Levonte Johnson has become a lightning rod for criticism lately, mostly in a way that I think is either unfair or missing the point. I would like to explain why that is here. Johnson’s detractors start from a totally correct assessment that I would not contest for a second: He isn’t very good technically. Johnson’s first touch is well below average for an MLS player, … Continue reading In Defence of Levonte Johnson
The Vancouver Whitecaps season lives! (at least it does at the time I’m writing this). But the WFC2 season has ended. So, it’s time to look at the prospects of the prospects. As always, I have put the players into categories rather than attempting any kind of ranking system. My assessment of players is more based on how good they are relative to their age … Continue reading WFC2: End of Season Reports
The Vancouver Whitecaps are winless in 6. They are very unlikely to avoid the play-in game. Reddit and Twitter are increasingly being filled with calls for Vanni Sartini’s job. All of this when just a few short weeks ago it looked like the Whitecaps were cruising to a top 4 spot and possibly even the club’s MLS points record. So what exactly happened? How real … Continue reading What the Heck is Going on?!?
The Vancouver Whitecaps have signed two second-team players to MLS deals. 22-year-old striker Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau and 18-year-old Jeevan Badwal have been added ahead of the MLS roster freeze. Here is a quick summary of what both players have to offer. Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau is already a recruitment home run because he is a 3rd round draft pick who has actually managed … Continue reading Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau and Jeevan Badwal
As a football fan, there’s nothing quite so vexatious as when a player who has been out with an injury or on loan returns and is described as “like a new signing.” It’s almost always deployed in defence of an underwhelming transfer window. This cliche has been trotted out so often (by various Whitecaps regimes and clubs worldwide) that people were saying it sarcastically about … Continue reading Deiber Caicedo: Like a New Signing?
The Vancouver Whitecaps have signed 32-year-old Scottish Midfielder Stuart Armstrong. In most cases, a 32-year-old DP would not be a signing that I would like. But given the Whitecaps’ circumstances, I think this signing is a good one. Let’s get into this in further detail. Usually, investing a lot of your budget in a player over the age of 30 is not a winning strategy … Continue reading Stuart Armstrong: One Last Roll Of The Dice
WFC2 has been on a bit of a tear lately. A key part of their recent good form has been Eliot Goldthorp, a 22-year-old wing-back who has registered 6 goals and 6 assists this season. Normally this is the sort of thing that would make Goldthorp a slam dunk for first-team consideration (indeed he’s already made a short leagues cup cameo). But there’s one complicating … Continue reading When is an MLSNP Player Ready?
A while back I was working on an article about potential U-22 wing-back signings for the Whitecaps. I figured, good use of one of their U-22 slots would be a pre-emptive replacement for Ali Ahmed, who was and is rumoured to be drawing European interest. It seemed to me that it made a lot of sense to get somebody who you could gradually bed in … Continue reading Deep Dive: Edier Ocampo
Well, we’ve reached the halfway point of the MLS season (it will probably be over the halfway point by the time this comes out) so I think it’s time to take stock of where the Whitecaps are at. Remember, folks, this was the “go for it” year where all of Vancouver’s best players were as good as they were ever going to be. So, are … Continue reading This is Fine…If…| A Review of the Whitecaps Season so Far
We are now 10 games into the MLS Next Pro season (or at least we are at the point I’m writing this) so I thought it was time to check in on how the players are doing. This article will only cover players who have played at least 300 minutes. Judgments will be made based on a mixture of qualitative observations and the American Soccer … Continue reading WFC2 Mid-Season Report Cards