VANCOUVER, BC – How much roster turnover does Carl Robinson expect in 2015? Is the club open to bringing in another Designated Player?
The 'Caps manager answers these questions and more in Part 2 of his exclusive interview with whitecapsfc.com (click here to read Part 1).
What were the most enjoyable and challenging aspects of the job this year?
I think the enjoyable one culminated in us reaching the playoffs in the last game of the season. I think it was fitting that it was a nervous, tense, exciting, enjoyable game – one that we only won 1-0. We probably should have won more comfortably. As with Vancouver, we never make things easy, but we do make it enjoyable.
The target of 50 points and reaching the playoffs was a fantastic achievement for the group and that was the enjoyable thing. You can identify individual results – in Portland, in Seattle, home to New York, my first game. I’ll always remember my first game, against my former club, which is always nice.
The things we need to be better on … my decisions to rest players at certain times, freshen up areas. With the traveling teams, certain teams found out a way to play against us, because we became a counterattacking team and they sat back, so we didn’t have the ability to unlock them. That comes down to different personnel in different positions in different games.
I’ll analyze that over the next few weeks about certain teams when they play certain ways, how we have a Plan C and a Plan D, rather than just a Plan A and a Plan B. That’ll be down to me doing my homework work on the review side of it.
How much roster turnover do you expect heading into 2015?
Well, we need a few additions to help this group. I’ve made it known that we need to strengthen certain areas. We need to look at bringing in a goal scorer, as I’ve said, I’d like to bring in maybe a wide player, and then depending on the situation with the midfield players or defenders. I want to strengthen the group, so you can expect to see maybe three, four, five, six players come in.
But they’ll only come in if they’re the right people. I won’t make changes for the sake of it, and I won’t create ceilings for any of my young players. If it means blocking pathways for them, I won’t do it and they have to be better than what we’ve got in the club as well.
Is the club open to bringing in another Designated Player if the fit is right?
It is. The club has been great with me since day one of the job and fully supportive of me and I appreciate them for that. As in any football club, you want to be better, I want to be better, and the club wants to be better. So if it means bringing in better quality players and moving with the times, then that’s what we’ll do.
Have you guys already identified specific targets that you’re looking at?
We have. We’ve got a list of targets that we will now go watch in the offseason. We’ll do our homework and then decisions will be made to look forward.
What does your schedule look like over the next few months?
It’s going to be a nightmare, if I’m honest. It’s going to be a lot of Air Miles, a lot of traveling over to Europe and down to South and Central America. Obviously, we’ve got the combine and the draft in January. We’ve also got the Expansion Draft and Re-Entry Drafts in December and obviously I want to try get a week or two off with my family in Wales. I’ve got four club visits back in England that I need to go to as well, so it’s going to be pretty busy. Probably be more busy than during the season.
Do you have already have goals in mind for next season?
I do. We hit 50 points this year, which is the most that any Canadian team has gotten, and that’s now a benchmark for us. If you want to compete in the playoffs in the Western Conference in Major League Soccer, you’re looking at 50 points, so that’s got to be a minimum requirement.
Two more excellent teams in the Western Conference makes it harder, but you’re going to need to finish in the top four to get a home game in the Western Conference. That’s got to be a target, but I’m sure that’s 10 teams’ target.
All the other additions like the Cascadia Cup are great. I’m pleased for the supporters because no one expected us to do it, especially after we lost 3-0 to Portland twice. We’ve done it the hard way, but like I said, we don’t like doing things the easy way.
Obviously, Champions League football is a great experience for this young group and for me as a manager – going into difficult places with different tactical knowledges and teams, which is part of my education as well. Hopefully, we continue with that, and get better next year than we were this year, because that’s got to be the goal.
Finally, how would you sum up your first season as a head coach?
“Interesting” is the word I used earlier. It’s exciting, but it goes to show that if you put the work in, you do get the rewards out of it. The best thing is that you can’t rest on your laurels, you want to get better, strive to be better, but with that comes more and more work.
It’s been an exciting season, because we’ve reached a lot of targets, but I’m still not content with what we’ve achieved. We should and we can achieve a lot more next season, which makes me more determined to work even harder.
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