The Major League Soccer schedule is out. The circling of specific dates on the calendar is well underway, perhaps already finished by now for some.
And anyone hoping to catch a glimpse of former Liverpool FC captain Steven Gerrard playing for the L.A. Galaxy at BC Place Stadium will either have to wait until the local Vancouver Whitecaps and Galaxy clash in the playoffs or until next year.
The Whitecaps open the 2015 MLS regular season at home against Toronto FC on March 7. They’ll host the Galaxy, defending MLS Cup champs, on April 4.
On Wednesday, the Galaxy officially announced the signing of the 34-year-old Gerrard to a designated player contract. The English midfielder won’t join the L.A. side until July during the summer transfer window, according to a statement from the Galaxy.
“He’s one of the top 10 players in the world, so I think it shows where Major League Soccer is going,” said Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson during media availability Wednesday.
“I think it makes a statement. Obviously Frank Lampard is a fantastic coup for the league and Steven is the icing on the cake, really. He’s a top player.”
The expansion New York City Football Club was able to land Lampard to a designated player deal, but he, too, won’t arrive on that club’s roster until the summer, which is a development that has caused a great deal of controversy toward that new club and irritation amongst its fans.
The Whitecaps host NYCFC on Sept. 26.
MLS expansion means that Sporting KC and the Houston Dynamo, previously in the Eastern Conference, have moved over to the West, which only adds to the degree of difficulty for the Whitecaps in their quest to return to the playoffs.
“It was very hard last year, as we all know,” said Robinson.
“Now it’s probably going to be extremely harder. It’s something we’ve got to deal with but last year we done very well against the top teams and we struggled against the teams that we probably should’ve beaten. It’s going to be a tough conference.”
Source:: Metro News
