HAPPY DAYS
and the Phonze are back
WHITECAPS At long last, the Whitecaps and star midfielder Alphonso Davies kick off their 2018 season today against the Montreal Impact
There are many questions swirling around the Vancouver Whitecaps as they open the season today but none more important than this: Who are they?
No, seriously. Who are they?
This is a team with a dozen new faces, with more seemingly being ushered through the door every day. Sunday’s season-opener against the Montreal Impact (3 p.m., TSN, TSN 1040) will be the first time the majority of fans have seen the new players picked up by Carl Robinson in the off-season get competitive action.
Striker Kei Kamara is already a known quantity, having a proven scoring record over more than a decade of MLS work, but how will he ultimately fit in with his new team? Will he be the next Fredy Montero and fill the net, or the next Octavio Rivero, and end up filing out a transfer form?
Anthony Blondell, the other big forward signee, is still a question mark. He’s got the build and skill, and a goal-scoring resumé, but his work experience all comes from the murky depths of the Venezuelan Primera División.
Mexican Midfielder Efraín Juárez has become massive influence in the locker-room, immediately establishing himself as a leader and key figure in changing up the culture, but will his impact on the field be as dramatic?
On Thursday, news broke Jordon Mutch was joining the team from Premier League side Crystal Palace. A day later, Felipe Martins was acquired in a trade with the New York Red Bulls.
Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson had said earlier this week he wanted to change up the team’s dynamic this off-season, but he just might have undersold the number and nature of the wholesale changes.
Gone are fan favourites David Ousted, Jordan Harvey, Matias Laba and Christian Bolanos — with more than 500 Whitecaps games among them — along with frequent starters like Sheanon Williams, Andrew Jacobson. When centreback Tim Parker, another darling of the Southsiders, was photoshopped out of the promotional poster for the team’s new unity jersey earlier this week, Whitecaps fans knew there was some truth to the rumours of an impending trade. It happened Friday with the Red Bulls.
In all, 17 players from last year’s team have moved — or been moved — on.
The team released its official roster designations on Saturday, revealing a few key details about their 26-man team.
Both Kendall Waston and Jose Aja, of Costa Rican and Venezuelan nationality, respectively, don’t count toward the team’s international roster spots, as both have U.S. green cards. Waston, who re-signed in February, and Brek Shea are the only two Designated Players on the team, with Targeted Allocation Money being used on Blondell, Aly Ghazal, Juarez, Kamara, Yordy Reyna, and Cristian Techera to keep them under the DP threshold of around US$500,000.
So what does this mean in the Byzantine world of MLS TAM, GAM and other needlessly abstruse acronyms? In a word: flexibility.
The Caps still have room for another DP and/or international player, and thanks to the TAM acquired in the Parker and Tony Tchani trades, they have the cash to do it.
Their new roster also adds a degree of flexibility on the pitch, with depth nearly across the board giving them options to play different formations and looks as they choose. Aja, Maund, David Edgar, Doneil Henry, Jake Nerwinski, Marcel de Jong give them a rotation of players who can pair up with Waston, or take over as the case may be when the big centreback heads off to the World Cup with Costa Rica.
The midfield might be the strongest they’ve had in years, with creative, attacking players like Alphonso Davies, Reyna, Techera and Mezquida, while we haven’t even seen Mutch or Felipe yet. Both have outstanding pedigrees.
Felipe, who started 109 games with the Red Bulls over three seasons, was a key figure in their midfield. He excels at distributing the ball from a deep-lying position, kicking off counter-attacks and transitions with quick, accurate passes to where the ball needs to be.
Mutch, who played most of his career in the English Premier League, is a similar box-to-box type player who can jump into the attack. He’d fallen out of favour in Crystal Palace recently, rarely seeing firstteam action, and says the move to Vancouver — spurred by the interest from Robinson and their subsequent conversations — has re-ignited his passion.
“I want to enjoy my football again, and Carl’s given me this opportunity to come to Vancouver. It was a no-brainer when he asked me to come,” said Mutch, who’s had a chance to train with the team this week.
“The manager had a big influence in me coming here,” said Mutch, adding glowing reviews from his friend, former Cap Giles Barnes, also aided the decision.
“I’m over the moon for the opportunity to come play for Vancouver, and I can’t wait to get started. I want to be happy playing football, and this was the best place for me to do that.”
On paper, the team has improved on its roster from last season. Sunday’s game against the Impact will begin to answer the question of whether they’ve improved on the pitch.
“I’m over the moon for the opportunity to come play for Vancouver.” — JORDON MUTCH VANCOUVER WHITECAPS