Vancouver Whitecaps - 2024 Season Thread

[Big_M]

.

[saladroit]

2023 was a pretty good step forward in totality, caps put together a pretty convincing playoff-caliber season (2021 was just getting hot in the second half and overperforming a lot of the underlying numbers), repeated canchamp, won cascadia cup, and were probably unlucky not to finish in the top 4 based on the numbers. had the 5th best xGD and 6th highest xPts (54.74 to be exact) in the league according to american soccer analysis, the first part of the year where brian white wasn't finishing any of his chances really sunk them in retrospect. there's definitely a good core to build on, and it should be an exciting 2024 with the 50th anniversary and being back in concacaf champions cup. goal for 2024 should be getting above 50 points and into the top 4 in the west, which seems quite doable

LCB (or just anything to end the inconsistent musical chairs between brown/laborda) has to be a priority, as does probably another experienced cubas/gauld level number 8 and another striker/winger (i'd go the u22 initiative route here) to give some secondary scoring. the worrying thing is that i think the recruitment has lacked a little bit in the past 2 windows, laborda/schopf/cordova have all ranged from underwhelming to total bust

[Soro17]

37 minutes ago, saladroit said:

2023 was a pretty good step forward in totality, caps put together a pretty convincing playoff-caliber season (2021 was just getting hot in the second half and overperforming a lot of the underlying numbers), repeated canchamp, won cascadia cup, and were probably unlucky not to finish in the top 4 based on the numbers. had the 5th best xGD and 6th highest xPts (54.74 to be exact) in the league according to american soccer analysis, the first part of the year where brian white wasn't finishing any of his chances really sunk them in retrospect. there's definitely a good core to build on, and it should be an exciting 2024 with the 50th anniversary and being back in concacaf champions cup. goal for 2024 should be getting above 50 points and into the top 4 in the west, which seems quite doable

LCB (or just anything to end the inconsistent musical chairs between brown/laborda) has to be a priority, as does probably another experienced cubas/gauld level number 8 and another striker/winger (i'd go the u22 initiative route here) to give some secondary scoring. the worrying thing is that i think the recruitment has lacked a little bit in the past 2 windows, laborda/schopf/cordova have all ranged from underwhelming to total bust

They need 2 or 3 defenders in my view. Ranko and Blackmon are solid. Brown is OK as a back-up or sub. Laborda was a disappointment and needs to move on.  I have no idea what the plan is for Martins, but he clearly doesn't have the trust of the manager. 

[saladroit]

5 minutes ago, Soro17 said:

They need 2 or 3 defenders in my view. Ranko and Blackmon are solid. Brown is OK as a back-up or sub. Laborda was a disappointment and needs to move on.  I have no idea what the plan is for Martins, but he clearly doesn't have the trust of the manager. 

laborda's gonna be hard to move on, under contract through 2025 with a pretty big salary (825k). you just gotta hope that he has the second season bump that a lot of players do when they come to mls

martins is oft-injured and is going to turn 32 next year, i don't see any point in having him around but he's under contract for next year so they might have to choose that as their offseason buyout. the most egregious situation is schopf, under contract through 2024 on almost a million dollars (992K guaranteed) for a guy who's barely a rotation level player and doesn't fit the fast counterpressing direct style of the team under sartini

[Goal_Kick]

Unless the Caps can figure out a way to add 3 inches in heighth to Takaoka I think a change in goal could be made.

While Takaoka is a competent goalie, he's just under 6' tall.  He strains to deal with high shots.

Another forward that can add 10 goals during the season would also be useful.

[BearcatSA]

21 hours ago, saladroit said:

LCB (or just anything to end the inconsistent musical chairs between brown/laborda) has to be a priority, as does probably another experienced cubas/gauld level number 8 and another striker/winger (i'd go the u22 initiative route here) to give some secondary scoring. the worrying thing is that i think the recruitment has lacked a little bit in the past 2 windows, laborda/schopf/cordova have all ranged from underwhelming to total bust

You've hit on the key points but I highlighted the number 8 spot because that seemed like the missing piece needed last night to shift momentum away from LA's hard running midfield.

Edited November 7, 2023 by BearcatSA

[SpursFlu]

Just getting around to some of Vanni's post-game behavior. And apparently he tried to wear some political shirt during the game? This guy is a proper weirdo who makes my skin crawl. Why not just throw the Winger costume on and make him the mascot. He's totally bizarre. If I was a player I wouldn't follow him across the street to get a coffee. Is he just out there trying to self promote? Serious question. What is this guy's deal?

Edited November 8, 2023 by SpursFlu

[BearcatSA]

I think Schuster implied that some personnel moves would be announced by the end of.this week.  Any speculation?

[Footyeh]

In typical Vancouver fashion, all the homegrowns released.  

[Watchmen]

On 11/8/2023 at 3:58 PM, BearcatSA said:

I think Schuster implied that some personnel moves would be announced by the end of.this week.  Any speculation?

Hoilett.  I didn't mind the signing, but I don't think it worked out for either side.  He'd have to come back at another deep discount to make it worth while.

Teibert.  Contract is up, and he really, really showed this year that he can't play at this level anymore.  Fitness has always been his strong point, and he wasn't able to keep up with a lot of players this year.

Yao.  I don't know what his contract status is, but I think it's in both parties interest to move him on.

Those are the easy ones.  There's more I'd make, but it would involve loans/sales, so I think that would take longer to sort out.

[BearcatSA]

25 minutes ago, Watchmen said:

Hoilett.  I didn't mind the signing, but I don't think it worked out for either side.  He'd have to come back at another deep discount to make it worth while.

