Ahead of the 2015 SuperDraft, MLSsoccer.com is breaking down each team's needs and potential draft targets. The Vancouver Whitecaps won their second straight Cascadia Cup in 2015, and now have their eyes on a bigger prize.
I have trouble looking at this roster and seeing an area of obvious need. That should give you an idea of how well Carl Robinson and the gang have done in the Welshman's year at the helm.
Much like Columbus in the East, Vancouver's expected progression in 2015 should come from one or two offseason tweaks combined with a bit more chemistry and knowhow thanks to a year of working together. That is the right course to take for a group that has done pretty well in the draft while adding some young, valuable pieces via the academy pipeline.
In that way, the 'Caps are a real MLS success story. They are at the forefront of mastering the new way of doing things (Academy + USL Pro model), but haven't forgotten the benefits of the old ways (hello, draft!). How could you, when you have talent like Kekuta Manneh, Erik Hurtado and Christian Dean to call on?
Whitecaps SuperDraft selections: #13 (1st round), #38 (2nd round), #54 (3rd round), #72&74 (4th round)
Vancouver Depth Chart: 24 players
Goalkeeper (3): David Ousted, Marco Carducci, Paolo Tornaghi
Left Back (2): Jordan Harvey, Sam Adekugbe
Center Back (3): Kendall Waston, Andy O'Brien, Christian Dean
Right Back (2): Steven Beitashour, Ethen Sampson
Defensive Midfield (2): Matias Laba, Kianz Froese
Center Midfield (2): Gershon Koffie, Russell Teibert
Right Midfield (2): Mauro Rosales, Marco Bustos
Left Midfield (2): Kekuta Manneh, Nicolas Mezquida
Attacking Midfield (2): Pedro Morales, Andre Lewis
Forward (4): Octavio Rivero, Erik Hurtado, Darren Mattocks, Caleb Clarke
Primary Need: Central defense
Rivero -- a DP No. 9 -- should answer the big question for the 'Caps with his goalscoring. Looking over the rest of the roster, there's talent and redundancy almost everywhere, save for central defense.
Vancouver could decide to go with an MLS veteran, or perhaps try to re-sign Johnny Leveron, an ex-'Cap, for the time being at least.
Barring that, it probably makes a bunch of sense to stock up on central defenders in a draft heavy at that very spot. Dean has load of talent, but is unproven, while Waston is a good bet to miss games for the Gold Cup and O'Brien is nearly as old as me. Getting another youngster or two to eat up some minutes on that turf only makes sense.
Targets: Conor Donovan (NC State / GA) Ramon Martin del Campo (UC-Davis), Axel Sjoberg (Marquette), Tim Parker (St. John's), Anthony Manning (St. Louis), Aaron Simmons (UCLA), Oumar Ballo (UMBC)
Secondary Need: Winger
Rosales is old, Mezquida was hot and cold in his first MLS season, and Manneh didn't progress like many had hoped he would in Year 2. Hurtado and Mattocks have both been "meh" out wide in their respective careers thus far, and it's not exactly clear where Bustos and Lewis will play as pros.
Teibert is the trump card here, but he's more of a Brad Davis-type when he plays wide, facilitating and crossing more than driving into the final third to playmake. Getting an honest-to-goodness winger in this draft wouldn't hurt a bit for the 'Caps.
Targets: Connor Hallisey (California), Miguel Aguilar (San Francisco), Akeil Barrett (Tulsa), James Rogers (New Mexico)
SUPERDRAFT TEAM PREVIEWS
- Columbus Crew:Step by step, second time around for CCSC
- Colorado Rapids:Can Mile High Club find a contributor late?
- DC United: One more piece for one more step
- Houston Dynamo:One decade later, a new era begins
- LA Galaxy:Recalibrating a championship machine
- Montreal Impact:Building out after a promising stretch run
- New England Revolution:Suddenly great, but plenty of need
- New York City FC:Feeling kind of blue east of the Hudson
- New York Red Bulls:Another new era in Jersey
- Real Salt Lake: Not quite a rebuild in the high desert
- San Jose Earthquakes: Recapturing that Goonie magic
- Toronto FC: Trying to solve the eternal problem in Ontario
- Vancouver Whitecaps:A full roster for Cascadia kings
- New England Revolution:Suddenly great but plenty of need
- Phildelphia Union: Building around the core
- Seattle Sounders:Nothing glaring for Shield, USOC winners
- Sporting KC:Filling it all out after a mini-rebuild
- Chicago Fire:Endless questions in the Windy City
- Portland Timbers:Draft & stash with T2 up and running
- Orlando City:Is there a trade for No. 1 in the works?
