Posted by

Aaron Nielsen ,

November 6, 2014 Email

Aaron Nielsen



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@ENBSports

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From the 2014 analytical preview articles I did for each Canadian MLS club, the one that came the closest to my actual predictions was the Vancouver Whitecaps. I did have them missing the playoffs finishing behind Los Angeles, Seattle, Dallas and Portland, although I also had Vancouver scoring 42 goals this season, which took criticism after Vancouver scored four goals in their season opener against New York Red Bulls. The lack of goals was mostly because Vancouver showed no real signs of replacing Camilo and his 22 goals from 2013. I did raise my prediction from 39 to 42 when Vancouver announced they signed Pedro Morales for his set play ability that he showed in his career while in Chile and Croatia. Morales outdid himself, being Vancouver's key player this season with ten direct assists and ten goals with seven from converting penalties. However, like Camilo in 2013, old Vancouver issues showed up with the club relying too much on Morales and you can argue he had too many touches and took too many shots, which was demonstrated both when he was off and on the pitch in the 1-0 playoff loss to FC Dallas. The emphasis on Morales, especially on offense, stemmed from a couple of causes. First was the cutting of Kenny Miller, who in the first month of the season looked better than he ever did in Vancouver, and secondly the continued frustration of Vancouver’s forward and attacking midfield options. Darren Mattocks finished second in club scoring with six goals, although it was mostly a frustrating season and many ways has been a frustrating career for a player who promised so much. For me, a change of scenery is necessary for Mattocks, either loaning him to a European club during this off-season or selling him all together and look at getting some value based on the highlight package he has created for himself the last few seasons. With Miller gone and Mattocks struggling, the Whitecaps gave plenty of opportunities to Erik Hurtado and Sebastian Fernandez. Both players showed some quality in terms of shooting and passing, although neither are legitimate target man, which showed in their weak aerial ability and also they both lost the ball through being disposed or losing control over 100 times each. One disappointment for the future of Vancouver attack is drama surrounding Omar Salgado. Salgado looked good while on loan with Charleston in USL Pro and showed some signs why he was picked number one overall for a great combination of size and technical skills, but there are questions around his maturity and he has already been given opportunities at trials outside of the club and league. With that said, it appears almost a given that Vancouver will be in the market for a DP quality forward this off season. In terms of players Vancouver usually goes after (higher salaries, but low or no transfer fees available) forwards out of contract include Nikola Zigic, Sylvian Ebanks-Blake, Freddy Eastwood, Eidur Gudjohnsen, or a quality player but more known for how is name is pronounced Mohammed Tchité. The other option is to go after Erick Torres who scored 16 goals with Chivas USA. When hot, he is one of the top goalscorers in the league and could team up with Morales well, in a high risk/high reward but very exciting offense for next season. A lack of offense in 2014 wasn't only because of the forwards as not much came from the more experienced midfielders. I am not fully convinced the likes of Mauro Rosales, Nicolas Mezquida, and Mehdi Ballouchy will be back in 2015. Meanwhile, Kekuata Manneh continues to show potential but isn't the complete player yet and probably a debateable disappointment, from a production standpoint, was the development of Russell Teibert who only had 2 assists and 1 shot on target in close to 2000 minutes of play. Like Jonathan Osario in Toronto, Teibert has shown signs of being a good technical footballer, but his lack of an impact is a concern for his long term viability in the league and raises some questions on the direction Vancouver is taking him in. Matias Laba and Gershon Koffie showed decent skill as holding midfielders, which helped with Vancouver’s defensive performance during the season. The two combined for over 300 tackles and close to 100 fouls, and as long as they are able to stay on the pitch they should provide a decent transition both in controlling the midfield and helping defenders stop any potential counter attacks. I would like to see both Laba and Koffie improve their willingness to get involved in the offense, or the other option is a play a more offensive formation such as a 4-3-3 since Laba and Koffie can cover the extra space. Overall, I like the Whitecaps’ defense. I thought the signing of Kendall Waston was a good one and if he can control his size he might be following Cristian Gamboa and Giancarlo González to larger clubs in Europe. I feel Andy O'Brien still provides a senior presence, while Steven Beitashour and Jordan Harvey are quality full backs with their only issue is expected salary against the cap for next season. Christian Dean was given limited playing time but has all the athletic ability to become a strong MLS player and I was very impressed with Sam Adekugbe when I saw him play this season including an over 90% passing percentage. I also like Jhonny Leveron and Carlye Mitchell, but wouldn't be surprised if they are traded or picked up in the expansion draft. Finally, I think David Ousted is a quality keeper and his consistency this season for Vancouver showed why he was also a starting keeper in Denmark prior to joining the Whitecaps. Outsted had a 71% save percentage, just passing the threshold that I regard for a quality MLS keeper and was very good in comparing to other keepers in the league in distributing the ball. Outsted did have a $100,000 raise this season and is in the $250,000 against the cap range, which is a little high especially in terms of keepers. However, because Vancouver has a number of GA and Homegrown players they have the luxury to spend extra in certain situations. I thought Carl Robinson coached well this season. He won when it was needed during the regular season and the club’s longest losing streak was only two games. I still feel this is more Bobby Lenarduzzi’s team than Robinson, where off the pitch Lenarduzzi is one the most active GMs in the league and there could be concerns regarding style of play from both men, especially based on additional DP's who might be signed. The Whitecaps should also be commended for how much money they are putting into the club, not only signing players to the cap and signing DPs, it also costs a lot of money out of pocket for each team to sign players and cut players as the season progresses. As long as the Whitecaps management are willing to spend this extra money, Lenarduzzi will continue to tinker with the team looking for players from around the world. A year ago today if we were talking about the Whitecaps, names such as YP Lee, Jay DeMerit, Nigel Reo-Coker, Kenny Miller and Camilo would be mentioned. It says a lot about Vancouver to lose all of these proven players and still be a playoff team in 2014 under a rookie coach. This doesn't mean everything is all good with the Whitecaps and one issue with changing the roster so much is it's hard to develop consistency, as well as try to integrate younger players into the lineup. Lastly, I feel long term commitments to key players is critical to their future success. I've always been a fan of the Whitecaps infrastructure, the effort they have put in in competing with other MLS clubs and they do have some interesting players in the pipeline including Canadians Ben Mckendry and Brody Huitema, who are currently playing NCAA Soccer. However, Vancouver needs to think of ways to separate themselves from the other clubs in the Western Conference like how the Galaxy and Sounders have done of late. With Sporting KC and Houston joining the West for the next few seasons, it will be difficult for the Whitecaps. The key, like the other Canadian teams, is to maintain their momentum and nothing does this better then consistently making the playoffs.