The Whitecaps had until Friday to declare their roster model — Designated Player heavy or U22 players — and chose the youth path. Now they just have to find the players, those magical, elusive players both affordable and impactful, to fit the system.
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The Vancouver Whitecaps were heartbeats away from a tie — which would actually have been a win — when they lost, but the loss was still a partial victory. You follow?
Their 95th-minute lapse against Saprissa in the CONCACAF Champions Cup on Thursday was costly, giving the Costa Rican home side the 2-1 victory, but Ryan Gauld’s away goal at Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá gives them a better shot at the return leg next Thursday at B.C. Place.
It was a disappointing but not dispiriting loss, and provides some motivational fodder heading into their Major League Soccer season opener Sunday in Portland (1 p.m. PT, Apple TV, TSN).
The Whitecaps opted for the latter, meaning two more U22 players can be added to the roster, though it doesn’t mean they will end up spending less. A hypothetical $2.7 million DP salary could be spread across two $1.5 million U22 players, while they also get a big ol’ bag of extra GAM.
“It gives us all the flexibility to bring in a player that is a DP-like player, without giving him the tag of a DP,” said sporting director and CEO Axel Schuster. “A DP tag also doesn’t make you automatically a very good player — we have a lot of bad examples in the league. In our club, we have some very good examples for non-DP players that are very good. Brian White is a very good example. So we think this gives us the maximum flexibility if we feel the need to add two, I would say right away, impactful players that we also can do this within this model.”
The Whitecaps currently have two DPs in Andrés Cubas and Gauld, and two U22 players in Édier Ocampo (21) and Pedro Vite (22). A U22 player must be 22 years old or younger in the first year he is eligible to play in an MLS game, though Vite and Ocampo could conceivably hold the tag with Vancouver until the season they turn 25, as both signed their first MLS contracts as a U22.
Vancouver had planned to go the DP route this season, but the shock defection of midfielder Stuart Armstrong last month to Sheffield threw their plans into flux. Schuster had vacillated between the two models before settling on the U22 path.
It could change in the summer window, provided they haven’t spent more than $1 million in the GAM and have or fewer three U22 players, but Schuster doesn’t foresee that happening. The primary window closes on April 23, and he hopes to have the new signings before then.
Schuster’s biggest challenge is finding these unicorn players. Talented attackers who are affordable and impactful are hard to find, and when they are, they’re sure to have many options as to their destinations. Plus they have to be willing to come to MLS and have a team willing to part with them.
Enter Schuster, the door-to-door salesman.
“If it would be easy to find them, everyone would identify them and find them. And I would in general say that our scouting and analytical group is doing a good job,” he said. “If you want to go for this impactful player, you have to accept that you get a lot of nos. You have to be like the guy who wants to sell something at the door. You have to go from door to door to door, and wait until one door finally opens.
“We will not sign somebody who is just a helpful player. We will continue to knock at doors of all those players where we say they will be right away, an impactful player.”
The decision isn’t surprising considering it’s consistent with the youth philosophy they’ve held for the past few seasons. In 2022, they averaged 24 years and 45 days, jumped to 26 years and 307 days last season, and are now sitting at 25 years and 210 days.
There are just three 30-year olds on the team in Sam Adekugbe (30), Daniel Ríos (30) and Damir Kreilach (35), balanced by two teenagers in Jeevan Badwal and Tate Johnson, part of a group of 11 players 23 or younger.
Part of the attraction of Jesper Sørensen’s background was his time with the Danish national youth program, as manager of the U21 team. He understands how greener players need to be coached.
“What is important for younger players is that they are not complete yet,” said the Whitecaps coach, hired just last month
“Often we see them as talents, as prospects, and we have to nurture their talents as well and work with them becoming the players they eventually are going to be. It’s very important that they have the feeling they’re not too far away from the team, because they need valuable minutes also to develop.
“(You still set) the same amount of demands for them as we also do to some players that may have been playing in the league for 10 years, because they have to know they’re not just in for the free ride. They have qualified for the team when they play, and that’s very important. … They also have to deliver — and they can. We believe they can, and we trust they can. That’s why they’re in the team.
“It’s very important that they also know that as a coach, there will be bigger variants for younger players, because they’ve not grown fully into the decision making that you learn over a lot of years and when you play at the highest level. … That will stabilize over time, but if they never get the time because you’re afraid of that variance, then they’ll never get to play.”
NEXT GAME
Vancouver Whitecaps at Portland Timbers
Regular Season Opener
Sunday, 1 p.m., Providence Park
TV: TSN/Apple