<p>With four days to go until kicking off the 2011 MLS season, the Vancouver Whitecaps have signed four more of their young trialists. Bilal Duckett, Jeb Brovsky, and Brian Sylvestre have all agreed to MLS terms, and good for them. Duckett and Brovsky were both SuperDraft picks while Sylvestre had graduated from the Whitecaps Residency. But it still leaves the team with a remarkable eight players in camp but not under contract. Mouloud Akloul, Michael Boxall, Bedri Gashi, Kevin Harmse, Alexandre Morfaw, Cornelius Stewart, Camilo da Silva Sanvezzo, and Russell Teibert are still kicking around Empire Field with hope but without a contract.</p>
<p>Not all of them are in the same situation, of course. Stewart has left Canada to be with his sick father and, according to Marc Weber, <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/ProvinceWeber/status/47389332574711809">will join the Whitecaps Residency</a> upon his return. Akloul has been fighting the same ankle injury for more than nine months and, while practicing, still shows no signs of being resolved. Sanvezzo is having visa problems getting his trial extended. But Boxall, Gashi, Harmse, Morfaw, and Teibert and still playing, still in training camp, and even though a few of them are winning core roles in the pre-season squad, all are still waiting for their MLS deals.</p>
<p>What, in short, is their <em>deal</em>?</p>
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<p>Out of the remaining trialists, Bedri Gashi is probably the biggest mystery. It's even a mystery what country he was born in, since he's a native of Kosovo (though he grew up in Switzerland). Just eighteen years old, the tall, lanky Gashi could play with the Residency team if he failed to make the grade in MLS. And, let's face it, he probably will. While healthy and having been training with the big club, Gashi has barely gotten a glimpse of the pre-season matches, getting only a few minutes here and there and appearing in second-team matches. In terms of the depth chart, he's trying to overtake Russell Teibert and Blake Wagner on the left side. He's trying to overtake Nizar Khalfan, Wes Knight, and someday Michael Nanchoff on the right side. And, again, he's just eighteen. I think we can book Gashi for either the PDL team or his outright release, and I don't think this is going to be news to any of you, but it's nice sometimes to just remember Gashi's still around.</p>
<p>Russell Teibert is also a teenage wide midfielder. That's where the similarities with Gashi end. Far from being a third-stringer who needs some seasoning, Teibert's stormed into a starting role on left wing with the Whitecaps in pre-season. He hasn't been a ninety-minute man, which is worrying given the injury and fitness problems he's encountered over the past season. But his skill, his enthusiasm, and his poise have been undeniable. In the minds of almost every observer, he has justly won a Major League Soccer contract. Even if he does struggle a little bit in his first season, Teibert is <em>eighteen</em>. You can afford to patiently nurture an eighteen-year-old two-time Canadian U-17 player of the year with bags of skill a little bit.</p>
<p>What's the hold-up? He's Canadian; it's not like he needs a work permit. Everybody expects Teibert to sign, but nobody knows why he hasn't yet. Is Teibert taking advantage of his vastly-increased profile and asking for plenty of money? Remember that cash concerns sent the promising Kyle Porter out of town; might Teibert be in the same boat? Are the Whitecaps seriously considering sparing Teibert's youth and sending him back to the Residency? Or is it just that the team has been pre-occupied concluding more difficult negotiations with the likes of Hassli and Chiumiento, Teibert's in no hurry, and the eventual signing is just a formality with a couple wrinkles left to iron out? Who the hell knows; this is the Vancouver Whitecaps, they don't tell people things! I'm of course optimistic Teibert will eventually sign, but given the incredible promise he's shown can you blame me for thinking something must go wrong? You can't be a Canadian soccer fan without being a cynic.</p>
<p>Speaking of Canadian soccer cynicism, Kevin Harmse! I think the Whitecaps really should sign Harmse if he's willing to take minimal money. In his occasional appearances since joining the team on trial, Harmse has looked reasonably fit despite his injury history. Moreover, the Whitecaps aren't chock-a-block with veteran MLS defenders. If Harmse signs, that'll bring the number of Whitecaps defenders to play more than ten MLS games up to... two. You'll doubtless recall my ranting about <a href="http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/content.php?1342-developingdepth">the Whitecaps' lack of depth</a> on defense, and Harmse would be seriously helpful in that.</p>
<p>I think the Whitecaps will sign Harmse if he looks fit. Actually, I think they'll sign most of these guys; they only have twenty-three players under MLS contracts so it's not like they haven't got the room. The fitness with Harmse is the question. Chivas traded him for borderline nothing and Houston released him for absolutely nothing, so some pretty decent MLS teams have been worried about him. Harmse is a limited player and probably isn't worth holding onto out of hope; keep him if he can contribute immediately and release him if he can't. I really hope he can, though. We need the help.</p>
<p>Alexandre Morfaw is in an unfortunately position. The 22-year-old Morfaw is older than Gershon Koffie or Michael Nanchoff but a little less good. He's a nice, decent player but has no distinguishing skills that can get him into a lineup day in, day out. He's probably too old to stick with the USL PDL team. Morfaw has an attractive mean streak but, even if the Whitecaps do sign him, I can't imagine him sticking around too long. Barring the unforeseen, Morfaw might get a contract to make up the numbers but would really need to show something off if he were to make the 2012 team.</p>
<p>Michael Boxall is another guy with quite a bit to prove, but in an entirely different sense. Remember, we picked this big, slow kid from New Zealand in the Supplementary Draft, and he may wind up single-handedly answering the question "why does MLS even bother with the Supplementary Draft?" First he was going to struggle to make the team and now he might start our first MLS game if the Jay DeMerit injury is as bad as everybody fears. I like Michael Boxall. I've <a href="http://www.eightysixforever.com/2011/1/22/1949685/the-whitecaps-many-many-additions-in-review-part-two-supplementary">always liked Michael Boxall</a> and I like him even more now. He's a big, solid, intelligent sort on the field who plays a no-nonsense style and could never possibly be an all-League defender but could be a serious contributor to a contending team for a long time.</p>
<p>Will the Whitecaps spend a roster spot on Boxall? Almost certainly. And, indeed, they should. Without Boxall (or Harmse), the Whitecaps would be very thin at central defense. Unless you count Jeb Brovsky, and please don't, or unless Mouloud Akloul gets healthy, and I'm beginning to wonder if they accidentally replaced his ankle with chicken bones. Boxall is the sort of limited but useful player that MLS teams have gotten mileage out of for years. Heck, the Whitecaps have one starting at centre back in the form of Greg Janicki. I think Boxall will be fine.</p>