Good Friday morning Caps fans, hope you all are having a lovely week and are gearing up to enjoy one of the last weekends of summer.
All quiet on the home front, with LAFC (the Caps’ would be opponent this weekend) making their way to the Leagues Cup final against Columbus. That means their first match back will be against Pacific in the Voyageurs Cup next Wednesday at BC Place, as Vancouver try to book their place in the final.
But that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been any news for the individual players. Rumors out of Scotland suggest Ryan Gauld could be handed his Scottish National Team debut after much hand wringing over the years in his home country over whether the Scottish Messi should earn a call up.
This is something that should have happened a long time ago and the fact that it didn’t is a real indictment of the Scottish National Team program (and a sign of how Europeans still hold lots of antiquated viewpoints about MLS). If true, it is excellent news for Gauld and something that everyone in Vancouver should be thrilled about, even if it kills off the longing some have had to see Gauld in a Canadian Men’s National Team kit.
The impact on the Caps should be relatively painless. Gauld would be called up for the Nations League in early September and he would likely miss only one Vancouver match, against FC Dallas at home. Not that anything is a given for this team, especially without their best player, but that’s a far cry from say, LAFC.
And, at a time when the Caps are kicking the tires on another DP free agent, it never hurts to remind players that the team is not a black hole for those who want to represent their country. Brian White and Ali Ahmed played their way into their respective national teams and Andres Cubas has been a regular for Paraguay (ditto Javain Brown and Jamaica when he was around). The potential to add Ryan Gauld to that list is a real feather in his cap and is a fitting reward for one of the best players in the league.
Shameless Self Promotion
At what point should the Caps be looking to promote guys from the MLS Next PRO side? Caleb dives into that question here.
Best of the Rest
Which dual nationals are next up on the priority list for Jesse Marsch? It comes after the Canadians lured Niko Sigur away from Croatia.
The Canadian Men’s National Team will play Panama in an October friendly in Toronto.
The first round of the playoffs will drag on for much of October and November, under the schedule unveiled by MLS this week.
There are reports that Caps killer Cristian Olivera is headed to Toluca in Liga MX in a shock move.
Any news about new players coming in?
Ryan should turn down his long overdue shot with Scotland to be a starter in Canada – I know that will not be a popular opinion.
I wonder if having the first game after the break against a slightly lower level team will help? Like a pre-season match it’s serious but it’s not MLS? Something to knock the rust off that’s a bit easier than playing LAFC.
“and a sign of how Europeans still hold lots of antiquated viewpoints about MLS”
I remember when Beckham was told that he had to play in the MLS off season at a “higher level” league & club for him to make the English national team for the world cup. He played for AC Milan and had some great moments but blew his knee out and missed the world cup anyway.
That was a long time ago and back then I could see it. Now? No. MLS is every bit a strong league. I guess Scotland just got the memo LOL. They tend to be a bit slow on the uptake in the land of half my genetic heritage. Next they’ll complain that Scotland has too many white players on the national team. What a joke they’ve become.
Sigur was a huge score. We desperately need a defensive mid, so if he can show up it’ll be great. Koleosho is a bit of a long shot but hopefully we can land Jebbison.