Joins Caps after frustrating run in England
By Bruce Constantineau
Cody Arnoux was born in New York and raised in North Carolina.
But after a year in England, signing on with the Vancouver Whitecaps is like coming home.
The 22-year-old former Wake Forest University all-American striker spent the past season with Everton of the English Premier League but couldn't make the senior squad and played just seven games with the reserve side.
Throw in a tough lifestyle adjustment and a couple of unsuccessful trials with lower-level teams after Everton told him they wouldn't renew his contract and the entire experience became downright humbling.
"England is definitely a place where you have to stick through it and really want to be there," Arnoux said following a Whitecaps training session. "I just couldn't take another year of being by myself, with all my friends back here.
"I just think it was the right move for the person I am -- to be back around people I know and trust. It was just time for me to come back home."
He never expected to play for Everton's first team but thought he could impress with the reserves and work his way up in the organization. When that didn't happen, he had trials with Scottish Premier League club Motherwell and English League One side Plymouth Argyle but couldn't earn a contract.
"After the Plymouth experience, I told my agent I didn't want to be [in England] and asked if there was anything of interest back home," Arnoux said. "He brought this [Vancouver opportunity] up and I'd heard it was a great organization with great people and I definitely wanted to be part of that."
So the 5-foot-10, 170-pound forward -who scored 16 goals in his final 16 games with Wake Forest two years ago -signed a USSF D-2 Pro League contract with Vancouver last week, obviously with a view to playing well and earning himself a 2011 Major League Soccer contract with the Whitecaps.
His signing creates a fascinating conflict between the Whitecaps and MLS because the league feels Arnoux must go through an MLS lottery or draft before signing with any team but the Whitecaps feel they can just sign him next year because he is part of their current USSF D-2 roster.
Discussions on the contentious issue between the team and league are continuing, with Arnoux caught in the middle.
"I honestly couldn't tell you anything about it," he said. "I've read some stuff on the Internet about that but I don't know how it works. I'm just playing and kind of just seeing what happens at the end of the year and hoping for something."
Arnoux played the first half of the Whitecaps' 1-1 draw with Tampa Bay last week. It was his first game since March and he readily admits his fitness level isn't the best right now.
"I'm still not there with my touch and it's going to take a couple of weeks for that to happen," he said. "But it's good they had the confidence to put me out there right away."
Whitecaps head coach Teitur Thordarson said many of the eight new players who have joined the team in the past month are not totally game fit, which is why he is running intense training sessions with lots of running drills this week.
"When he is fit, I expect we will see a striker who works hard defensively and gives us some very good scoring opportunities," Thordarson said.
SIDE KICKS: Arnoux skipped a practice game at the end of training Tuesday to ice his left knee ... talented centre back Mouloud Akloul, who fractured his left ankle four months ago, appeared strong when running with physiotherapist Graeme Poole and looks to be close to resuming full training with the team.
bconstantineau@vancouversun.com © Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
