There's no getting away from the numbers. Vancouver Whitecaps are running out of available squad space pretty quickly.
The addition on Wednesday of Uruguayan attacking pair Sebastián Fernández and Nicolás Mezquida takes the Caps' MLS roster to 25.
Factor in that there is still only one signed goalkeeper in that number and no back up right back inked in and you take that tally up to 28.
Considering there are 17 unsigned players in camp right now and Robinson hopes to add one or two more to that number before the preseason is out, there's going to be a lot of disappointment going around come the start of March.
And that doesn't even begin to look at the cap space issue surrounding the players being brought in.
With loan deals, trades and outright cuts all available to them, Carl Robinson and his technical team now face a tough four week period to try and figure out who they want to keep around and in what form.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]It would be a major surprise if contracts are not given to Ben Fisk (who scored and impressed in yesterday's first preseason game against Indy 11), Marco Bustos and Kianz Froese.
That would take the roster to 31, before the loan deals kick in.
Vancouver's affiliation with Charleston Battery in USL Pro guarantees a minimum of four loan deals. Any player loaned automatically comes off the MLS roster and frees up a spot.
There can be more and although it has been confirmed to us that technically there is no maximum limit to the number of players that the Whitecaps can send down, it is felt that the Battery are not wanting the number to be much more than the minimum four.
A USL Pro roster can only contain a maximum of seven foreign players but Canadians do not count as internationals in the League, which apart from blowing apart Don Garber's continued insistence that this is not possible in MLS, is good news for the Caps.
Vancouver currently have 11 international spots and they are all filled, with many others needing one if they were to get on to the final MLS roster.
You have to expect that trades will be done to offload some current players that Robinson does not feel are up to the standard he is looking for and getting some international spots in return will be likely.
There may also be trading of some future draft picks as well to pick up a couple more and there is still the option of just cutting the likes of midfielder Aminu Abdallah who is wastefully taking up a current spot.
There are 152 international spots available in MLS. Each team has 8 before trades, with no limit as to how many one club can acquire.
With all this in mind, speculation is already rife as to who Vancouver might send down to Charleston. There are some obvious candidates amongst the draft picks and trialists (Michael Kafari and Michael Calderon being two of them if the Caps like what they see from them) but not that many standout options on the actual MLS roster, which obviously doesn't address the key problem.
Erik Hurtado, if he is still around, may be another or he may find himself traded to pastures new in MLS. Christian Dean could benefit from some time down there, as could Mamadou Diouf.
Nothing has been finalised and there is still a lot to play for and prove in the training camp, but Robinson told us on Monday that he's started to form a good shape of how things might pan out for certain players.
<i>"I've got a fair idea. Obviously things might change when the first couple of games go on. There's reasons and methods about why we're doing things with regards to the training sessions and the fitness and the defensive side and the attacking side.
"But there's also reasons why we might loan guys out for the purpose of that. Short, medium and long term as well. There's a lot of planning that goes into place and I certainly had a 6 or 7 week period before I got the job where I thought what I would do with this group of players and obviously I'm not able to put that in place."</i>
The Battery affiliation is not the only loan option available to Vancouver as last year's deals with Edmonton showed. More loans, especially short term one, to the Eddies and maybe even Ottawa could be on the cards. If Canadian Mackenzie Pridham can shake off his injury and impress, he could be a candidate for a loan deal like that, as could some of the fringe squad guys to get some meaningful minutes in.
It's not expected that the Residency talent will be sent down to Charleston and will see out the USSDA season and potentially the PDL one as well. They may make an exception for a player depending on how they view all their individual development plans.
No decision has been made yet as to what shape Vancouver's PDL squad will take this coming season.
The Whitecaps could sign a number of the promising younger talent in camp to PDL contracts, giving them a 14 game schedule to compete in and possibly more if they reach the playoffs.
Alternatively, the Caps could decide to not go down that route and keep the team as amateur, utilising the Residency players inbetween the remaining games in the USSDA season, local university talent and giving them the chance to play some of their NCAA Residency alumni.
Although primarily aimed at being a U23 league, the Caps are allowed a maximum of eight players over the age of 23 on their 26 man PDL roster. They can also only have a maximum of eight foreign players, not that that should come into play at all.
Of the 25 Whitecaps currently signed to a MLS contract, it is pretty safe to say that not all of them will be still on the Caps roster come roster freeze day on March 1st.
I fully expect some of the players left from last year's MLS roster to be moved on and from what I've seen in the early stages in the camp from some of them, you have to feel it's only a matter of time.
The players coming in are obviously hungry, as you would always expect. But you should also expect the guys trying to keep their places to be the same.
Carl Robinson will love having the competition for places and a large pool of players to whittle his final squad down from. There is no doubt it's a youthful and potentially exciting set of players that will be plying their trade in Vancouver this year.
Looking at who he has as his disposal and who may make the final cut, the big question which will then need answered is whether he has been able to put together a squad capable of competing well in MLS.
The jury's most definitely still out on that one.
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