A better attitude

THE CANADIAN PRESS

BURNABY, B.C. -- Jun Marques Davidson doesn't need name tags to figure out his competition for a job on the Vancouver Whitecaps.

The midfielder was using modern technology as the Major League Soccer club opened its training camp Monday with eight newly signed players on its 25-man roster.

"I go back to the hotel, I check on the Internet," Davidson said after a day of drills and seven-a-side games in a cold drizzle. "I check the player's name."

In addition to 17 holdovers, there are four drafted but unsigned players, two trialists and three residency players among the 34 in camp.

There will be more additions when the club moves its training venue to Casa Grande, Ariz., on Feb. 1.

"That can be a real positive," captain Jay DeMerit said of the crowded locker-room. "It'll be nice to get to know these guys and see their work ethic and see how they can help us."

And the Whitecaps certainly need help entering their second MLS season.

They tied the New England Revolution for last in 2011 with a 6-18-10 record, didn't win on the road, scored only 35 goals and had the second-worst goal differential in the league behind Toronto FC.

They also finished 14 points behind the Portland Timbers, their expansion cousins.

"The players understand how this works," DeMerit said. "At certain times guys get a wake-up call and think they might not be here tomorrow.

"Guys are coming in with a better attitude. They know their jobs are on the line and they have to come in and work."

They also have to impress new Scottish coach Martin Rennie, who arrives after turning around the Carolina RailHawks of the second-tier North American Soccer League.

"He's a great motivator," said Davidson, who holds dual Japanese and American citizenship and is one of four former RailHawks in camp.

"He brings the team up-tempo. (He's) very positive so that's always good for the players."

The Whitecaps have shed 10 roster players from last season, including designated player Mustapha Jarju, a Gambian striker whose US $470,000 contract was bought out.

Among the new faces are Argentine defender Martin Bonjour and Korean veteran Young Pyo-Lee who will also join DeMerit on the back line.

For the second straight season, Vancouver made a striker its first choice in the MLS SuperDraft.

Jamaican Darren Mattocks, who scored 21 goals in 22 games for the University of Akron last year and was a finalist for top U.S. collegiate player honours, was the second over-all pick.

"I'm going to have to be a little more patient and wait for my opportunity but I have to adjust to the circumstances," said Texan Omar Salgado, the first pick in 2011.

"(Rennie) has a lot of options and he can use that to his advantage."

Mattocks, looking to join holdovers Camilo, who had a team-leading 12 goals, and Eric Hassli (10 goals) on attack, hopes his speed will stretch defences but winning a job won't be easy.

"Stay focused, stay disciplined," Mattocks said of what it will take to make the team. "Be the first one in the changing room, the last one to get out.

"Just do what I do and score goals."

Rennie thought Mattocks did well for the first time in a professional environment.

"He'll settle in over time but I think he's an excellent prospect with good pace and sharpness," Rennie said.

Toronto FC also got its training camp underway on Monday with the players undergoing physicals at BMO Field. The team will not hit the practice field until Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Montreal Impact, who are preparing for their first season in the MLS, are training in Guadaljara, Mexico, after opening camp earlier this month.

Back in Vancouver, among those who have departed are goalkeeper Jay Nolly who was traded to the Chicago Fire and midfielder Shea Salinas, who was shipped to San Jose.

Jeb Brovsky was picked up in the expansion draft by the Montreal Impact, the visitors for the Whitecaps' season opener on March 10.

"Today I think you saw a lot of hunger in there," said goalkeeper Joe Cannon, who competed with Nolly for starts last season.

"With the new group, it's going to really push guys to get better. We're much farther ahead than we were last year but we still have a way to go."

Rennie said more roster changes will come as he continues to put his stamp on the club.

"I've got to put a lot of my own personality on it and make sure everybody understands what their role is, what our objectives are," he said.

He wants to reprise the Carolina turnaround in Vancouver.

"A lot of it is just changing the psychology, changing the environment of what we trained in and what we played in and we made it much more competitive.

"But we also changed the expectations ... the team's expected to win and everybody's expected to prepare that way and that was the big thing that changed over time.

"And that's got to happen here too."

Notes: The Whitecaps have 19 players with MLS experience in camp compared with eight at the start of last year. ... Vancouver was third in MLS attendance last season, played mostly at temporary Empire Field before a move to a renovated B.C. Place Stadium. ... There 17 countries are represented at camp. The largest contingent are 13 Americans, followed by six Canadians.