Lastly, we come to the Vancouver Whitecaps. Writing all 29 of these was hard. Anyways, the Vancouver Whitecaps have never been a great team in MLS, and this did not change in 2022. Since they joined in 2011, they have won one single playoff game, losing the other five. In 2022 specifically, they finished at 12-15-7, which is not horrible by any means, but it's definitely not good enough to be a playoff team, they finished in ninth place in the Western Conference. Their early-season shortcomings sort of set them up for failure, but their form for the rest of the season was a bit more respectable. Not a single player on the roster mustered double digit goals, and the closest to the mark is no longer on the roster in Lucas Cavallini. DP Ryan Gauld provided a decent output of eight goals and nine assists, but no one else was particularly helpful on a consistent basis. The Whitecaps, though, made some quality signings that should help propel their team to success.
With the center back spots in question, they signed two players at the position. Mathias Laborda is a 23-year-old Uruguayan from Nacional that should slot straight into the XI. In the Re-Entry Draft, they picked up another young CB in 22-year-old Karifa Yao, formerly of CF Montreal. They also splurged at the goalkeeper position, adding a J League best XI member and GK of the reigning Japanese champions in Yokohama F. Marinos, Yohei Takaoka. Takaoka will claim the starting job. The other biggest signing of the off-season is a done deal that has yet to be announced. Vancouver has a real issue at the #9 and have been searching for a reinforcement all off-season, but have finally found their guy in Sergio Cordova. Cordova was on loan with Real Salt Lake last season, where he scored nine goals in 33 matches. The 25-year-old Venezuelan is expected to be announced soon and land in Vancouver from Germany's FC Augsburg on a fee of around $2m, putting him right around the DP threshold. With pick No. 5 in the SuperDraft, they selected UNCG midfielder J.C. Ngando. Leaving the club will be leading scorer Lucas Cavallini, who joined Liga MX's Tijuana. Derek Cornelius went to Sweden's Malmo FF, while Janio Bikel transferred to Russia. Jake Nerwinski moved within the league to the brand new St. Louis CITY SC, as did Michael Baldisimo to the San Jose Earthquakes. Marcus Godinho went to Poland. Both Tosaint Ricketts and Florian Jungwirth retired, and Jungwirth will continue as a coach in Vancouver.
The Vancouver Whitecaps are a very interesting team in 2023, and will surely be one to watch down the stretch. There's some true talent throughout. The following lineup will look to make strides towards not only making the playoffs, but finding some results in the postseason as well. The goalkeeper will be the previously mentioned Takaoka. In central defense, Laborda is likely to team up with Ranko Veselinovic, with Yao as depth. The left-back is going to be Luis Martins, while the right-back spot is between Triston Blackmon and Javian Brown. Working out of the christmas tree formation, the #6 will be Andres Cubas, with Alessandro Schopf and Julian Gressel just a little bit further out wide. Russell Teibert and Ryan Raposo are the backups in these spots. This formation uses two attacking midfielders, which could be Ryan Gauld and Pedro Vite, though the AM spot is flush with depth in Vancouver. Between Gauld, Vite, Cristian Dajome, and Deiber Caicedo, truly take your pick because they are all capable and will all get minutes this season. The probable new DP signing at striker in Sergio Cordova will be the lone man up top. Brian White is the best form of depth at forward. The Whitecaps look pretty good in attack, the main concerns should probably be in the back. The depth at center back is pretty thin, so Laborda and Veselinovic must stay healthy. Nevertheless, the 2023 Vancouver Whitecaps have set themselves up to be quite an intriguing team this off-season.
Projected XI:
GK: Takaoka
DEF: Martins, Veselinovic, Laborda, Blackmon
MID: Cubas, Gressel, Schopf, Vite, Gauld
FWD: Cordova
Off-Season Grade: B+
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