Russell Teibert plays his 300th game for the Vancouver Whitecaps

300th appearance

When Russell Teibert got subbed on in the 89th minute in the game against Portland, that was when he made his 300th appearance for the club. It was a special moment for the Whitecaps captain, as 300 games is a lot, especially in soccer and in Major League Soccer. Now we talk about it here in this blog, and I will give my opinions and thoughts.

Captain

Teibert has been captain for a while now, as when he was younger, he would be captain from time to time. But now whenever Teibert comes onto the pitch the captain's armband goes to him, even when Ryan Gauld is on the pitch. But it is well deserved for the Canadian as he has been a part of this club since the very very start of the MLS era, since March 2011, when the Caps joined MLS. He joined specifically on the date March 17, 2011, after being in the Whitecaps academy from the earlier ages. He had very small glimpse of being a captain, but it was very little. For when he became a permanent captain, it was probably somewhere around 2019 or 2020, where he became captain but during the rebuilding moments of the Whitecaps in 2019, there wasn't really a definitive captain. In 2020 is when I want to say Rusty became the captain of the Whitecaps, and in 2021 he officially cemented himself of being the captain of Vancouver. It is rare for a star not to be a captain, as for most MLS clubs and for most of Europe's clubs. The captain is the best or one of the best on the team, so this really is a special case for the Whitecaps and Russell Teibert as when he is on the pitch, he will be receiving the captain's armband. Playing over a decade for a MLS club is super unusual though, but that is something that Russell Teibert is familiar about. As Ryan Gauld will usually give Teibert the armband when being subbed on, but now his playing time decreased from last year so the captaincy goes to Gauld for most of the time. But still, it's a nice reward to gift to the veteran to show that you appreciate him for his loyalty, as he has been here for a long time, and he deserves to be the captain of the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Passion and desire

Love or hate Teibert, he has shown the passion and effort to win always. No matter if it's only a pre-season game, or it's a MLS playoff game. I believe last season even though a lot of fans wanted him to be dropped out of the lineup, he registered 8.7km in distance covered per 90 minutes which was second in Major League Soccer, only behind Nico Lodeiro from the Sounders. His effort is spectacular and that stat proves it, even though he might not be the most skilled player, his effort and desire to win puts him over the edge as a MLS player.While the best season statistically is in 2013, when he had 2 goals and 9 assists in MLS play, which is 11 goal contributions. While he shown passion when he made his 300th appearance against Portland, as he gave the Whitecaps a team talk in the locker room.

And being a captain, means being a leader, I believe he is well respected between both Vanni and his teammates. While giving it your all, for a club that has helped you for over a decade is great, if not why would the Caps keep Rusty for so long? The combination between effort, desire and leadership led to him and truly supportive and loyal fans to support him. As some of the Whitecaps fans don't really like him, but a lot of the Southsiders, like Russell Teibert a lot. It also led him to 25 goal contributions in MLS, according to the Whitecaps website.

What his future holds

It is certainly very impressive to have played 300 games for your homegrown club, but now we need to look forward to what the future holds for Rusty. As his contract will run out after the 2023 season, but there is a option for 2024. Will the Whitecaps trigger that option? Time will tell on that one, as he earns $400,000 this season, so the amount will be similar if they trigger the option. On another note, will the Caps pull through with some magic on this deal, as maybe they can get a contract extension done before MLS free agency. As they did with Veselinovic. But Teibert is clearly a less important player at least on the pitch, it is known as he hasn't started a game in the MLS this season, and he made 6 appearances off the substitution bench. On the other hand, his Canadian Championship displays were great in my opinion, so maybe for bigger games like a Canadian Championship final, they'll need his experience. But maybe they need to clear cap, with the limited salary cap that MLS has. So there is a reasonable chance that this will be the last season for Teibert wearing a Whitecaps uniform. Either way, it'll either be a emotional goodbye for Rusty and the fans. Or Teibert will stay then he will continue to bring his experience to use.