Teibert.  Contract is up, and he really, really showed this year that he can't play at this level anymore.  Fitness has always been his strong point, and he wasn't able to keep up with a lot of players this year.

Yao.  I don't know what his contract status is, but I think it's in both parties interest to move him on.

Those are the easy ones.  There's more I'd make, but it would involve loans/sales, so I think that would take longer to sort out.

Yao will likely be let go.  Teibert probably retires and stays with the club in a coaching or p.r. role.  I already felt that Hoillet would try again in England for January.  I don't think Laryea is getting a DP tag anywhere else in MLS so the ball is in his court as to altering his salary expectations.

I also don't see them carrying both Hasal and Boehmer as back ups next season.  Hasal might be the one to be moved because of durability issues, while Boehmer gets a loan elsewhere to develop, making way for an experienced back up who knows his role behind Takaoka.

There will probably be some serious turnover with the Next Pro team, as well.

[Big_M]

Vancouver Whitecaps FC announce 2024 roster updates

 

First team players under contract for 2024:
Goalkeepers (3): Max Anchor, Isaac Boehmer, Yohei Takaoka
Defenders (7): Sam Adekugbe, Tristan Blackmon, Javain Brown, Mathías Laborda, Luís Martins, Ryan Raposo, Ranko Veselinović
Midfielders (6): Ali Ahmed, Andrés Cubas, Ryan Gauld, J.C. Ngando, Alessandro Schöpf, Pedro Vite
Forwards (3): Simon Becher, Levonte Johnson, Brian White

*Away on loan:
Caio Alexandre - Brazilian Série A side Fortaleza EC, through December 2023
Déiber Caicedo - Colombian Categoría Primera A side Junior FC through July 2024

[Watchmen]

Options declined on Hasal, Habibullah, and Campagna.

Ongoing discussions with Yao and Teibert, but options not picked up.

Edited November 10, 2023 by Watchmen

[Footyeh]

How crazy it is that a club will cut loose with the young players who have potential and can be further developed but will re-negotiate with two older guys who don't play and don't have any developmental upside?  I mean surely VWFC fans are not that oblivious to how dumb this is.  Yao and Tiebert....  If they like Yao, why not even give him more MLSNP mins just so hes sharp and playing!?

[Watchmen]

24 minutes ago, Footyeh said:

How crazy it is that a club will cut loose with the young players who have potential and can be further developed but will re-negotiate with two older guys who don't play and don't have any developmental upside?  I mean surely VWFC fans are not that oblivious to how dumb this is.  Yao and Tiebert....  If they like Yao, why not even give him more MLSNP mins just so hes sharp and playing!?

I think most Whitecaps fans would want to cut both.

[Footyeh]

49 minutes ago, Watchmen said:

I think most Whitecaps fans would want to cut both.

I’m sure they would, but what do VWFC fans really know?  They seem to eat up everything that’s fed to them by Axel.  I’ve not seen any fan or media member question the club on these topics.  

[Watchmen]

10 minutes ago, Footyeh said:

I’m sure they would, but what do VWFC fans really know?  They seem to eat up everything that’s fed to them by Axel.  I’ve not seen any fan or media member question the club on these topics.  

So "Most fans want to cut both" but also "they eat up everything fed to them by Axel". Interesting contradiction there.

[BearcatSA]

4 hours ago, Watchmen said:

Ongoing discussions with Yao and Teibert, but options not picked up.

I am hoping that the discussions for Rusty pertain to what his retirement gift will be which will be presented to him before a match early next season as part of "Luv ya, Rusty 31!" Day.  

Axel, don't lose Berhalter.

[costarg]

On 11/8/2023 at 10:02 PM, Footyeh said:

In typical Vancouver fashion, all the homegrowns released.  

You called it!  Did you know, or was it just a guess?  Either way, pretty impressive.

[Stoppage Time]

1 hour ago, costarg said:

You called it!  Did you know, or was it just a guess?  Either way, pretty impressive.

So which of the VWFC homegrown over time have made to to a higher level? Colyn for sure. Bair has peaked at a fairly low level. A couple in CPL. Who else?

[Ivan]

10 hours ago, Stoppage Time said:

So which of the VWFC homegrown over time have made to to a higher level? Colyn for sure. Bair has peaked at a fairly low level. A couple in CPL. Who else?

I wouldn't say the Dutch second division is anywhere near a higher level than the Whitecaps. 

[Dominic94]

15 hours ago, Footyeh said:

I’m sure they would, but what do VWFC fans really know?  They seem to eat up everything that’s fed to them by Axel.  I’ve not seen any fan or media member question the club on these topics.  

I’m not convinced Schuster is even a good TD.

[Stoppage Time]

19 hours ago, Watchmen said:

Options declined on Hasal, Habibullah, and Campagna.

Ongoing discussions with Yao and Teibert, but options not picked up.

With Hasal gone, how about Axel Desjardins for backup keeper/? Does this create good competition between he and Boehmer for that spot? Just a casual idea.

[BearcatSA]

On 11/11/2023 at 9:07 AM, Stoppage Time said:

With Hasal gone, how about Axel Desjardins for backup keeper/? Does this create good competition between he and Boehmer for that spot? Just a casual idea.

From the Caps PR deoartment, Boehmer looks like he could be the fourth brother in the Hemsworth acting family so he gets the gig for that alone.

[SthMelbRed]

On 11/11/2023 at 3:03 PM, Stoppage Time said:

So which of the VWFC homegrown over time have made to to a higher level? Colyn for sure. Bair has peaked at a fairly low level. A couple in CPL. Who else?

There's a guy playing in Germany. I think he's won a few pots over there.