VANCOUVER, BC – There were no shortage of talking points on Tuesday as Vancouver Whitecaps FC kicked off the week of training ahead of Saturday’s match vs. Houston Dynamo (7 p.m. PT on TSN1/4 – tickets still available).
Here are some news and notes from the day.
‘FEARS CONFIRMED’
There was a little bit of a somber mood at training following the announcement of Matias Laba’s torn ACL, which will keep him sidelined for at least the rest of the season. Laba, who was seen on crutches at the training centre, suffered the injury Saturday vs. New England.
“Gutted, gutted for the boy,” Robinson told reporters. “It didn’t look good on Saturday and our fears were confirmed yesterday when we got the news. We’re disappointed. He’s been brilliant for the club since I brought him here. I told him this morning that we, me and the club, we will look after the boy and help him rehab. He’s a massive part of this football club.”
“When he starts waving at the bench you know something’s wrong,” added Whitecaps FC goalkeeper David Ousted. “He’s been in what, 10,000 tackles since the time he’s been at the Whitecaps, and that I’ve never seen from him … a player of Mati’s quality and mental capability, I know he’s going to be back and he’s going to be back even stronger.”
With Laba sidelined, Robinson said the likes of Andrew Jacobson, Russell Teibert, and newcomer Aly Ghazal will likely come into the equation at the centre midfield position along with Tony Tchani.
THE NEW GUYS
Ghazal and new Whitecaps FC centre back Aaron Maund met the team and trained for the first time on Tuesday after arriving in Vancouver over the weekend – and they were both full participants.
“I want to bring that work ethic,” Maund said. “I’m a guy who fights in the back and really brings that energy. I want to do big things for this club.”
“When I looked at the club here, it was very good,” Ghazal said. “Big supporters behind you, nice stadium, best city in the world as they say. It was everything for me.”
Although Ghazal didn’t feature for his most recent club, Guizhou Hengfeng Zhicheng FC, in league play due to the new foreign player restrictions in the Chinese Super League, he said he went through a full preseason in February and has been playing Cup and reserve matches ever since.
Ghazal’s most recent game was last month, however, so Robinson said he may need some time to get up to speed.
“I don’t know, to be fair,” Robinson said when asked when Ghazal may be ready for game action. “If Mati doesn’t get injured, there’s no immediate rush. Mati gets injured. We’ve got three games next week. We’ll take it one game at a time. It’s a great run of games we’ve got over the next week or so … one thing I won’t do is rush him. We’ve got 12 odd games to go so it’s important he’s fit when he plays because we’ll see the best of Aly then.”
HOME SWEET HOME
After three straight games on the road, Whitecaps FC return to BC Place on Saturday to face Houston Dynamo, before hosting Seattle Sounders FC four days later. Both teams are tied for the top spot in the Western Conference, six points ahead of Vancouver.
The ‘Caps, however, have two games in hand on each of them.
“The games in hand are irrelevant if you don’t pick up points,” Robinson said. “We know there’s three points at stake on Saturday. And we need to make sure we try and get those three points at home … We’ve just got to focus on Saturday. Tough game. Good team. We’re a good team. We’ll be ready for it and we’ll give it our best.”
