Omar Salgado May Be Pushing Vancouver Whitecaps teammate Atiba Harris Out Of The Picture

There has long been concern of Atiba Harris’ ability to play forward for the Vancouver Whitecaps. Now that Omar Salgado is back in the picture, it looks like he’ll be moving back to his more natural wide midfield position. Trouble is, the Whitecaps are already looking set in the midfield, leading 86 Forever, SB Nation’s Vancouver Whitecaps blog, to speculate that Harris needs to make an impression this week.

Coincidentally the team is having a bit of trouble at wing at the moment, with Davide Chiumiento and Shea Salinas already out injured as well as Russell Teibert leaving soon on U-20 international duty. If ever there was a moment for Harris to stake his claim to a wing spot, this is it. Frankly, I suspect that Harris would look a fair bit better in his natural position, where his obvious failings on a soccer field would be less important. What I expect to happen is for Teitur Thordarson to either start Harris and keep Salgado on the bench or start Salgado and keep Harris on the bench. Still, Harris on the wing seems like a natural move given the team’s needs and the player’s abilities.

Suddenly a team that looked shockingly thin has more depth than they know what to do with. Funny what a couple signings and a little luck can do.