The Vancouver Whitecaps’ offseason is in full swing. One of the biggest questions facing the club is whether they will bring back their leading goal-scorer, Lucas Cavallini.
Cavallini had another up and down season in 2022.
The 29-year-old made 24 appearances for the Whitecaps, which included playing an entire month with a partially torn quad. The second-highest paid player on the Whitecaps at $1.46 million, Cavallini scored nine goals and added two assists.
But it wasn’t exactly a banner season from the Canadian international.
One of the biggest concerns surrounding Cavallini is his lack of consistent availability due to the amount of yellow cards and suspensions he picks up over the course of a season.
Cavallini was suspended three times during the 2022 season, with his longest suspension resulting in a four-game ban for a violent conduct incident versus Nashville SC on August 27.
The red card to Cavallini #VWFC
This will be looked at by MLS pic.twitter.com/ZEZgiiLXSF
— Joshua Griffith (@JoshuaGriffith0) August 28, 2022
In 63 MLS games with Vancouver, Cavallini has racked up 22 yellow cards — an average of one yellow card every 2.86 games. He had nine yellows and one red during the 2022 season alone.
“[It’s] something I have to work on for sure,” Cavallini said of his on-field discipline in an exclusive interview with Daily Hive. “Not committing so many fouls and try to keep my head in place. If I hadn’t missed those games we could have got better results or I could have had more goals on the season.”
There has been criticism from Whitecaps supporters regarding Cavallini’s inability to consistently keep his cool on the pitch. While Cavallini has shown that he can score timely goals, knowing that he will be available to play in games is not always certain.
Cavallini hasn’t excelled in Vancouver the way the Whitecaps likely hoped he would have when they acquired him in 2019. It begs the question, does Cavallini even want to remain with the Whitecaps going forward?
“My family is happy here, [it’s a] good group of guys here, the staff, everybody,” Cavallini said. “I kind of miss the fact that we didn’t make the playoffs. I wanted it to be a perfect year, making the playoffs and winning the Canadian Championship. Maybe I need that before I can eventually move on from here.”
“There’s still ongoing [contract] talks right now. My head is right now focusing on the World Cup. Contract-wise here with Vancouver, my agent and the club are talking. It’s something that’s still ongoing. There’s still time to figure those things out.”
Vancouver has a club option on Cavallini for next season. Whitecaps CEO and Sporting Director Axel Schuster has until November 14 to pick up or decline all options for the 2023 season.
“Lucas is in a very special situation,” Schuster told reporters during his end-of-season media availability on Wednesday. “He’s going to a World Cup. He has not played the minutes [this season] he was probably hoping for, although he has played far better. To keep him here and have him in our squad we have to all be on the same page with what his role is. That will still be discussed in the next two weeks.”
The Whitecaps have several options they can look at when deciding Cavallini’s future with the club. Vancouver could pick up his option and decide to move him on to another club.
There’s also a possibility that the club declines his option and he becomes a free agent, or his option is declined and both parties reach an agreement on a contract extension.
The 2021 offseason featured two Whitecaps goalkeepers that requested to be moved before the start of this season.
Has Cavallini or his agent made a trade request to the club?
“No, I never requested a move,” Cavallini said. “[My agent] has everything set for me. For me right now is trying to negotiate here in Vancouver.”
If the Whitecaps decide to bring Cavallini back for his fourth season with the club, there needs to be an improvement in terms of him keeping his intensity and composure in check.
Having someone like a sports psychologist to talk to and work through some of the challenges an athlete experiences during a season could make all the difference for Cavallini.
“We have somebody here,” Cavallini explained. “We talk a lot. We get along well, he’s happy with my progress this year. It’s more things to get better at and try and get better numbers. There’s people helping me out with that and helping the team out more in general.”
Cavallini and the Whitecaps will continue to train at the National Soccer Development Centre until the end of October. The Canadian international is expected to join Canada for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar in early November once the roster is officially announced.
The Whitecaps will return to Vancouver for the start of training camp on January 6. Vancouver will fly to Europe on January 10 for two weeks of preseason training.
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