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The other 32-year-old on the roster, fullback Scott Sutter, concurred.

“Aside from what he brings to us on the pitch, he’s just a great guy to have around. He’s so well liked, he always has a smile on his face. He can make jokes and take jokes, he’s just a guy that everyone loves to have in the locker-room,” Sutter said.

“He’s so well respected because of his experience and age, and he’s now our captain. He brings a whole wealth of things to a young team. You don’t notice him much. He’s not screaming and shouting, he’s a quiet leader. He leads by example.”

The U-23 team was formed to act as a bridge between the Whitecaps academy and the first team. Erice and the other vets almost perform the same role within the first team, from just making it there to ultimately taking that step forward to first-team regular.

“The project (here) is exactly as they told me,” said Erice. “We have to improve our performance to become a successful project. They changed a lot here, they changed a lot with this club, and they have a lot of work to do. Us as players, we have to improve. This is the truth.

“I love to speak about football. Here, we have some very, very young players, who have a lot of qualities. You can see Simon (Colyn), you can see Theo (Bari), you can see Michael (Baldisimo), also players like Lucas (Venuto) … they need a little bit of help to become great players.

“I’m here to play football, but also to help everybody — especially the young players. These players, for sure, when I see them, physically they are ready and technically they are very good players. They need help to grow up. They are the future of the team.”

jadams@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/TheRealJJAdams

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