Carl Robinson has been able to keep hold of key players from 2014
3 Hopes and One Fear for Vancouver Whitecaps
by Graham Tooke, @chelskitooke
Now that I can write off any fear of an MLS stoppage let’s have a look at the three hopes and one fear for the Vancouver Whitecaps this season.
Hopes:
- Octavio Rivero
Not since Camilo defected to Mexico have the Whitecaps had a regular goal scorer. Last season they heavily relied on the brilliance of Pedro Morales to take up the mantle from midfield while he set up teammates on a plate only to watch them misfire.
Head coach Carl Robinson has gone back to reliable Uruguay in hopes of unearthing another gem, this time in the form of Nicolas Mezquida’s former youth international teammate, Octavio Rivero. The Young Designated player is hungry and brings all the tools to notch goals in MLS. He already has three goals in preseason and has yet to reach peak fitness. His intelligent runs should see him racking up plenty of shots on goal through Morales’ aid.
- Morales needs to show form on the road
For the club to have any sort of success this season Pedro will be heavily relied on to perform at not just last year’s level but above it. The Chilean maestro was a genius on the field scoring 10 goals and assisting 12 times. His jaw dropping passing abilities now have to show up away from BC Place. When Pedro arrived in Vancouver he had been playing since September 2013 with Malaga and ended up playing right through till the end of the MLS season at the end of 2014. Now that he’s had some much needed rest he should be refreshed enough to reach dizzying heights in 2015.
- CCL attendance
One can only dream of a sold out BC Place on a dreary Wednesday night in Vancouver against Honduran opposition. It might all become a reality when the schedule for the 2015-16 edition of the CONCACAF Champions League is released later this year. It only took a few years but the ‘Caps finally qualified for the CCL, even if it was through the back door.
But MLS clubs have so far failed to pique their supporters’ interest in the tournament with terribly poor turnouts against Central American clubs but now it’s Vancouver’s chance to take the tournament seriously much like fellow Canadians, Montreal Impact, who just snuck through to the semi-finals at the expense of Liga MX’s Pachuca Tuesday evening in front of 38,000 at the Olympic Stadium.
Fear:
Losing Key Pieces
The Caps are slowly being considered a team to watch this season among various circles in MLS which I don’t think anyone would complain about in Vancouver, assuming the trio ofKendall Waston, Matias Laba and Kekuta Manneh don’t play a little too well lifting the ‘Caps to lofty heights in the West, and are thus snapped up by Europe in the summer transfer window.
Sure Robinson would earn a sizeable transfer kitty but it would almost certainly lead to the usual second half of the season slide in form and position. Don’t get me wrong there’s a few others the club would miss, but the trio seem to be the first names on the lips of pundits when the ‘Caps are brought up.
