It’s the last Whitecaps Wednesday before the 2013-14 season begins, and there’s so much optimism surrounding the team that the MLS is considering rule changes to limit the number of championships any one team can win in a row. The Whitecaps went 5-2-1 in pre-season play in Arizona and South Carolina, sending footballgasms thundering throughout the Lower Mainland.
So what has local fans so excited? Building off of the club’s first-ever playoff appearance, the Whitecaps have made several high profile moves to encourage optimism. Midfielder Gershon Koffie received Canadian residency and a contract extension, meaning the Caps will now have an extra international spot on the roster and Koffie will be in Vancouver for the long term.
More after the jump, including tassels, brothers and sisters!
Midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker signed with the Caps, bringing English Premier League experience to the roster. Reo-Coker has played more than 200 matches for Aston Villa, West Ham United and Bolton, but is still just 28 years old.
Daigo Kobayashi brings yet more speed to the midfield, and a cagey case of ball smarts. He distributes the ball intelligently, and picks his spots for moving up into an attacking position well.
Canadian 22-year-old Simon Thomas, a product of the Whitecaps FC Residency program, signed with the big club giving the team more depth in the goal position.
Johnny Leverón already has an Olympic captaincy on his resume, as he wore the armband for Honduras at the London Games last year. The centre back is slight, at just 165 pounds, but he brings speed and energy to the pitch — at just 23, he counters the Whitecaps-defense-is-too-old-to-play-90-minutes argument all by himself.
At the MLS Superdraft, Vancouver did some early manoeuvring to pick up two more speedy properties in strikers Kekutah Manneh and Erik Hurtado with the fourth and fifth overall picks. Although both are young, at 22 and 18, respectively, they should bring more scoring depth to the Whitecaps FC front lines, and hopefully put a few more shots on net than we’ve seen in the past two seasons. Who knows, if the Caps get a few more balls on target, they just more score more as well.
A new kit reveal goes down this very evening, and while the jersey will almost certainly still feature a massive corporate nod to a telecommunications company renowned for spotty service Bell, we have reason to believe they may have changed the stripes on the front! (I know, I know! Squee, and all that!) We have absolutely no reason to believe the team will go with tassels, a la the 1978 Colorado Caribous of the NASL. I mean, retro can be cool, and stuff, but wow. Dudes actually wore these things. In elite athletic competitions. An episode of Somebody Approved This is forthcoming, believe me.