Whitecaps: Stuart Armstrong transfer a lesson on how to lose a fan base in 10 days (again)

The Vancouver Whitecaps signed a highly touted Scottish soccer talent, who had made his bones with Dundee United, away from a top-tier team in England, and inked him to a multi-year Designated Player deal.

But coming into his second year, the highly paid star jumped ship in pre-season to sign with Sheffield, citing his family’s inability to settle in Vancouver as the No. 1 reason.

That is the precise recounting of Stuart Armstrong’s six-game tenure with the Caps.

That is also the precise recounting of Barry Robson’s tenure with the Whitecaps 13 years ago.

If there’s a lesson to be learned from history, it doesn’t feel like the Caps have passed the course.

Armstrong is now gone from the team — he left training camp in Marbella on Wednesday to report for his medical with Sheffield Wednesday (the team’s official name), a move made official Friday — as the final touches to his contract were put to bed. (Robson, it should be noted, departed Vancouver for Sheffield United.) It took less than 10 days for the rumours of his departure to become reality.

Armstrong was the supposed missing link that the Caps’ offence needed, and looked every bit worth the US$2.88 million annual salary when he combined with Ryan Gauld to rout the Portland Timbers in the playoffs. He had a goal and two assists in just his second start since joining the team in September, while Gauld had a hat trick.

But after just 10 total appearances and five months as Whitecap … poof! He was gone. He now becomes a footnote on the long, long list of disappointing DPs in team history.

The DP tag, just bureaucratic MLS jargon that means the player’s salary won’t count against the cap — eg: Lionel Messi’s $20.5M for Inter Miami — is reserved for those players who are supposed to be difference makers. The talent that tips the scale of the game in your favour.

And historically, the Whitecaps have whiffed on them. It could be argued that only three? four? on the list are worthy of DP designation. How many were among the best of their position in MLS? Gauld, Cubas, Pedro Morales in his first season, perhaps Matias Laba and then … the qualifiers drop off precipitously.

The worst part of Armstrong’s departure is the optics. It makes him the fourth high-profile player to have asked out, for various reasons, over the past two seasons.

Julian Gressel triggered a midseason trade when he told the team he wanted to be closer to his family on the East Coast. His replacement, Richie Lareya, had an equally truncated time in Vancouver, heading for Toronto right after the season. Fafa Picault asked out from the West Coast as well, to be closer to his family in Florida.

Their reasons are all valid but does nothing to quell the reputation that no one wants to play in Vancouver — save Gauld, who appreciates the relative anonymity after a career started in a high-pressure, high stakes football fishbowl. And he remains the biggest fish to have ever plied his trade for the Vancouver Whitecaps.

DP’S THROUGH THE YEARS

Eric Hassli (2011-12)

The team’s very first DP lasted a single season before being traded to Toronto but left a legacy in the most spectacular — still — goal in team history, his 2011 bicycle golazo against the Seattle Sounders. He also had the team’s first MLS goal. He was 10th overall in MLS scoring (10), behind teammate Camilo Sanvezzo (12)

Mustapha Jarju (2011-12)

The name that has become synonymous with the Whitecaps’ shortcomings, Jarju became the first African DP in MLS history in July 2011 but scored exactly zero goals in 10 appearances and was dropped the following January.

Barry Robson (2012-13)

He came, he saw … and left. He scored three goals in 18 games.

Kenny Miller (2012-14)

Another Scot with an impressive pedigree, Miller signed in Vancouver in 2012, and left in June 2014 having scored 13 goals in 43 league appearances. His best season (8 goals, 1 assist) had him 28th in MLS.

He’s now an assistant coach with Atlanta United, along with … former Caps coach and good friend Carl Robinson, who’d joined Vancouver as a coach at the same time.

Matías Laba (2014-17)

A tenacious midfielder who led the league in tackles in 2014, he was traded to Vancouver after Toronto found itself in a roster crunch with four DPs. He made 113 regular-season appearances before an ACL injury spelled the end of his days in Vancouver.

Pedro Morales (2014-16)

Another rare ‘W’ for the Caps, as the talented midfielder left the club as the all-time leader in regular-season assists and goals, marks that have since been eclipsed. In his first season, he cracked double digits in goals (10) and assists (10) and finished 11th overall in goal contributions.

Octavio Rivero (2014-16)

He started his career with five goals in six MLS games (outstanding!), then had seven more over his next 42 regular-season appearances (out the door).

Brek Shea (2017-18)

Shea would probably describe himself as a riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a ham sandwich — or something equally artful and oddball — on those rare occasions you could get him to speak. The former 2008 No. 2 draft pick was a DP in 2017 and probably best remembered for being an unwanted player who had an option automatically triggered by a playing-time clause that the front office didn’t realize was there.

He had four goals and two assists in his ‘DP’ year.

Kendall Waston (2014-18)

The Towering Tico was a stalwart on the Whitecaps’ back line for four years but was a DP for just one — 2018 — before the centre-back was traded to expansion side Cincinnati FC, where he was reunited with former Caps coach Alan Koch. He was top 10 in clearances in his DP season, and a fearsome presence on defence.

Fredy Montero (2017, 2019-20)

Tip of the hat to former Cap Mauro Rosales, who was instrumental in bringing in the Seattle Sounders’ legend to Vancouver. He sandwiched seasons around a season with Sporting CP — including a brief crossover with a young Gauld — before returning to Seattle, where he started his MLS career. He was 15th in goal contributions his first year (13/6) and 62nd (8/2) his second season. He finished with 28 career Whitecaps goals.

Hwang In-Beom (2019-20)

A talented and technical midfielder from South Korean only lasted a season-and-a-half in Vancouver, using it as a stepping stone to get to Europe. It stung fans to see him leave, but he had made no secret of his desires. He had just three goals and three assists in Year One, then one assist in five games before he was sold in the next.

Ali Adnan (2019-21)

A perfect representative of some of the worst seasons in Whitecaps history. He was the first fullback to be made a DP in league history, a head-scratching decision at the time. (And still) In his second game, he missed a penalty kick, a woeful Panenka. The team had to cancel his contract six months into the season after being unable to secure the Iraqi a visa. He signed with a Vejle Boldklub in Denmark after being without a club for four months, then blew out his knee just a few weeks later. But still, Ali Adnan, best player.

Lucas Cavallini (2020-22)

‘Cava’ was the most expensive signing in team history when the Caps bought the Canadian international from Puebla in Liga MX for US$5 million. There was hope he would be the anchor of a new “Portuguese style” offence under coach Marc Dos Santos but proved mostly to be just an anchor. He never reached double digits in goals in a season, finishing with 18 goals over three years, before the team — and fans — tired of him, especially after he earned a four-game suspension for a behind-the-play stomp to the head of Nashville’s Alex Muyl.

Sergio Cordova (2022-23)

The whiffs continued with La Pantera. He signed a three-year deal but lasted just six starts, putting up two goals and an assist, before being sold to a Turkish team.

Andrés Cubas (2022-present)

The US$3 million the Whitecaps spent to get the shutdown midfielder from French club N?mes Olympique was worth it. He’s the best defensive player the team has had since Laba, a disrupter and dynamic transition kick-starter.

Ryan Gauld (2022-present)

When Gauld retires or leaves the Whitecaps, he will do so as the best player in the team’s MLS era. He has more assists than any other player, and would have more goals, too, except the beneficiary of his assists has been striker Brian White — the only player with more goals.