Through some improbable fluke of good fortune, I've been able to catch each of the Vancouver Whitecaps Residency's first three games of the USL PDL season.
I like Residency games. It's a heck of a fun night at the soccer park. Outside of Vancouver, the games are usually played in charming little stadiums with fans who you know must be diehards because they're paying cash to watch USL PDL soccer. And the quality of play is pretty good, too. But most important is the opportunity to watch the future of the Vancouver Whitecaps and maybe of the Canadian national team. Most of the Residency players won't make it, but the chance to see the ones who will (not to mention debating which category each player falls into) is a rare privilege.
It's a privilege not all of us can share, of course, so for the rest of you I present a review of the Residency team's three games so far this season. The Residency team isn't about winning games (although they've compiled a respectable 1-1-1 record); it's about developing individual skills. So I won't waste your time talking about their team play. Instead, I'll focus on a few interesting players who caught my eye, both for good and for ill.
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One of the leading players so far for the Whitecaps Residency has been Alexandre Morfaw. Well, that shouldn't be a surprise. At twenty-two years old, Morfaw is the elder statesman of the team. He rakes in $90,000 per year and had a useful supporting role for the senior Whitecaps last season; he bloody well better be able to handle the USL PDL. So far, though, no worries. Morfaw scored a brace against the Abbotsford Mariners and has looked dangerous in the team's other games as both an individual scorer and a playmaker.
Morfaw's been fighting his share of injuries (his hand is still in a brace), so his effectiveness is a pleasant surprise. He's made some pretty flashy moves but for the most part he's just been the most fundamentally sound Residency player: staying in position, completing passes, and being in the right place to receive them. Unlike guys like Cornelius Stewart who try to beat defenders six ways from Sunday, Morfaw's gotten his offense by being in the right place at the right time then shooting hard and true. I think I like Morfaw's approach better, just because it'll translate a lot better to MLS when he won't have semi-professional schmucks of defenders up against him.
Philippe Davies is another Whitecap on an MLS contract who's spent the entire season on the Residency roster. Unfortunately, I haven't been nearly as impressed by Davies as I have been by Morfaw: after the Abbotsford game I actually tweeted that Davies might be the first completely washed-up 19-year-old midfielder in soccer history. As a USSF D2 player, Davies hit beautiful, incisive through passes, made up for his lack of athleticism with bags of common sense, and while he made the occasional mistake was clearly a player to watch. As a USL PDL player, Davies blends in. And 19-year-olds with homegrown player contracts and two seasons' professional experience shouldn't be blending in to USL PDL. He missed the Victoria game through illness but, in the two games he's played, he's been clearly outshone by Morfaw and the younger Bryce Alderson.
There are things to be said in Davies's defense. He's playing central midfield for the Residency whereas he played right wing for the senior Whitecaps. Central midfield is Davies's natural position (and seems like a better place for his particular skills) but there still will be an adjustment period there. Moreover, Davies is clearly not focusing on offense like he used to. He's cut back heavily on killer balls and charges into the opposing third, and given how enthusiastic he was about offense with the senior team I assume that's deliberate. Instead, he's hanging back and playing much more defense; he's almost in a box-to-box role. USSF D2 Davies was always a defensive liability, but USL PDL Davies is clearly improved. He still can't tackle to save his life but he's finding the right position more often, cutting out passes, and forcing opponents into inferior angles. He's still not exactly good, and it's not enough to keep me from being concerned. But Davies is obviously down with the Residency team to work on weak points of his game: the fact that those weak points are improving must be counted in his favour.
Michael Nanchoff, Vancouver's eighth-overall pick in the winter's SuperDraft, has spent two games with the Residency team as he works his way back to match shape after a pre-season groin injury. Frankly, it's obvious why the Whitecaps like this kid. He's obviously deeply unfit and has a lot of work to do before I'd be comfortable seeing him play heavy MLS minutes, but the skill, my god! He punched passes through the Abbotsford and Victoria defenses almost at will. He scored a fine goal in Victoria off a free kick, he can cross the ball very well, and his defending was better than I'd been led to believe. It's hard to pick out any physical attributes that Nanchoff has in spades, and the USL PDL level of play obviously flatters him a little, but he thinks the game much better than one expects from a career college player. I find myself looking forward to Nanchoff's debut with the senior team.
A few of you are doubtless wondering about Bryce Alderson, the reigning Canadian U-17 player of the year and midfield wunderkind. Alderson missed the Victoria game on international duty but was with the team against Kitsap and Abbotsford. Let me put it this way: you probably won't find a pundit in British Columbia who won't speak well of him. The kid is bigger in person than I expected, with his blonde hair making him stand out on the pitch even if his play doesn't. It usually does. Alderson isn't particularly quick and he doesn't use his size much, but when he's playing you can see the wheels turning. He's active, in the best sense of the word. His feet are always moving. When he hasn't got possession and his team's on the attack, he's constantly roaming, his eye on the ball carrier, finding the best angles to get open. When the team is defending he is a tenacious and stalwart contributor. And when he gets the ball he seems to specialize in quick one-touch passes; passes that are far better thought-out and more accurate than one expects from a 17-year-old.
So far, when I've been watching, Alderson has been quite conservative. But he's also been fairly mistake-free and whenever he gets the ball he advances it. The kid just turned seventeen in February; he's playing in some cases against midfielders six years older than him. I'm not rash enough to expect him to start picking apart defenses yet. I will say, however, that with his sensible style of play, quick reactions, and the good head on his shoulders, I don't think he'd be buried in Major League Soccer if he had to play for the Whitecaps tomorrow.
Those are the names that have most struck me so far. There are certainly others I have opinions about, but the USL PDL season has months to go yet. Everything in its own time.