, given the recent knowledge of how unpredictable concussions are, nothing has been made official.
“Again, we’re trying not to do too much of that stuff but we do need to test it to see where it’s at,” said DeMerit.
“It’s been fine so far, so hopefully we can have another good day of training tomorrow and be ready for Saturday.”
The Whitecaps will travel to Portland today and hold one training session at JELD- WEN Field — home of the Timbers — before Saturday’s game.
DeMerit, who attended the first 30 minutes of last Thursday’s training session but then left, admitted to “naturally” being apprehensive when he first stepped onto the pitch for training earlier this week.
“It’s always a little bit of a transition to try to convince yourself to go out there and be 100 per cent, but it’s training sessions like these that will help you do that,” he said.
“Again, we’ve got one more [ training session] to try to gain a little bit more confidence and then Saturday you’ve just got to go for it.”
The MLS concussion protocol, at least according to how head coach Martin Rennie laid it out, includes numerous steps that eventually lead up to a player training in full before being made available.
“The first few days, obviously he can’t do anything,” said Rennie. “Then he has to go through a process where can do exercise but he can’t train, then he can do exercise but he can’t head, then he can play but he can’t head and then he can play all in ... So he’s gone through all of that and everything seems to be fine.”
The Whitecaps have struggled in the last two matches without DeMerit in the lineup.
They lost both games by the same score of 2- 0 to FC Dallas and the Seattle Sounders FC, and have, at times, looked disorganized on the back end and frustrated just about everywhere else on the pitch.
A pair of defensive breakdowns in the second half led a pair of goals 23 minutes apart from the Sounders, as the Vancouver Major League Soccer side failed to move up in the Western Conference standings.
Perhaps the biggest impact of DeMerit’s absence has been on Andy O’Brien, who, after more than 300 appearances in the English Premier League, signed with the Whitecaps on Aug. 1.
Since coming to Vancouver, O’Brien, another centre back along with DeMerit, has been paired with Martin Bonjour and Carlyle Mitchell.
Despite O’Brien’s positive affirmations to his fellow defenders – “football to a certain extent is a language in itself” – playing alongside DeMerit should help ease the Irish international as he strives to get comfortable in a new system.
“He’s very competitive, a very good player,” said O’Brien.
“He’s the captain of the club so he’s important … we’ll be delighted to have him back.”
Sitting out was not how DeMerit envisioned this part of the MLS stretch drive. The Whitecaps began training Thursday at BC Place Stadium, holding onto the fifth and final playoff position in the Western Conference.
They are tied at 37 points with the L. A. Galaxy and are three back of the Sounders for that third spot. Lurking closer is FC Dallas, now just five points back of Vancouver.
A possibility to play in Saturday’s game against Portland, DeMerit didn’t hide how big this match could be for the Whitecaps, as they push for a playoff spot in their sophomore MLS campaign.
“This is a game that could be a huge turning point in our season in which way we go,” he said.
“And I think we need to put pressure on ourselves to go and perform.”