There’s a really good feeling around Vancouver Whitecaps right now.
You just have to watch them at training to see that they are playing as a team, playing for each other and playing for Carl Robinson.
Sitting watching training on Monday, it was very noticeable. The players all had smiles on their faces, even though they had just undergone a surprise and dreaded beep test. They enjoy turning up for their work.
I’ve been around training with the Caps since the start of the MLS era and it hasn’t always felt like that.
But it wasn’t just all laughs and fun, the competitiveness of the mini games was intense, with players battling hard for a spot in the gameday eighteen. Every questionable decision by referee Gordon Forrest was vigorously, and humorously, contested.
The players have a winning and fiercely competitive mentality, even in three minute 7-a-side intrasquad training games, and it’s infectious to be around.
Robinson plays down his own impact in creating the happy campers and whilst his persona and player management skills undoubtedly play a huge part in instilling the current culture, the Caps’ coach lays the reason squarely at the door of those in his squad.
"I think it's the group of guys that we've brought in," Robinson told us on Monday. "It's important that when you sign players it's not just about what they do on the field, it's about what they do off the field as well."
But when you’re bringing in a number of different nationalities, from different cultures, how do you know the players will be a good mix and have the personality to fit in with what you have already?
Only so much can be gleamed from a quick pre-signing chat and are you really sure the player you first meet is the player you’re actually going to get?
For Robinson, it all starts with the words of others. Others that he trusts fully.
"Character references," is what Robinson says is key. "You build up contacts in football for reasons that when you go to sign a player you put your trust in other people."
"The guys that we've brought in this year, the two Uruguayan boys, Pedro, as well as Mati Laba, had very good character references and I think you can see that when you get a group of guys that are on the same page and enjoy each others company off the field as well as on the field, then you're getting the best out of them and training harder."
Omar Salgado has been with the Caps since the start of their MLS journey. Four seasons, four locker rooms and when we spoke with Salgado after the TFC game last week he told us that this was the best Whitecaps dressing room "by far".
There’s never been huge locker room issues in Vancouver as such, more a couple of square pegs and round holes over the years and a few, let’s just say difficult, personalities.
Robinson has seen his own fare share of dressing rooms in his career. He’s seen the good, he’s seen the bad, and he knows what he has right now.
"As a young player, I know that if I was in that locker room I'd be delighted to be part of it."