Wilkinson: We got depth, Houston got steel, both sides won.

In Part 1 of our interview with Gavin Wilkinson, he spoke about his role, the players whose performances gave him pleasure, the MLS Fair Play award, swearing in front of Merritt Paulson, and going back to Colombia for more players.

Part 2 sees the New Zealander relish seeing his nation beat France to win the Rugby World Cup, talk about things that surprised him in MLS this season, looking at how both parties flourished in the trade that sent Adam Moffat to Houston, reveals that the club has high hopes for Eric Alexander, discusses what Colorado’s offer for John Spencer says about the club, and … does anyone have an All Blacks jersey in Merritt Paulson’s size?

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Prost Amerika: What has been the biggest surprise for you this year, something you didn’t expect, either maybe harder or easier than you thought?

Gavin Wilkinson: The LA Galaxy was definitely a surprise. They’re a tremendous team, great organization, great coach, and it was a highlight of the season. It was a surprise.

So when anybody asks me what was a surprise–and that also starts to fuel the expectations when you start playing everybody else–but what I would say is the quality of players in the league.

It’s a pleasant surprise. I think there’s a lot of positives about the league, and MLS for some people isn’t the be all and end all but I’m very very impressed with the quality of the players and the quality of the teams and the competitive nature of the league throughout the whole season.

Prost Amerika: What have Mike Chabala and Lovell Palmer brought to the side?

Gavin Wilkinson: Depth. And eventually brought some results as well.

If you look at I think the ten games that they played in I think we started to concede half of what we had conceded previously and for us you’ve got to look at that in a bigger picture. So the first stage of that, Jeremy Hall we loved as a person, but for cap reasons we traded him for Eric Alexander.

We rate Eric Alexander very very high. We’re very high on that player. We felt that then Adam Moffat was surplus to requirements.

We had James Marcelin who had come in and done very very well Steve–and I think you’d been impressed with him in the past — and then you’ve got Eric Alexander that gives us even more depth, more mobility, fits the system in the way we want to play, which made Adam Moffat disposable.

So we had a player that we knew that Houston loved. Houston got great mileage out of that player. We were able to acquire Lovell and Mike Chabala. And what they gave us was two players that came into the starting lineup, knew John, knew how John wanted to play where they could adjust very very quickly. There wasn’t a transition period.

And also, they give us depth in the squad. We’ve added two good players plus Eric Alexander and lost two players. So overall it was a very very positive move for the organisation.

Prost Amerika: You’ll get to watch your former player in the Cup final. What in your opinion has Adam brought to the Houston Dynamo?

Gavin Wilkinson: I think a little bit of steel. They’ve put him in a role that suits him. It wouldn’t suit the way that we play, in all honesty. I think with Adam he’s performed well there. For us, we don’t play with just an out and out holding midfielder that sits back and picks up pieces. We look to entertain at home, and what I would say is Houston go on about their business extremely well and Adam has fulfilled a role and done a job.

Prost Amerika: The news came through this morning that Colorado Rapids had reached out to John Spencer as head coach. What does that tell people about the respect John has held and the impact he’s made in year one?

Gavin Wilkinson: I think it’s a pat on the back for John. I think it’s a pat on the back for the Portland Timbers. The person that we hired and put in charge of the team has attracted some positive attention. It’s just how John carries himself. It’s the respect that he has in the league. It was very easy for us to say no.

Prost Amerika: Moving on to one of your other favourite subjects other than the Portland Timbers, most of my readers will know that New Zealand are rugby world champions. As an ex-pat, are there times when you miss the presence of someone to gloat at when something like this happens?

Gavin Wilkinson: We have Jake Gleeson in the squad, who’s another New Zealander. And while I can’t gloat at him, we can at least share some similar jokes and joke about it and pretend that everyone else understands what we’re joking about. A lot of it goes amiss. But it’s still nice.

I actually just recently tried to purchase a couple of All Black jerseys and I was going to give one to the boss. Unfortunately they were sold out, so he won’t get to wear a championship winning team’s shirt this year, but maybe in the future.

Prost Amerika: Is there any manner of regret that you weren’t playing Eric Hassli or Seb LeToux in the next game?

Gavin Wilkinson: (laughs). There’s always next year. We’re World Cup winners for a few years, mate.

Prost Amerika: And finally the Cup final itself, Los Angeles Galaxy against Houston. How do you see that going?

Gavin Wilkinson: In all honesty everyone’s going to say LA Galaxy, and I’m no different when you start to look at their results over the season. However, Dominic has been a first class gentleman the way that he treated us when we were trying to bring John Spencer on board.

So I’m split. You’ve got LA Galaxy’s home record, and honestly I’ve got so much respect and appreciation for Dominic for letting us have John Spencer that you can’t help but wish good things for him. I’m on the fence mate. How’s that for gutless?

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Non -committal and diplomatic is probably a better description but this site’s experiences of Dominic Kinnear certainly match Gavin Wilkinson’s; a class act all round.

One wonders if Bundesmannschaft USA is having any regrets yet about by-passing the Glasgow born American for the top job.

Also See:

Wilkinson: I sit next to the owner so my blood pressure is naturally high!

Nate Jaqua on Dominc Kinnear and the Hosuton Dynamo