Welcome Matt: Losing Crepeau is a big wet blanket for Whitecaps fans
The Welcome Matt can be heard weekdays on Sekeres and Price. Stream the live show at SekeresAndPrice.com Monday to Friday, or download the latest podcast.
The team MVP wants out on the eve of preseason, to a sunny, sexier destination and climate.
It’s a big wet blanket on the seasonal hopes and aspirations just when supporters were getting excited.
It’s so very Whitecaps.
And yet, we’re still willing to hear more regarding goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau and this thunderbolt that hit us last night — a trade to LAFC where former ‘Caps coach Marc Dos Santos now resides.
He’s a Canadian international and one of — if not the best — keepers in MLS.
It’s an MLS-record transfer fee for the position, $1 million in general allocation money.
Wishing @MaxCrepeau all the best for the future
We've acquired $1m in General Allocation Money, plus additional incentives and a 2025 first-round draft pick from @lafc in exchange for Maxime Crépeau#VWFC
— Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) January 21, 2022
The club will have to allot these funds to other players and a replacement No. 1 keeper.
But it’s just so disappointing that the Vancouver Whitecaps couldn’t build off that sensational second half last year with all the key pieces. And it’s even more disappointing — again without further knowledge — that Crepeau didn’t arrive at camp and wanted out for personal or family reasons.
But it does fit a troubling Whitecaps narrative of team MVPs bolting less than a calendar year later.
Fun fact (Or not so fun):
6 out of the last 10 BMO #VWFC Player of the Year award winners played only one or fewer seasons with the club after winning the award.
Crepeau the latest name to the list including Adnan, Davies, Waston, Camilo and Lee pic.twitter.com/CECqKaIq1Q
— Ben Righetti (@RighettiBen) January 20, 2022
Six of the last 10 Whitecaps MVPs played one or fewer seasons in Vancouver after winning the award, as local journalist Ben Righetti points out. Crepeau joins a list that includes Ali Adnan, Alphonso Davies (also a record transfer), and of course, Camilo with all that international intrigue and mystery of Mexican poachers.
Now, the Whitecaps may well be accused of prioritizing money over competitiveness, and that’s fair given the financial realities of this pandemic. It’s also a reputation well-earned following the Phonzie transfer.
I do think ownership looks at player transfers as a revenue pillar, ’tis the culture in soccer when you’re not one of the world’s top teams.
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On the flip side, there is a case to be made for this.
Crepeau has exceeded expectations. He’s 27. This might well be his peak, and I’m doubting he would have had a long run as a seven-figure transfer player.
So selling high, spending less on the position and being able to redeploy the money elsewhere, I can see the case for it.
Even it feels so wrong.
Today on Sekeres and Price… @patersonjeff in for Blake!
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📧[email protected]— Sekeres and Price (@sekeresandprice) January 21, 2022
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