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Aaron Nielsen ,

December 2, 2016 Email

Aaron Nielsen



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@ENBSports

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For the past four years, I have done an in-depth preview for each of the Canadian MLS clubs on RedNation Online. My main goal with these articles has been to break down their rosters’ going into the new season and identifying issues and improvements each team can make to both reach their expected prediction, and be better overall as a club. For me, in evaluating all three Canadian MLS clubs, the 2017 season is different based on final position from last season, a slow off-season, and how I see each club performing during the 2017 MLS season. One Canadian side that has been active this off-season is the Vancouver Whitecaps. In evaluating the Canadian teams, the club I have less sense of what they are trying to do, is the Whitecaps, in terms of building their club for 2017 and the future. 2016 was a difficult year on the pitch, as outside of success in the CONCACAF Champions League and behind the scenes, last year it could have been regarded as a complete failure. 2016 signings and ones from prior years did not paid off, so much so that the core of the attacking side is no longer with the club, including Pedro Morales, Octavio Rivero, Masato Kudo and they recently traded Giles Barnes to Orlando. The club did make significant acquisitions in Fredy Montero, Brek Shea and Yordy Reyna (who got injured during the pre-season and may miss the first few months of the season), who along with Kekutah Manneh and Christian Bolanos, hope to give Vancouver a dynamic attack. The concern is, can these players play together in creating effective scoring chances? There is also a worry that none of these players are real ball possession players, so the Whitecaps could see themselves on the back heel in most games. A positive rumor is the potential signing of Atiba Hutchinson, who can be that ball playing general in the midfield as he has shown with Besiktas in Turkey, although signing within the club’s current salary cap is the big question, along with convincing Atiba to play in MLS. Vancouver will need their offense to score goals regularly if they want any chance of making the playoffs, as there are also concerns with the defense. Talent-wise Vancouver compares well with most MLS clubs defensively, although they do have issues in terms of making mistakes, including an incredibly poor disciplinary record that sees the Whitecaps lose players during games from red cards or via suspension based on their actions. Based on this, I feel the 2017 season will be an uphill battle for the Whitecaps to make the playoffs and one of potential frustration. The Montreal Impact are looking for revenge from last year’s Eastern Conference loss to Toronto FC. Montreal continues to develop their side in a more traditional manner, one that you might see more in Europe then the MLS. Part of this is the players they sign. While many clubs are signing dynamic players in South America, Montreal loans in Adrian Arregui, a player known for breaking up plays instead of creating offense. Arregui will join Montreal Impact regulars Marco Donadel, Patrice Bernier and Hernan Bernardello in what should be the most difficult midfield to break down, especially since you have Laurent Ciman leading the defensive line. Ignacio Piatti will again be the center of the Impact's offense, even more now that Didier Drogba is no longer with the organization. Piatti will team up with both Dominic Oduro and Matteo Mancosu, who are not the most high profile attackers in the league, although they played well together during the Impact’s late season and playoff run. Oduro provides attacking speed, while Mancosu is your classic target man who you trust to score when he has an opportunity in front of the net. Montreal are also adding two exciting offensive pieces in Homegrown player Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla, who I feel is the top prospect in MLS, and are expecting to have Blerim Dzemaili join the club after the current Italian Serie A season. Dzemaili a Swiss international player with Joey Saputo's Italian club Bologna and is known for his ball playing skills and long range shooting. Montreal did lose a lot of their depth this off season, although mostly by design, either not resigning players or trading them in the off-season. Montreal brought in Chris Duvall to play right-back and signed draft picks Shamit Shome and Nick Depuy. They are also hoping Andres Romero returns from a knee injury that saw him miss last season, and that their other homegrown players play bigger roles be it Anthony Jackson-Hamel, David Choiniere, Louis Beland-Goyette or Wandrille Lefevre. Montreal should also have decent cap space, including a DP spot, and at least financially are in a better position in signing a player such as Hutchinson. Since last December, a lot has been written and said about the experience of Toronto FC finally reaching expectations after many years of frustration. I expect this success in 2017 to continue and I see them as my top club going into the 2017 MLS season. Toronto’s key in 2017 will again be the offensive effectiveness of Sebastian Giovinco, the health and presence of Jozy Altidore and the team leadership and defensive commitment of Michael Bradley. If these three players can have as an effective and healthy season as in 2016, Toronto should be an automatic playoff team and in contention for the Supporters Shield and another MLS Cup home final. The Reds have had a quiet off-season trying to keep the roster mostly in tact and only really losing free agent Will Johnson, who played a role with the team last season. Later this winter, Toronto brought in two players with good European track records, although it is yet known how much a role these players will have in the Toronto FC starting eleven. Chris Mavinga is career left-back, although could be used in a center back role replacing either Eriq Zavaleta or Nick Hagglund. While Victor Vazquez might be Toronto FC’s first true number 10 since Amado Guevara and Toronto could use him in a number of ways, either keeping the 5-3-2 formation and having Vazquez replace Jonathan Osorio, or switch to a 4-1-3-2 and have him play in the center in front of Bradley. There has been questions with Vazquez’s health and stamina, while the other attacking midfielder Armando Cooper still has questions regarding consistency. Of course, if any of the three DP's get hurt this also raises questions in terms of how good Toronto FC are. The late signing of Tossaint Ricketts at least gives Toronto an additional option up front they didn't have last season. While Canadian Homegrown players Jay Chapman, Jordan Hamilton and new signing Sergio Camargo can be players with the ability to take the next step in their career and provide some added excitement for the Toronto FC fans. I'm in no way surprised by where the Canadian teams see themselves in MLS. I was high on Toronto FC ever since they signed Jermaine Defoe, which showed me the willingness of the club to commit to the team’s success financially, which always gives a sports team a huge advantage compared to their opponents. I was also convinced of Montreal’s ability of understanding the European culture of soccer and how that can benefit as team in MLS using this advantage, and despite me living in Toronto the Impact are the MLS team I follow with equal interest because of how the team has been developed. I have been more critical of the Whitecaps recently despite me commending them on some good development success in USL and the MLS Academies. Different circumstances to what Toronto FC were during their most difficult times, the Whitecaps’ issue, like Toronto FC, are not only seen by myself but also everybody else I know involved within MLS as a club in turmoil. The main issue is based on the club’s current talent and how are they going to develop the side into a winning team. This probably will not be answered this year, but in the meantime moves like the signing of Montero do provide excitement and it should be said, like the Impact a couple of years ago, they have a chance for CONCACAF Champions League success. Certainly MLS and Canada is not perfect and the role of the league in developing Canadian players is becoming more of a concern then a reality. This year the three Canadian MLS clubs saw eight Canadian players cut or transferred and this does not include players they let go from their USL side, including the Montreal Impact disbanding their FC Montreal club. MLS has fulfilled its role as a stable soccer league, and people in these three cities can call the league their own, which is more exciting than it has ever been. Teams in Canadian cities are now competitive and have a chance of winning a MLS Cup, which is a lot more then I could of said four years ago. Aaron Neilsen is a co-founder of Prospect XI (Prospect Eleven), a scouting network and online magazine dedicated to tracking/highlighting young players that refer to as "prospects" as well as their development pathways both within North America and worldwide. Follow PXI via www.prospectxi.com or on twitter @ProspectXI.