Vancouver Whitecaps: Martin Rennie's swap shop

I was completely prepared to offer up something resembling an in-depth analysis of the blockbuster, if not shocking due to its lack of preceding rumors, trade which sent Sebastian Le Toux eastward once more, this time to New York, in return for the pacy Jamaican winger Dane Richards, though my aspirations of musing about this intriguing deal were dealt a bit of a curveball when it was announced that striker Kenny Miller, most recently of Cardiff, had signed up on a Designated Player's salary and would soon be joining Richards out west as well.

Thankfully, or at least from the perspective of a wordy soccer pundit, this additional bit of news makes the happenings in Vancouver just that much more fascinating as they attempt to make the MLS playoffs in only their second year in the league.
That a team would embark upon such a bevy of deals at this time of year is certainly nothing new in MLS, though it is rare and somewhat perplexing that a team so firmly in contention as Vancouver, a team that has been rather firmly in the top four in the Western Conference from this first kick of a ball this term, would so drastically alter the makeup of a squad that, while sometimes surprisingly profligate in front of goal, has done such a great job of getting their results up to this point. Yet, despite their place in the table, the Whitecaps have made more noise than anyone else in the player market this summer.

Davide Chiumiento's return to his native Switzerland, this time with FC Zürich, in recent days was certainly a move that came unexpectedly, and perhaps his exit was one that put these other wheels and dominoes into motion, specifically the Le Toux/Richards trade. While Richards is hardly as technical as Chiumiento, he will at least give Martin Rennie a weapon which will allow the Whitecaps to stretch defenses with some speed that they lacked before. If they continue to play with two and even three defensive midfielders, a setup that has frustrated some Vancouver fans, such a counterattacking outlet is paramount.


Whether they remain so clogged with midfielders in their starting eleven is the prime question at the moment, as it now seems hard to believe that Rennie would make this move for Miller with his sights set on continuing on with a lone striker up front. If he were to do so, he would have both Darren Mattocks and Eric Hassli fighting for scraps of minutes here and there, and it's quite hard to believe that such a scenario would work out well. If some are to be believed, this just might signal a rather disappointing end to Hassli's tenure in a Whitecaps shirt.

The roster turnover at such a pivotal point of the season, especially as LA has come to life and in turn closed the gap on Vancouver in the standings, is a gutsy one by Rennie, and one must assume that he has some greater vision in mind at the moment. I don't think anyone could logically doubt that the new recruits of Barry Robson and Kenny Miller can do a great job here on this side of the Atlantic, but two new additions can't win playoff berths and league honors on their own. Their biggest task is the same as those of their new colleagues at the moment: gel and gel fast, because the MLS season isn't slowing down anytime soon. If these moves come off well and Vancouver maintains their place, Vancouver fans will be singing Rennies praises, but such praise will be scarce if this mid-season roster turnover all goes wrong.