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November 6, 2018 |
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VANCOUVER, B.C. - It's been a week since Whitecaps FC players cleared out their lockers, and cleared their minds. The end of season availability produced a barrage of talking points of division, and cliques within the team. Whether this was orchestrated to throw certain players under a translink bus, we'll never know. We do know that Whitecaps FC's season collapsed when Carl Robinson was sacked on September 25, 2018.
The majority of Whitecaps FC's roster was put together by players Robinson helped bring to Vancouver. When Robinson departed, that left a sour taste with several players.
"He was the one who brought me here," Whitecaps FC midfielder, Aly Ghazal told RedNation Online. "I go with him until the end. That doesn't mean because he left, I will be against everyone. We're playing for the Whitecaps. The coach brought us here. He's our coach, I go with him anywhere, whatever he's going to tell me, I do it. He's a very good guy, and whatever he asks of anyone, they will do whatever he asks. It's full of love. I also play here for the Whitecaps. I was very sad, how it was, but in the end, I have to come here. I have to work for the money I'm getting."
Vancouver was 11-11-7 when Craig Dalrymple took over as interim coach. It was a daunting task to get a Robinson preferred locker room on side, and earn a playoff spot.
Neither happened.
You could see very early on that not everyone was on the same page. Vancouver went 2-2-1 with Dalrymple and finished with a 13-13-8 record, and 8th spot in the west. The decision to release Robinson was not a popular decision. It was as if Robinson had a Stockholm Syndrome affect over Whitecaps FC. Players could not adapt without him.
The fracture inside the Vancouver locker room only ballooned after the Welshman left.
"When the result is that we are not in the playoffs, someone will try to find an excuse or whatever," Whitecaps FC's Nicolas Mezquida addressed the divisive talk. "The play was inside the field. If we don't play very well, can't score, and defend very well. We aren't going to make the playoffs. If we were in the playoffs, it would be different."
"It's all about numbers. We can't be friends with everyone, because we are 26 players in the locker room. I have very good teammates here. I have a very good relationship with everyone. I don't go to dinner with 26 (players), because it's impossible. I don't have a problem with my teammates. We tried to give everything on the field, but we couldn't get the maximum to qualify."
The division was already there, but with Robinson and his coaching staff in charge, everything was kept in-house, and away from prying minds. If Robinson had been dismissed after the season, it's possible that no tea gets spilled at the end of the season.
"We tried to do our best," Ghazal reiterated. "I don't know the decision for changing the coach. We built something together, and we had a target to do it, but then he's not there. We had to adapt to the new coach. It was a little bit planned what we were going to do until the end of the season, but the big boss was not there as the coach, at the end of the season. You have to deal with it and go, and we didn't make it."
The 26 year-old Mezquida has played all of his 101 MLS games with Whitecaps FC. His future like a lot of his teammates is up the air until Vancouver names a new coach. Mezquida has been linked with moves to Norway and Romania, but he's not buying it.
"Well... it's many rumours," Mezquida said. "I have been here five years. Each day, you know you are here. It's an excellent facility, it's perfect. It's a good team. I have an option. If the Whitecaps take the option, I will be one hundred percent for preseason, and try to give more next year."
The Egyptian internationals future with Whitecaps FC is less certain. In a year and a half, Ghazal played 29 games with Vancouver. When healthy, he's a terrific defensive midfielder who doesn't rack up yellow cards (2). Ghazal earned $700,566 and a raise might be too rich for Whitecaps FC. Ghazal's social media reads like a player who has said goodbye to Vancouver, and Whitecaps FC.
"I don't know, I don't know," Ghazal said, of next season with Whitecaps FC. "I like it here. I like the city, the fans, they are great. I always try to do my one-hundred percent every game. If they're going to keep me, I'm happy. If not, to the next step."
Mezquida and Ghazal both had moments were they were key contributors for Vancouver. Carl Robinson isn't coming back, both midfielders and some of their teammates need to welcome the next Vancouver Whitecaps FC coach with an open mind.
"The board has to figure out what it's going to be to make change for the better," Ghazal said. "If I'm here, I will give my one hundred percent, and be a part of it. If not, good luck."
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