VANCOUVER, BC – The season is barely over, but head coach Carl Robinson is squarely focused on building a stronger team in 2018.
Already this year, the ‘Caps have brought in a number of key additions who are likely entering the best years of their career. That includes 26-year-old New Zealand goalkeeper Stefan Marinović, 25-year-old Egyptian central midfielder Aly Ghazal, 26-year-old Nigerian central midfielder Nosa Igiebor, 25-year-old Australian winger/forward Bernie Ibini, and 24-year-old Peruvian attacking talent Yordy Reyna.
“There’s still more players that will come in,” emphasized Robinson. “But when you have a core of players in their prime, it’s exciting times.”
Robinson revealed that as many as eight or nine players may be on the move out, which could open up a significant amount of salary cap space to work with. That would allow the ‘Caps to inject fresh talent into a roster that already competed for the top spot in the Western Conference.
With two appearances in the Conference Semifinals during the past three seasons, they’ve been one of the more competitive sides in the league. But Robinson knows that they need more to achieve a breakthrough.
Not wasting any time, the Welsh manager will soon be heading out on several international scouting trips. He already has targets in mind, and with those potential additions, Robinson sees no reason why the ‘Caps can’t push even harder for MLS Cup in 2018.
“I know who I want to try to sign now… if we can add these three, four players to what we’ve got already, we’ll be fine.”
