Good Friday morning Caps fans, hope you all are having a lovely week of summer and sunshine — it’s been mainly rain in our neck of the woods but hopefully things are turning around.

I’ll have to find something to do with myself, as the Vancouver Whitecaps won’t be in action for another week. That gives us all a breather after a pretty much non-stop barrage of matches in the last month or so.

The players also clearly need a break and even a full week of rest hasn’t been a luxury available for awhile. That hopefully will bode well when the Caps travel to New England to take on MLS’ worst team next week.

In the meantime, we still have plenty to digest. For now, let’s focus on the curious case of Deiber Caicedo, who is scheduled to return to the Caps next month after his year-long loan (roughly) in Colombia with Junior FC.

Reports out of Colombia indicate that Junior don’t want to pick up the buy option that was included when Caicedo was shipped out last month, though the side is apparently open to another loan (hat tip to Glass City on Twitter for flagging this news item for us non-Spanish speakers).

Caicedo has not exactly lit the world on fire in Colombia, a point that is probably going to undercut everything I’m about to say. He has four goal involvements in 18 matches for a team that was decent but didn’t ultimately fare that well in Colombia’s convoluted playoff system.

If Junior want Caicedo back and Caicedo wants to go back, I would assume that is ultimately what the Caps decide to do. But I think there is an argument to be made for giving Caicedo one more shot with the first team in Vancouver.

Caicedo never was able to match his form from his first season with the Caps, when he had 10 goal involvements in all competitions. That was in large part due to a torn meniscus in his second season and the resulting struggle to get back to form and usurp Brian White, who had become the principle forward in Vancouver. His series of substitute appearances never really made an impact.

But in the current version of Vanni Sartini’s system, a pacey, dribble-y winger who can open up space centrally is clearly a hot commodity. Fafa Picault has made himself one of Vancouver’s most crucial players by effectively doing just this and his substitute appearance on Saturday indicates why, as he occupies different spaces and defenders than any of the Caps’ other attacking pieces and allows Ryan Gauld to move more centrally.

Despite his age, Picault has been much more successful in MLS than Caicedo has and he has some qualities that Caicedo does not, namely a physical stature that can withstand the rigors of the league and help him take on defenders more forcefully.

But while Levonte Johnson looked good in one sub appearance, he has never consistently found his footing in MLS. And, beyond Picault, the Caps are without anyone who is able to offer those qualities, meaning Caicedo could yet have a valuable role as a depth piece.

While Colombia is a drop in quality from MLS, the drop isn’t that far. And Picault and Caicedo have very similar counting stats on a per-match basis right now. Given that Vancouver seem unlikely to get any sort of transfer fee for the Colombian, why not bring him back into the fold and see if it sticks? I’ve long wanted an elite version of Fafa Picault to be one of the top priorities in the summer transfer window but, let’s be real, that probably isn’t going to happen. If we’re being realistic, the Caps will bring in a guy with the profile of Caicedo in the best case. Might as well save some money, give him a shot and try and upgrade in the midfield and backline instead.

I’m guessing none of this happens — typically when both parties have reached this stage of a relationship, they ultimately opt to go their separate ways. But I would say there is a real reason to stall the parting of ways.

Shameless Self Promotion

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