Vancouver Whitecaps pulled off some big moves at the 2013 MLS SuperDraft to land Kekuta Manneh and Erik Hurtado early in the first round. Manneh was labelled as a young 18 year old with speed for days. Hurtado came with tag of a then mature 22 year old with speed and strength.
When I talked with Hurtado at the beginning of last season he told me his personal goals where to get meaningful, quality minutes and to score at least five MLS goals. He was given the minutes to prove what he could do on the pitch, but that MLS goal eluded him for the entire season.
But it could all have been so very different. Some will argue that if it wasn't for a bullshit offside call from a Kenny Miller pass in the second game of the season against Columbus, he would of had that first MLS goal early in the season and that may have opened the flood gates, helping his confidence.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Hurtado was feeling the pressure to break his goalscoring duck, as he told AFTN editor Michael McColl back in June.
<i>"It would take a big weight off my shoulders getting that first goal. It would do the world to get that first goal. I can't wait to get it. It's coming. I feel it coming soon."</i>
That game had seen Hurtado come close, having an effort cleared off the line in the 3-1 win over Chivas.
<i>"It came right to my feet and was a good save from the defender. I'm just going to imagine that going in now. I'm not going to mourn on it. I'm going to pretend that it went in, so next time I don't imagine myself missing, I imagine myself making that."</i>
But that performance changing goal and confidence booster never came for him this year.
When the Whitecaps announced they had picked up Hurtado's option for the coming season some were surprised.
For his guaranteed salary of $81,500, and the fact that he is not Generation Adidas and it counts toward the salary cap, it raised the question as to why the Whitecaps couldn't bring in a Marco Bustos, Kianz Froese or Ben Fisk for that amount. You may even get two of them for that money.
If Hurtado is only going to get between 10 to a maximum of 25 minutes a game, why not give those minutes to a young Canadian player?
The same could be said for the Caps possibly bringing back Tommy Heinemann. He was subbed on in the 85th to 90th minutes in the majority of his appearances. Why not give those minutes to a Canadian born player?
I myself believe Hurtado will rebound nicely this season and become a useful member of the attack. Sure he needs to work on his touch and lack of finish, but we have to remember we can't simply compare him to Manneh.
In his college career he was almost always the strongest and fastest player on the pitch. In the college game you can hide your weaknesses if you are able to run around or through defenders.
Coming from the college game to MLS he got an upfront reminder that even though he may be fast, he is for sure not going to be able to run through grown men. He also learned that he will not be able to run around players with pure speed if he has a sloppy first touch.
His lack of footwork and poor first touch was certainly a discussion point raised by many supporters and mentioned time after time on twitter and in soccer forums.
Hurtado racked up 489 minutes in his debut MLS season. Those came from 15 appearances, four of which were as a starter. For all the criticism of his shooting prowess, three shots on target from 13 attempts on goal, he did provide two assists in his brief run-outs.
Hopefully with a healthy Omar Salgado, and any new additions, pushing him for minutes he will put the time into his game this offseason and will put all doubts to rest that he will be a contributing member for the Whitecaps for years to come.
But there has to be visible results and the 2014 season may be his make it or leave Vancouver year.
<p>