VANCOUVER, BC – Carl Robinson has made no secret that Vancouver Whitecaps FC's number one offseason priority is finding a striker – or two.
The 'Caps struggled at times offensively this season, scoring the fewest goals of the teams who made the MLS Cup Playoffs. And that's something Robinson is looking to change in 2015.
"We need to score more goals," Robinson told reporters. "At the start of the season, we were playing very well, creating a number of chances and we were scoring goals. I knew then that that wouldn't maybe continue in that mold, and I was proven right."
"We lacked a goal scorer," he continued. "We had plenty of players who could score goals. For us to only score 42 goals as a team and still make the playoffs is a fantastic achievement, but if we had someone who could score 15, 20, 30 goals then we'd be a totally different proposition. And that's what we've got to try and do."
Midfielder Pedro Morales led the way for Vancouver with 10 goals. The rest of the goals were distributed among 11 different players who found the back of the net this year.
Robinson plans to address those goal-scoring concerns in the offseason, keeping his options open as to where his new firepower will come.
"I'll turn over every rock," Robinson said. "I know what's around in Major League Soccer. In MLS, there are a lot of teams that don't want to give their good players away, and I'm no different. Getting MLS players is difficult. Obviously, with the Expansion Draft, with out-of-contract players, with trades being possible, it does open a few avenues, so that's something that we'll look at. But we'll look abroad as well."
"With the two new teams coming in, the quality is rising. Especially in the Western Conference, it seems to get tougher and tougher each year and it certainly will be next year. We're going to need to make a few additions. Whether it will be a European player or a South/Central American player, I'll be doing a lot of travelling in the offseason."
Robinson's eye for South American talent proved particularly successful for Whitecaps FC this season, with Morales, Matias Laba, Mauro Rosales and Sebastian Fernandez among those making important contributions to the side.
The 'Caps coach has also been taking some counsel from his captain Morales as to his thoughts about potential future additions from South America.
"Robbo talks every day to the players from South America," Morales told reporters. "I think that Robbo will go to Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil for one player, maybe two players. The team, under Robbo as coach, is good to play in for Latin American players. There are many players talking Spanish here, but maybe next year there will be more players coming that are Latin American."
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