SoccerThe differing fortunes of Canada's clubs

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The Vancouver Whitecaps failed to impress on the field in their first MLS season. (CP Photo)

That's that then. We can roll down the blinds and shut up shop for another year. A year best forgotten by Canadian soccer fans. Nothing much to be proud of in a season which promised so much.
 
Memorable moments were far and far between. Success stories were in short supply across the country.

Toronto FC predictably followed the lead set by the Vancouver Whitecaps and became the second MLS team to surrender its playoff pennant.
 
With a month still remaining of the regular season, 15 of the 18 Major League Soccer franchises are mathematically alive in the race for the post-season. Canada's two representatives are finished. Whatever happens from here on in is purely academic.
 
True, Toronto is still clinging to its final Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card. A victory in Texas later this month will see the Canadian Champions through to the quarter- finals of the CONCACAF Champions League. The Reds only have to beat FC Dallas - a team against which they have failed to score a goal in three meetings during 2011.
 
Next year Canada will have a third MLS team. The Montreal Impact has already begun its preparation for 2012, kicking off an evaluation camp for the majority of the players who represented the team this year. Just how many will be offered MLS contracts remains to be seen but the shortlist may be very short indeed.
 
Judging by their on-field efforts in 2011, it will be a select few. The Impact, like their Canadian cousins in Ontario and B.C., failed to make the playoffs in the second tier NASL. A late season rally wasn't enough to salvage the campaign in a league which awards post season berths to six of its eight clubs.
 
To its credit, Montreal is already taking steps to beef up the roster. Colombian defender Nelson Rivas has become the club's first acquisition and his experience, particularly in Italy's Serie A, should serve him well in the rough, tough world of MLS.
 
Rivas will need some support. The Impact must construct a squad with a strong spine. To that end they will need an experienced goalkeeper, a ball winning midfielder and a strong centre forward who is used to scoring goals. Plenty of room for improvement in those departments it seems.
 
Positive story lines have been hard to find. The Whitecaps are back to square one, TFC are still rebuilding after five years and the Impact's entry into MLS may well prove a rocky ride. In Edmonton, however, professional soccer is back on the map.
 
FC Edmonton has just completed its first season in the NASL. History will show it was a qualified success. The Eddies, unlike Montreal, made it to the playoffs before bowing out to Fort Lauderdale, and one of their players performed well enough to earn a place in the 2011 NASL Best XI.
 
Shaun Saiko is an Edmontonian who may be destined for greater things. The 21 year old attacking midfielder led his team with nine goals and five assists during the inaugural season. His resume, which includes a spell in England with Middlesbrough and Canadian national youth honours, is beginning to gather momentum.
 
Saiko's form should have alerted interest from Canada's MLS teams. He clearly has bags of potential and his whole career ahead of him. He may be tempted away by the time the 2012 season gets underway. But the relative success of the Eddies in year one is about more than just one man.
 
Soccer is nothing if not a team effort. No one player is ever bigger than the team which must pull together as a cohesive unit every time it sets foot on the field. FC Edmonton's team has a unique quality which sets it apart from other North American franchises.
 
It is full of Canadians. Saiko was just one of eight Canucks who made more than 20 appearances in year one. That's most of the team, most of time, populated by home grown talent. Compare that to Montreal where veteran Simon Gatti was the only Canadian to make 20-plus appearances in 2011.
 
In MLS the Canadian contingent or lack thereof, is even more worrying. Not a single Canadian has played more than 20 League games for Toronto FC this year, though Coach Aron Winter is at least attempting to bring on youngsters like Ashtone Morgan, Doneil Henry and Matt Stinson.
 
Vancouver's only impactful 'Canadian' is Alain Rochat. The Quebec born defender has clocked up 24 appearances during his first MLS season but he was raised in Switzerland and has represented the Swiss at international level as a duel citizen.
 
I am a firm believer in employing the best person for the job. If they have the right skill set, have a good attitude and will fit in well with their co-workers, they should be offered the position. Soccer fans pay to see their team win, not necessarily to cheer on their fellow countrymen.
 
If Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto were preparing for the post-season, there could be no argument. The fact is they are not. In any other soccer playing country all three would be battling against relegation. North America, of course, doesn't operate that way.
 
Canadian players may not have made them any better, but I'm prepared to debate employing more local talent could not have made them any worse. Must we slavishly follow the NCAA route, year after year, to stock the rosters of Canadian franchises?
 
Are U.S. college graduates in their early 20s really prepared for a life in professional soccer? Their education may be complete but I wonder what they actually learned about the game. Talk to me about that when the NCAA abolishes unlimited substitutions.
 
The Canadian talent pool may be shallow for a whole host of reasons. Not everyone can be the next Dwayne De Rosario after all. But FC Edmonton has adopted a philosophy and is giving young Canadians a chance. For that alone the Eddies should be commended.

Follow Nigel Reed on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/Nigel_Reed

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