Could the Whitecaps be getting their next starting Right Back from DC United?

Watching the MLS draft yesterday, I noticed that David Norman, a Whitecaps colour commentator, had tweeted out the following tweet:

While a draft day deal did not occur and was not announced, I am going to go out on a limb here and suggest that what David Norman actually observed was Greg Anderson (Vice-President soccer operations and part of the Whitecaps Soccer Committee) giving the final nod to DC United finalizing a future deal.  Given that Robbo has said that they will be finalizing a deal shortly for a right back and that the source will likely be from within the MLS, I am going to suggest that it will be with DC United that the Whitecaps will be making that soon to be announced deal.

Assuming that I am correct, who/what exactly would DC United want from us?

With the departure of Jairo Arrieta, DC United are apparently in need of a fast and dangerous forward.  To them I am going to suggest that the Whitecaps will be sending Darren Mattocks and possibly a sweetener (TAM, GAM, etc.) and/or possibly Eric Hurtado (as a younger cheaper option) and a sweetener.  DC United may also be interested in Gershon Koffie in a defensive midfield role.

So who could/should the Whitecaps get in return?  DC United actually has a fair bit of depth at the right back/fullback position when you take Sean Franklin and the soon to be returning from injury Chris Kolb amongst others.  As such, I would suggest that Whitecaps will be focusing on younger potential acquisition targets would include Luke Mishu, Taylor Kemp, and Jalen Robinson.

My Guess: I think that the likely target in the deal is Taylor Kemp. American, relatively cheap, age is right, offensive-minded, proven experience starting in the MLS, and versatile (can play right or left back).  A younger cheaper Jordan Harvey type if you will.  Just my guess.  There could potentially be much, much more to the deal particularly if more then one Whitecap player is involved in the deal.  Not exactly sure what else the Whitecaps might want playerwise from DC United over the starting right back position but DC United does also have a number of coveted tradable and available international spots that would also potentially come in handy for the Whitecaps as well.  There you have it.  There’s my guess.  Yours?

* See disclaimer on About Page.

Costa Rican International Christian Bolaños Rumoured to Have Signed with the MLS Vancouver Whitecaps

Reports emerged late yesterday from Costa Rica around dinnertime (see above) suggesting that the Vancouver Whitecaps were in the process of signing 31 year old Costa Rican International Christian Bolaños on a free transfer from Deportivo Saprissa of the Costa Rican Primera Division joining current Ticos Kendall Waston and Jordan Smith (with whom he shares the same agency as well as with Deybi Flores) on the Whitecaps roster.  This rumour was confirmed almost immediately by Marc Weber of the Province and Kristian Jack with the latter saying on Twitter that Whitecaps Coach Carl Robinson has been a long time admirer of the talented Bolaños suggesting that Whitecaps coaching staff including Robinson had scouted when Costa Rica when they played the Republic of Ireland (including long-time Robbo friend Robbie Keane) in a Friendly in Philadelphia on June 6, 2014 as a warm up prior to the 2014 World Cup.  Details concerning right winger Bolaños’s past playing career, which included stints at Saprissa, Copenhagen, and Qatari side Al Gharafa and his time with the Costa Rican National Team and his resulting experience in the past two World Cups are covered admirably (as usual) by Marc Weber and Eightysixforever.com and will not be repeated here.

Of interest to me about this signing (besides there being yet another Christian/Cristian [a Trinity now?] on the Whitecaps roster ) is that yet again, the Whitecaps were not able to control the leaking of the signing by the original player’s club.  It appears that the days of a joint announcement by both clubs appears to have gone the way of the dodo in the age of Twitter, Reddit, etc.  The actual formal announcement from the Whitecaps regarding the signing is anticipated to take place sometime next week.

Also interesting to me about this signing is that by adding yet another international to the Whitecaps roster this suggests that even more roster moves are afoot for the Whitecaps as almost all of their current international spots are taken up by players on their current roster suggesting that either additional international players will be on the move and/or perhaps that they already have a trade arranged (i.e., Mattocks and/or Koffie and/or Dean perhaps) with an international roster spot coming back the Whitecaps’ way (for some strange reason that I will never understand International spots are apparently a tradable commodity in the MLS).  Arguably there still needs to be some room on the roster for the experienced right back and the additional experienced (DP?) striker rumoured still to be on the Whitecaps shopping list and without making additional moves and not having any international spots available, this could restrict the Whitecaps to focusing only on domestics/homegrown players to fill those vacancies.

