WHITECAPS:
O’BRIEN AIMS TO OUTSHINE GALAXY STARS
Anyone with a minimum understanding of Major League Soccer knows the challenge facing Andy O’Brien, one of the men entrusted with the job of stopping the Los Angeles Galaxy from running over the Vancouver Whitecaps tonight.
The Whitecaps go forth with a degree of certainty that a draw will represent a victory for Vancouver, which has been pulverized in the process of going 0- 4 in lifetime visits to StubHub Center to play the star- studded Galaxy. The Whitecaps have been outscored 10- 1 in those games, which represents a collective failure of resources marshalling in front of the goal.
“The beauty of the MLS is that every week you face a different challenge,” said O’Brien, the veteran centre back. “And we certainly face a big challenge Saturday night.”
O’Brien knows well the striking potential of Robbie Keane, a man O’Brien has played alongside with the Republic of Ireland, and the waspish brilliance of U. S. international Landon Donovan, whose next goal will be the 135th of his career, an MLS record. ( Footnote: Ten of Donovan’s goals have come against Joe Cannon, the veteran goalkeeper who last played with the Whitecaps in 2013).
Keane and Donovan offer a different challenge for O’Brien, but one no easier on the nervous system than last Saturday, when the Colorado Rapids unleashed Jamaican speed merchant Deshorn Brown to engage him and fellow centre back Jay DeMerit in a foot race. The Rapids’ striker seemed to get the measure of the Whitecap defenders really on only one obvious occasion, and O’Brien is sensitive to the notion that to beat him you simply have to blaze past him.
“In North America, there seems to be an obsession about how fast somebody can move from Point A to Point B,” O’Brien explained. “But there are situations when you can be beaten by quickness of thought, balance, the ability to change direction. There are so many dynamics that go into the ability to score goals. I think that Robbie Keane demonstrates how movement can kill defenders. He’s an intelligent player. Even when he’s not scoring goals, he creates spaces for others.”
Keane scored 16 goals and added 11 assists — he led the Galaxy in both categories — in only 23 games last season. Overall, the Irishman has 36 goals in 58 career games for L. A., affirming the star power of the Galaxy, a club not afraid to loosen the purse strings for select players.
According to the MLS Players’ Union, Keane’s guaranteed salary of $ 4.5 million is eclipsed, and only slightly, by Donovan’s guaranteed compensation of $ 4.583 million.
“Robbie’s a bright, bubbly character, who likes to joke a lot,” O’Brien said. “But out on the pitch, it’s all business with me. There’s no time for chatter, until after the game. I look forward to locking horns with him on Saturday.”
O’Brien’s game is predicated on guile, positioning and timing, his ability to mark players and anticipate threatening strikes. His blocking skills were integral to a scoreless draw and a crucial point the Whitecaps achieved on a March 22 visit to play the New England Revolution.
A week later, against the Houston Dynamo, he was involved in a rare offensive sequence which raised the pulse and lifted the soul of every Whitecaps fan.
On the receiving end of a beautifully placed cross from Pedro Morales, O’Brien got his head on the ball and deftly played it to the feet of charging fullback Jordan Harvey, who completed the bangbangbang play with his first goal of the season. The assist also represented the first point for O’Brien in a MLS career now 29 games long. He started 417 games in the Premier and Champions League before coming to Vancouver.
“That’s what they tell me,” he quipped of his first MLS point. “Do you not get any points in MLS for clean sheets?”
“Andy is a bedrock player, a hard- working guy,” Harvey explained. “We were joking around with him a little bit when he brought those orange boots out in pre- season. Maybe they helped him get that assist, who knows? But he’s kind of an unsung hero with this team. It’s nice for him to get some recognition with that assist.”
With soccer superstars worldwide promoting football shoes in every colour of the rainbow, the humble black boot is dying out in the beautiful game.
O’Brien, clearly a lover of tradition, feels a little embarrassed to be wearing fluorescent orange cleats, by Adidas, though not by choice.
“In my defence, I’ve tried to lasso some less loud boots,” O’Brien admitted. “I like the style of boot. They’re comfortable. But they’re bright. Unfortunately, I can’t find any calmer colours. If you’d told me, four or five years ago, players would be wearing something other than black, I never would have believed you.”
Soccer fashion may have changed, but the stock- in- trade of the central defender hasn’t. Tackle hard, clear chances, head the ball away or knock it to a teammate who can do something with it.
Another assist would be nice. But Andy O’Brien gladly would settle for a draw — and a crucial point — against the Galaxy.
For that to occur, the Whitecaps will have to do it without defensive midfielder Matias Laba, serving a one- game suspension for an ejection last game against Colorado.