Whitecaps Add Two Internationals. Who's Next?

The Whitecaps signed two international players today, as it was announced the team has inked Gerson Koffie and Nizar Khalfan to MLS contracts.   The signings are the first non-domestic footballers on the squad as both players originate from the continent of Africa.  Both Khalfan and Koffie are holdovers from the 2010 NASL squad, as the Whitecaps are allowed to sign an unlimited number of players from that roster.  The Caps still have eight international spots to fill in having acquired two through trade during the expansion draft.

Whitecaps End First Trip With Win

The Vancouver Whitecaps completed their first preseason trip to Arizona as a MLS club with another victory over a club still alive in the CCL.  They defeated the Columbus Crew 2-1 with tallies from Atiba Harris and 1^st pick Omar Salgado and missed making it a two goal victory when Davide Chiumiento’s missed penalty.  They opened the trip with a 2-1 decision against Real Salt Lake who will be the Crew’s opponent in the CCL quarterfinal.  Sandwiched between those victories was a competitive 1-0 loss to Cascadia rivals Seattle Sounders.

Whitecaps Add Hertha Midfielder to Camp

As first reported by Marc Weber in Phoenix, the organization has brought in German midfielder Lennart Hartmann for trial, a day after a Canadian midfielder left the Whitecaps for Europe .  The U19 national player was released from Hertha BSC to look for another team as his contract was set to expire this summer.  His former manager at Hertha, Micheal Preetz, stated in this article that it was a tough decision but there was too much competition on the club’s roster for his position.

Post Draft Whitecaps Roster Analysis: Part III

The players that the Whitecaps have brought in to compete for the attacking positions will not strike fear into the opposition’s defenders and goalies.  There are only two pure strikers in camp, one who is on trial and the other, who is signed, can’t play for the team until he turns 18 in September.  I purposely made this the last part of the series because I was hoping management would have brought someone new through the transfer window.  Some of the players I have included in this piece will play the majority of their time as midfielders but they also have the ability to move up top to play the forward position.

Who Needs Nagbe? Not the Whitecaps.

Within moments of the completion of the first two picks of the 2011 SuperDraft, all the MLS draft experts weighed in with their opinion.  How could the Whitecaps take a young player like Salgado and not draft a player who is ready to step into your lineup immediately?  Even after Nagbe admitted to having a preference to playing in the United States, ESPN analyst Alexi Lalas continued to state that he  couldn’t believe the Caps didn’t draft the Akron product.

Earlier in the week at the combine, Whitecaps manager Teitur Thordarson commented to reporters that he didn’t expect any of the players in the draft to start immediately and would not put pressure for any young player to carry the expansion franchise.  Although not signed as of yet to MLS contracts, the Whitecaps have three players in their camp that could potentially play the same position that Nagbe plays as a withdrawn striker.