It’s fair to say that Yohei Takaoka’s form at the end of the 2023 season was not the best. He conceded a number of questionable goals and that, combined with with his somewhat limited ability to handle crosses, created problems for Vancouver. So, should Vancouver be looking to make improvements in goal? First, a PSA Before we begin we need to understand how we use … Continue reading Yohei Takaoka: Good Enough?
Every year there is a lot of speculation about which Canadian Premier League players might make the jump to MLS. In the past, I have argued for a fairly conservative approach to CPL signings. The league hasn’t existed for very long and, although the sample of players has moved up a level, I still feel it’s not totally clear how we should evaluate CPL achievements. … Continue reading CPL Players I Would Take a Punt on
Well, the Whitecaps have once again failed to win a playoff game. Of course, there are some ways that this one was different from previous failures. For starters, the Whitecaps were pretty unlucky to be playing LAFC in the first round at all. If the xG table were the actual table, the Whitecaps would have had the home-field advantage against F.C Dallas, a matchup you’d … Continue reading The Whitecaps should go “all in” for 2024
Amidst the first team’s return to the playoffs, WFC2’s season quietly ended in September. After a very bright start to the season, WFC2 fell off significantly in the second half of the season, after Levonte Johnson and JC Ngando more or less graduated to the first team on a full-time basis, and missed the playoffs again. But the point of a reserve team is not … Continue reading WFC2 Year End Report Cards
Ryan Raposo is weird (as a player I mean, I’ve never met him). If you just look at his fbref page then you would come away with the impression that he is an extremely effective attacking fullback. But if my Twitter timeline is any indication, most people do not come away with that impression of him. So, what I want to do here, is investigate … Continue reading Ryan Raposo is a Good Attacker
I tweeted that if the Whitecaps signed Junior Hoilett after selling Sergio Cordova I would “do January 6th on the Whitecaps’ offices.” Now I have no choice but to fly back to Canada, put on the head of the Spike costume, break into the building, and livestream myself smoking a cigar in Axel Schuster’s chair. Ok, but seriously, why don’t I like this movie? Well, … Continue reading A Throwback Signing: Junior Hoilett
When you sign a player to a DP Contract, giving up your first-round draft pick to acquire his MLS rights in the process, and then sell him at cost in less than a year it’s fair to say a mistake was made at some point. But what were these mistakes? When did they occur? Let’s examine that Before the Signing: It’s important, when evaluating signings, … Continue reading Mistakes Were Made: The Sergio Cordova Story
In addition to some major first-team additions, the Whitecaps also added four players to their reserve side. I feel extremely positively about these signings as they follow essentially exactly the recruitment strategy I have previously advocated for. Allow me to explain. WFC2’s roster will always be primarily made up of academy graduates and draft picks, that’s what it’s for. But not every generation of academy … Continue reading WFC2 Give Me Everything I Want
The Vancouver Whitecaps are making big moves. They have added Richie Laryea on loan from Nottingham Forrest and Sam Adekugbe on a permanent deal from Hatayspor. The additions of Richie Laryea and Sam Adekugbe are flashy and exciting. But I have some dour and unfun reservations that I can’t quite shake. Let’s explore those. First, let’s discuss Laryea. Stylistically, he should fit like a glove. … Continue reading Are we sure this is smart?
The Vancouver Whitecaps find themselves in the unenviable position of having lost Julian Gressel. Gressel is hard to replace because he is very good and has a unique profile and the Whitecaps don’t have an open DP slot to replace his DP-level contributions (though he himself was not a DP). So I thought we might take a look at where the team might go from … Continue reading Every Crisis is an Opportunity: Life After Julian Gressel