As noted by Marc Weber of the Province, the younger Bolanos appears to be a like for like swap for Argentinian Mauro Rosales on the current Whitecaps roster suggesting that he likely won’t be coming back in a playing capacity with the Whitecaps next season.  I was actually hoping that Cascadian favourite (well in some circles at least) Rosales (and striker Robert Earnshaw for that matter) would be able to stay at the club long term in some sort of a coach/mentor capacity but that just may not be in the cards.

When reached for comment by phone in San José, the capital of Costa Rica, Bolanos’s headband had no comment regarding the rumoured impending move and referred any additional questions to his agent.

BTW, after Bolanos is confirmed, if the Whitecaps FC promotional staff don’t put in orders for Whitecaps branded headbands as a merchandising tie in and/or have a headband promotional night, they really should be shown the door because that really is too easy.

* See disclaimer on About Page.

Update: On January 20, 2016 Bolanos was officially announced by the Whitecaps as a “transfer from Costa Rica’s Primera División side Deportivo Saprissa using Targeted Allocation Money – pending receipt of his international transfer certificate, Canadian work permit and visa. Per Major League Soccer and club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.”

 

Why Falcao going to Columbus could be the best thing that ever happens to the Vancouver Whitecaps

Play along with me here.  Assume for the moment that the Falcao to Columbus Crew transfer rumours are actually true and that Columbus actually pulls the trigger on the deal and makes it happen.  Where exactly does that leave Kei Kamara?  As speculated earlier today, the arrival of Falcao would have a huge impact on the Columbus team but particularly on Kei Kamara. Kamara could play outside as suggested, or part of a two striker system potentially.  Or perhaps, just maybe, Kamara might look to move on.  Remember that Columbus was not necessarily Kamara’s first choice of destination when he returned to the MLS.  Due to the murky rules concerning MLS re-entry, Columbus held the top spot in the allocation order and chose to exercise their right to acquire Kamara.  So where rumour has it did Kamara actually hope to land when he returned to the MLS?  A number of destinations were rumoured at the time including his old home/club in Kansas City and rumour has it, yes you guessed it, Vancouver.

Now if Columbus and Kamara did decide to move on, moving on to Kansas City could cause many of the same problems that could potentially happen at Columbus.  They already play a 4-2-3-1 with Dom Dwyer at the top forcing them to possibly make changes that they wouldn’t want to do.  That leaves another possible option: Vancouver.  The Whitecaps are in desperate need of more scoring and in desperate need of a target man who can score with his head and with a proven scoring ability in the league and Kamara fits that bill to a tee.

Acquiring Kamara along with the current supporting cast up front (Manneh, Kudo, Rivero, etc.) as well as one of the stingiest defences in the MLS would make the Whitecaps an instant cup contender and IMHO would be worth breaking the bank and using whatever TAM money is left to pay down one of their current DPs.  So if Kamara was willing, could a deal be worked out between Columbus and Vancouver to bring Kamara to Vancouver if Falcoa does actually appear on the scene?  Sure.  With ample resources and attractive tradable assets (Koffie, Mattocks, Dean, draft picks, etc.), I’m sure a deal could be worked out.  As such, I’m secretly hoping that Falcao actually lands in Columbus as it could lead to a chain of events that could lead to one of the best things that potentially could ever happen to the Whitecaps: Acquiring Kei Kamara.

* See disclaimer on About Page.

El Salvadorian Club Interested in Vancouver Whitecap Darren Mattocks?

A recent tweet out of El Salvador by a local television reporter suggests that out of favour Vancouver Whitecaps FC striker Darren Mattocks is being looked at by El Salvador Club Alianza F.C. located in San Salvador, El Salvador.  The club is apparently looking at him as a potential strike partner for Argentinian J.J. Philippe.  It does not appear that a formal offer for the services of Mattocks, who is still under contract with the MLS Vancouver Whitecaps until December 31, 2016, has yet to be made.  With the recent arrival of Masato Kudo, look for Robbo to shore up the forward line with another striker, likely a target man in the Blas Perez mode.

* See disclaimer on About Page.