WHITECAPS’ LEE LEADS BY EXAMPLE
Humble defender lets his play, and work ethic, do his talking as Whitecaps’ undisputed leader
In a season marked by spells both exceptional and excruciating, and the tumult caused by summer roster changes, little Y. P. Lee went a long way toward pulling the Vancouver Whitecaps together and pushing them into Major League Soccer’s playoffs.
After a decade of travelling the world, nearly 400 club appearances in six nations and a staggering 127 games for his country, the 35- year- old South Korean may walk on to a soccer pitch for the final time when the Whitecaps visit the Los Angeles Galaxy on Thursday.
Contemplating retirement as a player, Lee revealed Tuesday that he’d like to remain with the Whitecaps in some capacity even if he never plays again. He and his family want to stay in Vancouver.
“Actually, I like rain,” he said with a smile.
His fondness for the Whitecaps is excellent news for an organization trying to build in MLS and develop young players through its ambitious residency program. Lee has much to offer. But the club must do everything it can to convince the fullback to keep playing because he embodies the excellence, class and credibility for which the Whitecaps wish to be known.
“Everybody respects him,” coach Martin Rennie said Tuesday. “Not just because of his quality and talent ( as a player), but also his professionalism and character. Ultimately, who you are as a person is more important than who you are as a soccer player. For him to achieve what’s he’s done in his career but always remain humble and hard- working is a credit to him.
“Obviously, his play has been fantastic. But more so the person he is – he’s so easy to work with, has such professionalism, so much character. As a coach, it’s a dream to have someone like that who has played at such a high level but is still so respectful of everything we’ve asked of him. He goes way beyond what you could ever expect from any professional player. I can’t give him enough credit.”
Rennie said he believes the club will work out an arrangement with Lee that allows him to continue playing beyond this season.
The former Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham Hotspur and PSV Eindhoven defender is eager to study sports marketing and business. He’s also interested in the media, although we doubt he’d stoop to so low a profession.
The Whitecaps may have to work out a training schedule that allows Lee to take classes between MLS games.
“If this is his last game, I’ll be surprised because he has so much left,” teammate Jordan Harvey said. “I would love to play with him a few more years. He’s somebody everybody looks up to. Everything has impressed me about him. Everything he does is with class and professionalism.”
Harvey moved in and out of the starting lineup at left back, opposite Lee, and is among the players who has benefited most from the Korean’s tutelage. There are all kinds of leaders.
While “designated player” Barry Robson, for example, burst upon the lineup in midseason shouting reprimands at teammates he barely knew, Lee’s leadership is subtle and by example.
When he speaks to teammates, it’s quietly. And they listen.
Lee was named the Whitecaps’ player- of- the- year. Coincidentally, his best game in months was Saturday’s scoreless draw in Salt Lake City, where Robson was plunked on the substitutes’ bench. We’re guessing Rennie finds a way to get Robson into the lineup against the Galaxy, and that Lee will shine in the biggest game of the season.
“You don’t need to talk too much to be a leader,” midfielder Alain Rochat, another steady veteran, said when asked about Lee.
“Your actions, your presence, if you can bring the team something powerful, then it’s another kind of leadership. Y. P. is exactly that kind of person. He won’t talk too much, won’t yell. But how he plays out on the pitch makes him a very important leader on the team.
“The most important thing ( is) being positive. You can tell people when it goes wrong or we have a bad stretch, but if you can always stay positive and try to improve together, then automatically you get out of bad situations. We need the mentality that Y. P. has.”
After six years in Europe, Lee spent the last two seasons in Saudi Arabia, reportedly earning about $ 1.5 million annually. He declined an offer to stay in the kingdom, and instead chose Vancouver and the Whitecaps. He signed last December for a base salary of $ 140,000. He didn’t come for the money.
“Actually, I’m just doing the same as last 10 years,” Lee said of his philosophy.
“I have to try to do always the best on the pitch and out of the pitch, even in my home. I want to communicate with young players. They ask me a lot of times how to prepare for the games, how to do something. I just share with them my experience.
“We cannot say we are hugely successful this season. We cannot. But we can say we were much better than last season. That is a good sign for us because we are a young club. It’s a good sign for our future. I think this is much better than last season. And next season, I expect better than this season.”
The Whitecaps have a better chance meeting that expectation with Lee than without him.