VANCOUVER – This was not the way Vancouver Whitecaps goalkeeper Brad Knighton had envisioned the 2013 MLS season going.
After finishing last year as the club’s No. 1 by playing the last seven games and then topping that off with an impressive individual performance in the Whitecaps’ first-round MLS playoff defeat to eventual champions LA Galaxy, the 28-year-old thought this was his year to finally become a starter.
And he wasn’t alone in thinking that.
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Commanding in his box and equally capable of springing attacks with his impressive range of distribution, and 10 years younger than the club’s other goalkeeper, Joe Cannon, it made sense that coach Martin Rennie would give Knighton a run to start the year.
If he faltered, former MLS Cup champion and goalkeeper of the year Cannon would be waiting in the wings to provide a capable alternative.
But things didn’t go to plan for Knighton. Cannon showed up to camp in tremendous shape after a gruelling off-season fitness regimen, and according to Rennie there seemed to be a mental wall which hindered Knighton’s pre-season performance. So the Scottish tactician surprised most observers by going back to Cannon to start the 2013 campaign.
“It was strange,” Rennie said of Knighton’s pre-season form during an interview with sportsnet.ca.
“I don’t know – he didn’t come back playing as well as he had finished, and maybe that affected his confidence a little bit… it was the first time he was coming into a season as the starter in MLS and maybe that’s a different kind of mentality than what he had to deal with before, but hopefully that experience is something that will stand him in good stead in the future.”
Knighton also felt coming in with the job to lose for the first time in his career altered his own performance in a negative way. The Virginia native was previously a starter in the NASL with the Carolina RailHawks, but this pre-season was his first time as the presumed No. 1 in a top league.
“The one thing for me was confidence,” Knighton told sportsnet.ca. “Never being able to start the season as a No. 1 in MLS – I haven’t had that opportunity yet and I think that weighed pretty heavily on me.
“It took its toll in pre-season, but I feel I’ve matured over the past three or four months.”
It was a new situation for him and his problems were exacerbated by Cannon’s excellent pre-season form – but that didn’t make Rennie’s decision any easier to take.
“I was shocked, because I felt I played the majority of pre-season,” Knighton stated. “If I could do it all again, I probably didn’t have the best pre-season, but I didn’t think you could lose a job in pre-season – I thought I’d get a chance to start the year. But that’s the way the coaching staff wanted to go and it’s my responsibility to accept that.
“I felt like I’ve grown a lot over the last year and matured and it’s one of those things you have to take on the chin and say, ‘alright, obviously I need to do better.’”
And since Rennie’s decision to go with Cannon on opening day, Knighton has endeavoured to prove to his coach that he’s worthy of winning back the starting job. He never spoke out in the media about what some had considered a raw deal, instead opting to put his head down and wait for his chance.
With a powerful kick, and more importantly an ability to control his area and catch crosses comfortably, he most recently kept a clean sheet in the first leg of the Amway Canadian Championship final away to the Montreal Impact, before playing his first MLS match of 2013 last week, in a crucial derby match against the Portland Timbers.
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Following that match, Rennie refused to indicate if the switch to Knighton was an indicator of a permanent swap. But the goalkeeper’s former coach from their time together in Carolina was happy to talk about the player’s professionalism after learning he’d start the year as a backup once again.
“He has done well,” Rennie said. “He’s stayed focused, trained hard and been a good teammate, which is really important. Now he’s getting his chance and playing well.”
Now, for Knighton, it’s about taking that chance. On May 29, Knighton will have a chance to compete for the Canadian Championship in the second leg of the final at BC Place, and if the Whitecaps do come out on the winning side, expect Knighton to get a bit of a run in MLS.
“I feel like I deserve a chance to be a No. 1 and I feel like I can be a No. 1 in this league,” Knighton said. “Only time will tell if that’s the case.”
