Monsalve wants to help FCE build into North America’s top team outside of MLS

David Monsalve

At this time last year, David Monsalve was preparing for his return to Major League Soccer.

He had cracked the Toronto FC lineup after a successful trial, and everything looked good for Monsalve to return to the club that meant so much to him. After all, he was on the Reds’ inaugural squad. And, he was part of the Canadian team that took part in the 2007 U-20 World Cup. Without that event, BMO Field would never have been built.

But, instead of a heroic return, Monsalve was looking for a job.

“We just couldn’t come to terms on a contract,” said Monsalve. “So it’s March and I had to try and find another team, which was hard — because all of the MLS teams have already set their rosters.”

But he found FC Edmonton, where he signed mid-season. And while he got just one start last season for the Eddies, it looks as if he will have the No. 1 job when the NASL season kicks off in early April. Rein Baart, who showed troubling inconsistencies when he had the starting job last season, isn’t back. Lance Parker, also back this season, is still rehabbing the right arm after suffering a compound fracture last season.

FCE has two new goalies in the mix: Michal Misiewicz, who spent time in Sunderland and Poland, and ex-University of Toronto shot-stopper John Smits.

But, with Monsalve in goal, most FCE fans will tell you that goalkeeping is the position where the team will be most improved in 2012. But Monsalve isn’t counting any chickens.

“I’d like to think (being the No. 1 keeper) that’s how it will be,” he said. “But I have thought like that before and it didn’t turn out that way. Four goalkeepers on a team is normal when you have a reserve squad like we do. To me, it shows that we have some depth at the position. I think the team is in a position that, if any of the four of us is called upon, we would do a decent job at the very least. We have Lance, who has MLS experience. We have experienced goalkeepers. We have John, who played in the CIS championships last year (University of Toronto got to the tourney, which was eventually won by the University of Victoria).”

And, with the addition of veteran defender Kevin Hatchi on the left side of the line, Monsalve feels that FCE — which, despite making the playoffs in its inaugural pro season, had the second-worst goals-against in NASL — is addressing its biggest issue.

After his first stint with TFC, Monsalve went on to spend the better part of three years in Finland with Inter Turku. And,

“I thought we had a very good team last seaoson, but they have brought even more players to the squad, and I think it will help us get better organized at the back,” he said.

And, moving out of Foote Field should also help the goals against. The team hasn’t yet committed to a stadium in 2012, but has made it clear that it would rather not return to the University of Alberta stadium, which features old-school hard artificial turf, a mix of different markings, and is much smaller than a regulation-minimum soccer pitch.

Monsalve said the small pitch and the surface affect the keeper, too. Distributing the ball is that much harder, as target players have less space. In training, the keeper picks up all sorts of scrapes and bruises that he wouldn’t suffer on grass.

Despite things not working out with TFC last season, he still feels very close to the club. And he wants the buzz around FCE to be something like he experienced in the early days of the Reds’s existence in Toronto.

“I’m proud to say that I got to take part in the first year with Toronto FC, and I was part of the first year of FC Edmonton. I also was able to be part of that U-20 team. I am very lucky because I think I can say I have been part of the teams that have really made soccer a popular sport in Canada.

“I really want to see FC Edmonton build. I want to see this club build to the point where it’s the most popular team in North America that’s not in MLS — where Montreal has been up until this year. Everyone used to ask, ‘why isn’t Montreal in MLS?’ I want people to say ‘why isn’t Edmonton in MLS?’ I want to push that issue. In Toronto, it’s now part of the culture. I am amazed, I only played a couple of games for TFC and when I go back there people recognize me. I have played for Edmonton and no one recognizes me. We need to make it part of the culture here.”

Monsalve is putting down roots in the Alberta capital. He is in the midst of registering a local charity that will see him take an active philanthropic role in the city. But, don’t think the nice guy doesn’t get intense. When you talk to Monsalve, you realize he’s one of those kind of players who won’t make excuses. He talks about having to focus on the job. He talks about being prepared for the season. As he’s being interviewed, he is told Yashir Pinto, FC Edmonton’s newest member, needs a ride from the practice facility. Monsalve and Pinto begin speaking in Spanish.

Monsalve said will do what he can help the Chilean acclimate to life in Edmonton; but he makes it clear he can’t put all his energy into helping the new guy. Monsalve said he’s got to focus on his game, that the team needs him to be ready.

“Definitely I have goals. And that’s to win. I want to this team to have a winning mentality. And I want to do what it takes to get myself back into the picture with the national team.”