Bad_Gones said: http://www.whitecapsfc.com/news/2012/08/wfc-add-o’brien

Andy O'Brien. Anyone have him?

He's pretty good. Good in the air. Demerit and him should pair up. then we will have the tightest defense in mls.

Looks like some good CB depth now.

A Yorkshireman. Escape from Leeds - he should be eternally grateful to WCFC :P

Championship is a tough league - very physical. Will fit in nicely in MLS.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2094496/Andy-OBrien-returns-depression-treatment.html

O’Brien, 33, comes to Whitecaps FC ...

Another aging player? Our 18 man squad is looking a little long in the tooth

Not a DP right?

JP82 said: nope not a DP...

k cheers - good player but certainly not DP value

No chance he's a DP. I'd make wagers on it. Sounds like good cover/competition for CB as he's a player who has played at the top levels. On the downside of his career, but still championship calibre. A solid player for when Bonjour eventually gets his 5th yellow and has to miss a game.

The best part of this, no more Rochat as a CB (please).

I always thought when players are competing for spots it makes you work harder...it'll put demerit n bonjour on their toes cause they know if they start playing shtty u got a guy who now can come in while before they knew they were RM's go to guys and no one on the bench could replace them...i am not fan of his age but he brings alot of experience and the physicality of the championship is a bonus to the team. My only worry is that he seems abit on a downslope on his career and I hope that we picked him up cheap because of that

An Irishman? Already a suspicious signing. Surely we have not yet exhausted the pool of quality Scottish footballers?

What a great time to work with the new signing and get him closer to game shape ...

See? Every cloud has a silver lining.

ETA: I know you were only being tongue in cheek Elisant, but mental illness is about more than just sunshine and beautiful scenery. If O'Brien suffers from clinical depression he'll be dealing with it for the rest of his life.

From the article it sounds like he's been in Vancouver for a couple days or so already, so I would say it's more than likely he will be there at the open practice tomorrow.

Wish I could attend that.

Martin Bonjour will be feeling the heat a bit now.

I would think it's DeMerit who's feeling the heat. O'Brien is the same age, has better experience, and is likely on less money.

Demerit is on top form, while O'Brien is rusty, and struggled a bit through last season evidently. Bonjour has seen his play slip a bit lately.

Hopefully Martin bounces back and we can use O'Brien to keep Jay's minutes down a bit down the stretch.

The added depth is important.

Good signing for the player and team. I really like this for next year if they qualify for champions league. Depth depth depth. think they are done?

Now were talking! this team has got a serious, serious chance to go all the way here

Seathanaich said:

spinrack said: An Irishman? Already a suspicious signing. Surely we have not yet exhausted the pool of quality Scottish footballers?

He's an Englishman - born in Harrogate, Yorkshire - no matter what silly FIFA rules say otherwise.

If your name is "Andy O'Brien" you're Irish enough for me.

We'll get to hear him speak soon enough. If he sounds like an extra from "All Creatures Great And Small", then I'll be slotting him into the "Yorkshireman" category.

Agreed. Rochat is a nightmare at CB, but surprisingly adequate in the the centre midfield holding role. Who knew ?

I’m not sure where this talk of Martin Bonjour's lack of form came from. Against Salt Lake, DeMerit’s arm was bumped upward as he went up for the ball, and conceded a penalty. Tough luck that referee missed something that camera didn’t. Bonjour was fouled on the second goal as the RSL player pushed him forward and down, using a hand on Martin’s shoulder for leverage. Jay DeMerit’s back pass was short, leading to Joe Cannon’s sending off.

Against San Jose, Bonjour easily dealt with Chris Wondolowski, nudging, jabbing, tackling, and such, despite carrying a yellow card for almost the entire match. From what I saw, he was our most important player that game. On the goal, Rochat took a tumble, may have been interfered with, but Wondolowski (still marked by Bonjour) played no part in it.

Against Los Angeles, Bonjour was covering Keane at the far post. Beckham was unmarked and scored on the near post. Villareal beat Koffie and DeMerit for the second goal. Bonjour was marking Keane again, who played no part in the goals.

Against Chicago, Bonjour was covering a man at the far post, the ball went in the near post. There’s not much he could do about a ball going top corner on the opposite post.

Against Toronto, Koffie and DeMerit failed to deal with the ball in the first goal. Bonjour was again covering a man on the opposite post. On the second goal, Bonjour was unable to win the ball from two Toronto players in the corner. They got it to the opposite side of the pitch, and Frings scored when Koffie wasn’t able to deal with the shot. Okay, I’ll give him partial responsibility on that one. The third goal was scored from the far post, Bonjour was covering a man who was past the near post.

Against Chivas and Colorado, we didn’t concede. So, in the past seven matches, he was fouled in the box, the referee didn’t see it, and a goal was scored. He failed to win the ball from two Toronto players at the corner, and it was crossed to another player, who was able to score. I don’t think this constitutes a poor run of form?

Christopher said: I’m not sure where this talk of Martin Bonjour's lack of form came from. Against Salt Lake, DeMerit’s arm was bumped upward as he went up for the ball, and conceded a penalty. Tough luck that referee missed something that camera didn’t. Bonjour was fouled on the second goal as the RSL player pushed him forward and down, using a hand on Martin’s shoulder for leverage. Jay DeMerit’s back pass was short, leading to Joe Cannon’s sending off.

Against San Jose, Bonjour easily dealt with Chris Wondolowski, nudging, jabbing, tackling, and such, despite carrying a yellow card for almost the entire match. From what I saw, he was our most important player that game. On the goal, Rochat took a tumble, may have been interfered with, but Wondolowski (still marked by Bonjour) played no part in it.

Against Los Angeles, Bonjour was covering Keane at the far post. Beckham was unmarked and scored on the near post. Villareal beat Koffie and DeMerit for the second goal. Bonjour was marking Keane again, who played no part in the goals.

Against Chicago, Bonjour was covering a man at the far post, the ball went in the near post. There’s not much he could do about a ball going top corner on the opposite post.

Against Toronto, Koffie and DeMerit failed to deal with the ball in the first goal. Bonjour was again covering a man on the opposite post. On the second goal, Bonjour was unable to win the ball from two Toronto players in the corner. They got it to the opposite side of the pitch, and Frings scored when Koffie wasn’t able to deal with the shot. Okay, I’ll give him partial responsibility on that one. The third goal was scored from the far post, Bonjour was covering a man who was past the near post.

Against Chivas and Colorado, we didn’t concede. So, in the past seven matches, he was fouled in the box, the referee didn’t see it, and a goal was scored. He failed to win the ball from two Toronto players at the corner, and it was crossed to another player, who was able to score. I don’t think this constitutes a poor run of form?

Great post. Bonjour has been rock solid the last few matches. He is excellent value for us.

............age of player.........??

Bistchen said: ............age of player.........??

RTFA?

^ Both Bonjour and Demerit are CB in the upper echelon for MLS imo. Which one is better is a point we could agree to disagree on. Having both for less than 300K (thereabouts) is a bargain and an experience player to push (or rest) them is just what was needed. Seems like a good signing.