Barry Robson set for Whitecaps debut on Wednesday

There are plenty of fresh summer faces to see in Major League Soccer. Marco Di Vaio debuted last week for Montreal. Same for Houston attacker Oscar Boniek Garcia, who appears to be a real find for the Dynamo, even if he’s not quite synched up just yet with teammates.

I’m also eager to see what Scottish international Barry Robson can do for Vancouver, how he fits into a team that already has good things going on, where he plays (Wide or central? Midfield or forward?), etc.

Sounds like we won’t have to wait long to start sorting this one out. Whitecaps manager Martin Rennie says his new attacker will be on the field Wednesday as the Whitecaps invade Dicks Sporting Goods Park for a Round 18 mid-week contest.

What say you, Barry?

I’ve been here a couple of weeks and I’m here to play. That’s the manager’s decision. If he wants me to play from the start, he wants me to play from the start. The team have been going really well – unfortunate to lose their last game … It’s not easy to get in the team at the moment, because they had four really good results before that so I have to bide my time. If it’s not Wednesday, hopefully it will be Saturday.”

That was from MLSSoccer.com’s Martin MacMahon, who spoke to Robson following Whitecaps training on Monday.

In that loss to Los Angeles (3-0, where things went far less than “well”), the Whitecaps’ three-man midfield right to left was Gershon Koffie, Jun Davidson and John Thorrington. It’s been an effective midfield triangle, although one that could use some punching up on offense; Robson seems perfect for the job.

Koffie remains one of my favorite young MLS men, so I’d favor keeping him on the field as much as possible. Thorrington can be effective, but given his history of injury he could surely use rest along the way. Davidson is a reliable figure although fairly limited past his role of tackling and screening.

Although Rennie has lots of options along the front line, Robson could easily man one of the outside spots in the team’s 4-3-3.