Defensive midfielder may not be the most exciting job on the team, but it can prove to be one of the most important. It can also be one that splits a fanbase in terms of the appreciation of the contribution, as we saw here in Vancouver last year.
For Michael Kafari, trying to shine in a preseason training camp in that position isn't easy, but the third round SuperDraft pick is out to impress and wants to be a part of the Whitecaps organisation, whether that means starting off on the MLS roster or maybe even being loaned out to Charleston Battery in the USL.
"First of all, I just want to be with the organisation. It's not every day that someone wakes up and gets to train with a professional team. I'm just happy to be here and hope for the best."
The New Mexico alumni is highly rated and comes to Vancouver as the draft pick that possibly knows the most about the Caps and the city thanks to his friend, Lobos teammate and Whitecaps Residency graduate, Ben McKendry.
"He said in the summertime it's amazing. I roomed with him in the summer when we were travelling and it's so crazy, we get to the hotel and Ben's on his laptop looking up information about the Whitecaps or chatting with his friends. You can tell he definitely loves the city. He never told me about the fog though!"
McKendry has just finished his sophomore season in Albuquerque and is still very much in the Whitecaps plans. That could mean three Lobo midfielders in the Caps squad one day, with fellow teammate Michael Calderon also selected in this year's draft.
Calderon joins up with the squad in Arizona next week and for Kafari, having that familiar face in the camp not only helps in settling in but also with generating some chemistry on the pitch, as they both try to shine.
"That's definitely nice. It was kind of crazy as we were on the same teams at the combine and I think that's what really made us stand out at the combine. We were in the same team and we played the same halves every time, so it was easy to get the ball to him, to talk to him, communicate. I didn't have to shout. He just knew where to be, he'd know where I would be, so it was nice."
With Jun Marques Davidson moving to pastures new at the end of last season, it is not yet known who will fill the defensive midfielder role going forward with the Whitecaps. A lot will depend on how Carl Robinson lays out his team but Gershon Koffie could find himself in that starter's position.
Kafari comes into the Caps' camp in a more fortunate position than some others in that the position he is fighting for doesn't already contain much depth in the squad. Both Nigel Reo-Coker and Johnny Leveron can play there, but it is somewhat of a waste of their talents elsewhere. Matt Watson can also play in there, to mixed results.
Ghanaian Aminu Abdallah takes up a roster spot and can be seen as Kafari's main competition for possibly grabbing a place on the MLS squad. Abdallah already has a contract but it wouldn't be too hard to move him on, especially as he is taking up an international spot and Kafari, although he was born in Accra in Ghana, is a US citizen.
Michael made the move from Ghana to Idaho in 2001. His parents had already moved to the US before that and were settled in Arizona, but after his father got a job with HP, the whole family moved to Boise.
All good news for Kafari, who has impressed in the defensive midfield role for New Mexico, after originally playing for the Lobos and at high school up front.
"Yeah, I started off Freshman year as a forward. After about two months they were like, nah, you're playing defensive mid! Moved straight back!"
Starting off as a striker, and leading his high school team to a state championship in 2009, Kafari has adjusted to the DM role with ease, aided by the quick footwork he brings as a former forward.
He racked up 4943 minutes of playing time for New Mexico over the past four years and played a key role in helping the Lobos to 11 clean sheets this past season.
It was a fantastic season for the Lobos, reaching the Final Four before going down to a 2-0 semi final defeat to eventual College Cup champions Notre Dame.
How did he find the whole experience and the week down in Philadelphia?
"It was kind of surreal. Once we beat Washington in that terrible game [Ed- I was there, it was!], a couple of days later just thinking about it, everybody felt the same way. You wake up and you're like, wow, I'm in the Final Four.
"It was kind of surreal that whole week, even travelling there, but it felt like when we got there it was just no-one thought about it. It was just another game. Another big game we had to win. It was a good experience."
And the heartbreaking defeat will have given Kafari and his teammates some strong soccer character building lessons.
Many feel that the college game doesn't give young players a good grounding, preparation or development for the professional game. With New Mexico making the move to Conference USA last season, one thing Kafari certainly got was experience of travelling all over the country with his team.
"This year was kind of like coast to coast in Conference USA. It's crazy."
As we've said about the Caps' Residency players before, that whole travel aspect of the team gives a player a great idea of what to expect on the road in the pros, without having to juggle schoolwork too.
That latter factor is something I always wonder and admire about college players. When they're jetting off all over the country and playing a couple of games a week, how hard is it to keep up with their schoolwork?
"The first year you kind of get to figure it out. The first year is usually the hardest year, you're not used to it. But once you get used to it you have to talk to your teacher basically. Email him before classes begin and say hey, look, I'm going to be travelling and they give us travel letters.
"If you're proactive about it, it's easy because they go you just need to do this, this, get this done and then they schedule you to come take a test if you're gone.
"The only hard part for me was when you're travelling, you have homework at a hotel and they don't have wifi or something, so you have to scramble and find some, but nowadays it's not such a big deal.
"Once you get used to it, it's not a big deal at all, especially at New Mexico. Everyone knows who the soccer team is, so they try to work with the players."
For those who haven't seen him play. How would Kafari describe himself as a player?
"Physical. Aggressive. An engine I guess."
Making the move from the college ranks to the professional game isn't always the smoothest of transitions for some players. So how has Kafari found his first few days in the Whitecaps training camp?
"It's been good. Intense. But this is the pro level, so that's what you expect."
After four years of training with the Lobos, what has he found to be the main differences between the training methods in place in Albuquerque and in Vancouver?
"Everything's a lot sharper. Everyone's touch is a lot cleaner, so it kind of hard to cheat the game."
New Mexico has a beautiful grass pitch at the UNM Soccer Complex but they do train on turf and Kafari has found the field at Thunderbird Stadium to his liking.
"We train on the indoor most of the year. The turf's kind of different but I like it. It's softer than the turf we're used to playing on. It's not too bad."
Kafari is currently living in the dorms at UBC as the Whitecaps' training camp kicked off this week. Has he had a chance to go downtown or explore yet?
"Yeah I went downtown on Saturday with Christian (Dean). It was busy, not what I'm used to. It was fun, seeing all the places."
With the intensity of the training camp only going to ramp up, there won't be too much time for enjoying the sights. Roster spots are limited and being fiercely contested, and Kafari knows that he needs to show something special over the next five weeks to figure in the Whitecaps' plans.
"The coaches have all been saying that this team is good with a couple of leaders, a couple of old guys and a couple of young kids. I think showing maturity and leadership will help me out in this process."
And good luck to him in it all. The odds aren't great for the lower draft picks to make the grade, but Vancouver's selections this year look to be very promising players and Kafari has a good chance of surviving the cut at some level.
We hope he does as he would be a pleasure to have around the team. Always smiling and one of the most personable players in the camp, he brings a character and a personality that shines through whenever you talk to him.
Carl Robinson has talked a lot this offseason of the importance of a player's character off the pitch. He's certainly found a good one in Michael Kafari.