Teitur Thordarson may only be in his first year of guiding the expansion Vancouver Whitecaps of Major League Soccer, but he has a wealth of experience.
Formerly the manager of the Estonia national team that rose from 145th to 68th in FIFA's world rankings under his watch, Thordarson also led the Whitecaps to a championship in 2008 in the 2nd division.
Thordarson was interviewed recently by the Vancouver Sun, and spoke about a variety of topics-
On being picked by many to finish last in Major League Soccer this season - "If that's the case, then we will have done sh--, absolutely," said the Whitecaps head coach. "That is definitely not part of the plan."
On the high expectations by the Whitecaps' supporters - "I know there are expectations in the city and among the owners but I have very high expectations myself and those are the expectations I primarily deal with," he said.
On the nomadic existence forced upon those whose jobs rely on succeeding at the beautiful game - "We have moved 29 times [since 1976] so we have a certain kind of training in that," he said.
On having strong assistant coaches (Thordarson recently hired former Chicago Fire head coach Denis Hamlett along with Colin Miller) - "If you want to have success, one of the most important things is to trust people around you," he said. "These are both coaches with great experience and great knowledge of the same so I look at this as an ideal situation for me, getting the maximum help possible."
On Arsene Wenger, whom Thordarson played for when Wenger was an assistant coach at French side AS Cannes in the early 1980s - "He is a fantastic person," Thordarson said. "He's calm and he's a thinker who treats his players in a fantastic way. I definitely consider myself closer to him than anybody else in the way of treating players and his style of play."
Thordarson certainly has an extensive level of experience, and despite the task of guiding a fledgling MLS franchise, I will look forward to following the progress of both he and his team this season.
Formerly the manager of the Estonia national team that rose from 145th to 68th in FIFA's world rankings under his watch, Thordarson also led the Whitecaps to a championship in 2008 in the 2nd division.
Thordarson was interviewed recently by the Vancouver Sun, and spoke about a variety of topics-
On being picked by many to finish last in Major League Soccer this season - "If that's the case, then we will have done sh--, absolutely," said the Whitecaps head coach. "That is definitely not part of the plan."
On the high expectations by the Whitecaps' supporters - "I know there are expectations in the city and among the owners but I have very high expectations myself and those are the expectations I primarily deal with," he said.
On the nomadic existence forced upon those whose jobs rely on succeeding at the beautiful game - "We have moved 29 times [since 1976] so we have a certain kind of training in that," he said.
On having strong assistant coaches (Thordarson recently hired former Chicago Fire head coach Denis Hamlett along with Colin Miller) - "If you want to have success, one of the most important things is to trust people around you," he said. "These are both coaches with great experience and great knowledge of the same so I look at this as an ideal situation for me, getting the maximum help possible."
On Arsene Wenger, whom Thordarson played for when Wenger was an assistant coach at French side AS Cannes in the early 1980s - "He is a fantastic person," Thordarson said. "He's calm and he's a thinker who treats his players in a fantastic way. I definitely consider myself closer to him than anybody else in the way of treating players and his style of play."
Thordarson certainly has an extensive level of experience, and despite the task of guiding a fledgling MLS franchise, I will look forward to following the progress of both he and his team this season.
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