Appreciate Laba while you still can in MLS The lynchpin of the Vancouver Whitecaps' midfield, Matias Laba's future lies in Europe. Whitecaps fans and the MLS at large should appreciate the Argentine midfield destroyer while they still can on a North American pitch.

Kristian Jack TSN Soccer Analyst Follow|Archive

It's tough to hide when you are the only show in town.

The Vancouver Whitecaps had raced away to the top of the MLS standings in the first month of the season, but very few across North America paid too much attention.

League tables are designed to tell a story but little can be taken from one so early.

The Whitecaps, however, pass a significant test without looking at a league table. The Whitecaps pass the eye test. They are a team that puts a smile on your face when you watch them play; so expansive, so energetic, so entertaining. They aren’t perfect, but make no mistake, they are very good and all signs show that these are no early pacemakers destined to fall when the line approaches come October.

Wednesday’s night 2-2 draw at home to Columbus was a fabulous advertisement for Major League Soccer and, by Thursday morning, the industry was awash with chatter regarding Carl Robinson’s team.

All five of the Whitecaps' games prior to Wednesday had come on busy MLS days where multiple games were on offer for fans of the league to choose from. Their season opener against Toronto FC was their most-watched match of the season nationally, but the second half favoured the Reds and the Whitecaps will not have had many glowing endorsements following that game.

Less than a month later, things have changed significantly. Robinson’s team have all the ingredients to get people talking.

Full of speed, they fit perfectly into the modern game in 2015 and, as Columbus boss Gregg Berhalter pointed out, are arguably the most dangerous counterattacking team in the league. They are also a side full of headline-makers.

To be successful in football, the team is only good as its collective parts, but to also achieve overall success individual quality is, of course, needed and they have already had moments of brilliance from the likes of Pedro Morales and Octavio Rivero that have secured them points this season.

Rivero’s accomplishments have secured a vital tipping point to a crucial spine developing in Vancouver. David Ousted is one of the league’s best goalkeepers, centre-back Kendall Waston has been excellent in all six games so far, Matias Laba is a very good central midfielder and, in front of him, Morales and Rivero bring the creativity that leads to goals.

The Whitecaps are the first to four wins in MLS this season and, while they continue to pick up points, they are also picking up some valuable dollars for the future.

Head coach Robinson has said from day one on the job that he wants to improve players, fully aware that ,eventually, he will sell them on. That’s what is happening right now in Vancouver. The season is still young, perhaps even too premature to talk about players being sold, but scouts around the world are talking about this team.

In Morales, they have a very well paid player who has been to Europe before and is likely to be more than content operating as the team’s talisman for the next few years.

The same cannot be said for the other top performers. Rivero has shown MLS fans a little bit of everything through the first month. The Uruguayan has scored goals with both feet and head, is strong in possession of the ball, links up well with other teammates, makes sensational runs by recognizing plays seconds before others and shows a real desire to never give up on a play or game. Right now, he is Whitecaps property, but he is also someone who will likely bring the club a lot of money by the end of the season.

Kekuta Manneh’s stock is also dramatically on the rise. Manneh has shown a significant trait that all coaches look for, by having an ability to directly impact a match the moment he is introduced. Manneh, still only 20, has a lot of work to do to improve, but he has breathtaking speed and has shown signs this season - such as the pass to Darren Mattocks for the second goal on Wednesday - to make the right decisions in the final third when the game is at its fastest and the crowd is at its loudest. Manneh doesn’t allow the ball to slow him down, like so many other professionals, and the biggest challenge the Whitecaps staff may have with him this season is keeping the expectations down on a player whose career trajectory could one day see him sold for a record fee by MLS.

Robinson and his staff have leant on squad rotation the moment they took over at the start of last season and with Manneh - and to a certain extent, Rivero - minutes will be monitored.

It is unlikely the same will be said about Laba. The Argentine midfield destroyer, surrounded by explosive, valuable attacking talent, has been so vital to Robinson’s team that he is arguably the club’s most important player. Nobody in Vancouver would like to see any of Waston, Morales, Manneh or Rivero be missing for a long time, but there is no doubt the team would suffer the most if Laba were sidelined.

Like Manneh and Rivero, the former Toronto FC midfielder will be sold for big money by the Whitecaps one day and he’ll prove to be a monumental hole to fill when he departs.

A glance around the footballing world shows just how many teams have struggled to fill such an important role in their team. We are living in an era of in-game transitions in the high-intensity, quick game that is evolving in front of our eyes and teams succeed when they can can find a true stopper - someone who ignites a team’s attack, while denying an opponent’s by forcing them out of their zone positionally and exposing them.

Laba was a real force against Columbus - the perfect opponent for him - as they had gifted, technical forwards who can be dangerous, themselves, in transition.

Like with many footballers, statistics only tell part of the story for Laba, but his 96 touches on the ball were easily the most so far this season, having averaged 62 through the first five games.

He has already made 25 successful tackles through six games and, against Columbus, completed a season-high 67 successful passes. Laba’s most frequent outlet to pass to this season has been Morales, showing that this is more than a defensive holder whose first thought in possession is sideways. According to Opta, Laba, who covers a lot of ground in an upright running motion, has gained possession from an opponent 54 times already this season, a remarkable number, although, one that again doesn’t paint the complete picture. Laba’s football intelligence is outstanding and he regularly intercepts or wins balls from open play when an opponent is not, statistically, in possession of the ball. There is no other player in MLS at the moment who has a better tactical understanding in that role and there is no way the league can keep the 23-year-old from a deserved All-Star appearance this season.

If teams want to score against the Whitecaps, they have to find ways to get around Laba, which is no easy task. It took a moment of brilliance when Toronto FC’s Sebastian Giovinco dribbled around him, before supplying Jozy Altidore with a sensational pass on the opening day of the season. Their second goal - Laba was off the field for the third - came when Benoit Cheyrou ran alongside him, but had a key outlet wide available for a pass.

Portland scored at BC Place when Laba was drawn out wide to challenge Rodney Wallace and the Timbers then played around him and had Darlington Nagbe penetrate into the space vacated by Laba. No Laba meant big trouble for the home side as the visitors found space to equalize.

Columbus did something similar on their first goal, which came from a Whitecaps attack that saw five players in the final third. Laba was left isolated and a simple ball around him meant Berhalter’s team had gotten past the guardian of the gates and found space in which to take advantage.

“He’s been fantastic for us and is a big part of this club going forward,” said Robinson when he announced in the winter that the club had finalized a deal to keep Laba from Toronto FC.

Whitecaps fans can only hope that "going forward" means the entire 2015 season because this is a player whose footballing future is in Europe.