CHARLESTON, SC – FEBRUARY 16: Kekuta Manneh #23 of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC runs with the ball against the Charleston Battery during their game at Blackbaud Stadium on February 16, 2013 in Charleston, South Carolina. (Photo by Rainier Ehrhardt/Getty Images)

On Thursday, Columbus Crew SC and the Vancouver Whitecaps entered into the first big trade since the season started: the Crew sent out-of-favor midfielder Tony Tchani, $225,000 in Targeted Allocation Money and $75,000 in General Allocation Money to the Caps in exchange for spark-plug winger Kekuta Manneh. This move signals a new direction for Columbus, while for Vancouver, it shows a high level of trust from the coaching staff in attackers like Fredy Montero, Brek Shea, and 16-year-old Alphonso Davies, who will help to take Manneh’s position on the field.

Here’s what that means for both parties:

Vancouver fills a need

The Caps will get their first chance to show what they can do in the post-Manneh era this weekend when they host the LA Galaxy. With just one point from three games so far, they desperately need the home points against their conference rivals.

Letting Manneh go will take away what was previously their main facet of attack, and will place an emphasis on others like Montero who need to take the burden of being their main goalscorer and most threatening attacker. They will have to find ways to build attacks in ways other than on the counter, as without the lightning-fast Manneh, there are no true threats in transition.

Pedro Morales, who used to be a very effective deep creator, is no longer on the team, and with the sit-deep-and-counter option diminished, they’ll have to find new ways to push the ball forward. Nicolas Mezquida playing as a so-called ‘No. 10’ will not do it, and neither will Christian Bolaños, Russell Teibert, or even Tchani. Whether that means they look outside Vancouver for a creator or they make it work with what they have is yet to be seen.

Whatever happens there comes with newfound defensive presence and midfield capability with the addition of Tchani, who will likely fill Teibert’s role next to d-mid Matias Laba as a ball-winning, ground-covering No. 8 with the ability to adequately support the attack. Tchani, who was capped by the US national team before switching his allegiance to his native country, Cameroon — played the role perfectly with the Crew as they were making their run to the MLS Cup, and provided an important complement for Wil Trapp. Players like Mohammed Saeid last year and Artur this year have yet to reach the level that Tchani did in Columbus.

Adding Tchani and subtracting Manneh gives Vancouver this lineup:

Brek Shea is out Saturday on red card suspension, leaving Mezquida or Christian Techera as possible replacements. This also expects a lot of 16-year old Alphonso Davies, who is, I repeat, 16.

That crop of attackers isn’t exactly world-beating, but that pair of Laba and Tchani in deep midfield will be huge for them, and could spur Laba’s movement to the top of the MLS d-mid list.

It’s also worth noting that the Whitecaps have a couple of other possible options in the attack, should they not look foreign for a Manneh replacement/No. 10. 20-year old Homegrown player Marco Bustos (!!) could see playing time in the midfield, which would also be wonderful for the Canadian national team. A less exciting option would be to give 36-year old veteran Mauro Rosales a shot.

Worth exploring is a flat 4-4-2 that puts Erik Hurtado next to Montero up front. That takes a bit of the goal-scoring and creative load off the wingers, and adds a player who has a reputation for putting himself in good positions to score, even if he muffs a lot of them. We’ll see if Carl Robinson takes a look at that.

Columbus move in a new direction

One might look at this trade from Columbus’s perspective and think, “wait, why would they acquire a winger when they already have two good ones?” That would be a legitimate question, because Justin Meram and Ethan Finlay are both up there in the rankings of MLS outside midfielders. The answer? Meram will move into the No. 10 role, and, likely, push Federico Higuain out.

At least, that is the most likely scenario for me. Higuain is 32 and saw a decline in production last season. And while he did have his best game in a while last week against Portland, Meram has shown as an inverted secondary creator that he could easily step right up and replace Higuain should the Crew decide to move on. Gregg Berhalter and co. appear to have done just that.

It will be interesting to see how Manneh does with a team that plays very differently than the Whitecaps did with him. Columbus will make a concerted effort to build from the back and will keep possession higher up the field, reducing the space that Manneh has to beat defenders in footraces.

He’ll have to change the way he makes his runs, and he’ll have to be more creative with the patterns he takes. It will be an adjustment, but he’ll get space from the movement of Finlay and Ola Kamara and the ability of Meram to distribute from advanced positions.

Clearly, though, it’s a net positive for Columbus, who add a completely new element to an attack that has a troubling tendency to suddenly fall silent. It will also reduce the need for constant overlapping runs from the full backs, which sometimes would result in problematic counter-attacks.
If they play it right, this acquisition could affirm the Crew as real Eastern Conference contenders.

About Harrison Hamm

Sports stuff for The Comeback. Often will write about MLS. Follow me on twitter @harrisonhamm21.