The Vancouver Whitecaps have signed MLS veteran Fafa Picault. I have to say, I don’t really see the logic of this move.
Between 2017 and 2021 Picault was an effective forward with a tremendous work rate who scored at an average to above average rate. Honestly, if we could go back in time and bring that version of Picault into the present day, he would be a pretty good fit for the current Whitecaps. But it’s 2024. Now Picault is almost 33, he’s slower, he scores at a replacement to slightly above replacement level, and he still has a tremendous work rate.
It’s pretty obvious that Picault is coming in as a replacement for the soon-to-depart Simon Becher. I’ve seen some confusion about where Picault will fit into the team but he has over 60 career appearances as a striker so that’s where I expect him to fit under a manager who’s on the record as hating wingers.
But Picault would not have been my first choice as a Becher replacement. It is true, that the Whitecaps are in win-now mode and in the era of five subs older attackers can be more viable as impact subs. But the Whitecaps have already signed Damir Kreilach to fill this niche, although he is a very different style of player. I think it’s possible to make a case for one or the other but *both* seem excessive.
Worse still, I don’t think there’s the same potential for resurgence with Picault. Like Kreilach, he played for a team that was much weaker offensively than Vancouver. However, Nashville’s problem has always been that Hany Mukthar is amazing but none of their other guys can score. Well, Picault was one of those other guys. He ranked very highly on things like touches and passes received and he wasn’t able to turn that into chances consistently. So, if you wanted a guy who was going to run around a lot and score a little bit but not that much why not just play Levonte Johnson more? Or sign Antoine Coupland to a first-team deal? Or snag any number of USL or CPL players who could play that role but might have a bit more upside?
My choice for a Becher replacement would have been Minnesota’s Tani Oluwaseyi. He’s young, he’s Canadian, and he had more than 1 goal contribution per 90 minutes on loan in USL last season. Plus his statistical profile looks at least somewhat similar to Picault’s. Historically speaking the price for this sort of player is between 200k and 300k in GAM, less than the amount they will reportedly get for Becher. So it seems like Oluwaseyi would have been a plausible target.
In conclusion, I am not a fan of this move. Obviously, Picault is not without his positive traits. His defensive contributions are still really good and he does still have enough wile to do some damage from time to time. He’s not a terrible option as a closer for games. But I don’t think those positive traits outweigh the fact that his offensive production is in steady decline and is likely to decline further in the coming years. I think there were equivalent or better options internally and externally. I don’t think this dooms Vancouver for next season or anything. It seems he’s on a team-friendly deal as no TAM was used (we won’t know the exact number until later). But I don’t really see how this helps them take the next step either.
isnt it obvious why the Club signed cast-off, over-the-hill veterans ? The Club and now Vanni doesnt like working with young Canadian players- most of them sit, glued to the bench-
if my young son had some talent, i wouldnt choose the Whitecaps to help develop him- the Club has a HORRIBLE record of developing and then elevating young canadians to the first team, let alone as a valuable sub to begin with- their academy and MLS Pro, etc is a dead-end to getting to the first team- just look what happened to Simon Becher in 2023- after scoring 4 goals, 1 assist, he was lucky to get 5-10 minutes a game– often he was glued to the bench- now smarter, he is leaving for greener pastures and who can blame him as he would have wasted another year, all the while watching 2 aged non-canadians getting more game time
some franchises like Dallas have a very successful record of developing young local talent- we should study how they do it and then implement their plan
Becher is American
“all the while watching 2 aged non-canadians getting more game time”
because one of those “non-canadians” (which is irrelevant to the argument given that becher is not canadian) is brian white who had 18g/6a across all comps lol
Why is Becher leaving anyway. Did he request a transfer. As I see it Hoillet got a lot of Becher’s potential minutes. So Hoillet stays. Becher goes and we sign 2 thirty three year olds. Feels like we’re treading water, not getting anywhere
The signing is also a replacement for Hoillet, who was a non-factor here.
“So it seems like Oluwaseyi would have been a plausible target.”
How plausible? Perhaps Minny had no intention of letting this young player go?
Wait, Becher is on the way out? I’ve been only vaguely keeping track over the offseason, when did this happen?
Ok, I answered my own question with Google. Moving onto Europe and the Caps getting 400k is a better outcome than most of our first round SuperDraft picks.
My first thought was that the Caps were releasing him or something stupid, because that’s what we do historically in this franchise, instead of developing him further.
Selling on to a different league isn’t the worst, but I’d have liked it if he could have developed more and played more first team minutes. Some obvious rose coloured glasses with his start to the season, but I do think there is a role for a second attacker alongside White that isn’t Gauld to try and break down the coverage.
Vanni might agree based on his comments, but if they are trying to get a more “win now” impact forward I understand
I’m not so sure why this was tagged as a deep dive, when the article itself was so superficial and hardly included any actual information that would constitute a “deep dive”. The whitecaps are bringing in some veteran substitutes for cheap as impact subs late in games and I’m fairly confident that older players who struggle as starters (due to their age) would probably see their contributions/minute go up if moved to a substitute role. It would’ve been cool to see Picault’s splits between the games that he started vs substituted. Maybe that would’ve been something worth including in this deep dive rather than just complaining?
I’ve also seen tonnes of complaints in the past that the whitecaps don’t bring in enough cheap free agents who have MLS experience. Now they’re finally doing that and everyone is whining about it?