The Enviable Roster Build of the Vancouver Whitecaps

Or, how to build out the middle of a roster

The Vancouver Whitecaps came into their second leg matchup with Inter Miami as underdogs, somehow. Despite a 2-0 lead and a style of play that has led to absolute dominance in two different competitions, there was always the fear that they would fade under the bright lights and big stars in Ft Lauderdale. When Jordi Alba sunk the first goal in the 9th minute to cut the lead in half, it looked like that fear might be fully justified. From that point on, though, Vancouver turned the game on its head and walked out 3-1 winners (5-1 on aggregate).

Vancouver’s success this season has been remarkable in large part because of how unlikely it feels. They’ve been solid for the last couple years, managing to qualify for the playoffs and win the Canadian Championship, but always seemed to be a team punching above their weight. The firing of manage Vanni Sartini seemed to be unreasonable; it seemed like they were performing in a way that was indicated by the talent level in place. The early losses of Designated Players Stuart Amstrong, who left the team, and Ryan Gauld, who went down with injury, felt like sealing the fate of the team to be struggle.

Now they sit atop the Supporter’s Shield race, and are headed to the CONCACAF Champions Cup final. They have the best underlying numbers in the entire league by a decent margin. They are among the league leaders in field tilt for and against as well as efficiency in scoring and preventing goals (as measured by final third passes per xG both for and against). They are the only team to excel in all 4 areas. There are no clear weaknesses in this team; nothing that can be attacked and pulled at in order to unravel them. In large part this is because of the incredible roster building that has taken place in the last 4 years.

The fact of the matter is that the teams that are really exceptional in MLS aren’t the ones with the best DPs, or even the best youth academies - it’s the teams that fill in all the gaps of their roster with as much quality as possible.

Look at this roster! It’s a thing of beauty.

First, let’s appreciate the Brian White contract. He has a cap hit of 754K in 2024, which is just barely over the TAM threshold. He’s not even in the top 30 of earners at center forward in the league. He’s also under contract until the end of 2027. That is incredible value for a player who seems to have exactly what it takes to score goals in MLS. He’s going to get plenty of write-ups this week, all well deserved. Fun fact, he’s also a graduate of the high school my wife and her siblings went to (her sister was in his graduating class).

One of the things that stands out too is how well the middle of the team has been constructed as well - and based on what we know about Vancouver, they’ve built in an analytically conscious way.

The Analytics Darlings:

Ali Ahmed is a great example of this. For years, his G+ has been above average, and in 2023 it was outstanding. At the same time the public criticism was his lack of end product. After a few years in the league, he’s fully come into his own; he terrorized Marcelo Weigandt all game with his dribbling and incisive passing on all 3 goals. Despite his production over the last 3 years, he was on just 100K salary.

JC Ngando is another. The midfielder was taken in the Superdraft, and as such didn’t have a lot of expectations. He found his feet as a utility player with the Whitecaps 2, then excelled in USL Championship as one of the best midfielders in the league. He’s translated that form to MLS play and can fit in wherever the team needs him.

Of course, any discussion of this team would be incomplete without looking at Sebastian Berhalter. He’s been a capable rotation midfielder for years, but his name has overshadowed anything about his play. He’s exploded in the CCC run and just this week put Miami to the sword with two goals and two assists across both legs. His underlyings are strong - not quite on the same level as Ahmed or Ngando, but still very good. He’s shown the ability to be an aggressive progressive passer as well as finding space in the final third to run onto the ball. He’s looking like a league leading center midfielder on just 330K per year.

The Build Philosophy:

Another aspect of Vancouver’s roster build is that they tend to use their resources on more experienced players. Rather than swinging on very young players for their U22 signings, they picked up Pedro Vite and Edier Ocampo. Vite is already 23, but maintains his U22 status for the rest of his contract. Ocampo, at 20, already had 44 first team appearances with Athletico Nacional to demonstrate his quality. Tate Johnson, their first round Superdraft pick, is one of the younger players in the rotation but made his professional debut with the Tampa Bay Rowdies before ever stepping foot on a college campus.

There are no big misses on the Vancouver roster; while Gauld is out, the other DP on the roster Andres Cubas has been a stabilizing force as a defensive midfielder that allows the team to be so aggressive in keeping the tilt high. Pedro Vite and Edier Ocampo are both having great success as U22 signings, a roster designation that has been very inconsistent across the league. Throughout the middle of the roster are MLS proven starters and contributors like Tristan Blackmon and Yohei Takaoka. New signings Emmanuel Sabbi and Jayden Nelson have fit right in.

This hit rate means that Vancouver not only has a great roster but also flexibility. They have 3 available senior roster spots, two open U22 spots, and 1.629 million GAM available (aka flexible cap space for the non-MLS followers). There is plenty of room to make moves through the summer, something that has to be chilling for the other teams already trailing the Whitecaps in the standings.

In fact, at this point their biggest challenge might just be how best to work Ryan Gauld back into the starting lineup when he returns from injury.