Opinions have been pretty well split over Fredy Montero’s signing with the Vancouver Whitecaps.
On one side, there’s people — frankly, like myself — who think Montero has a right to return to MLS and be close to his family. Plus, the Whitecaps are not the Portland Timbers, or even the LA Galaxy, in terms of the intensity of the rivalry.
On the other, there’s been a very vocal group who consider Montero’s decision to join the Whitecaps almost a betrayal. Former Sounders teammate Brad Evans didn’t use language that strong, but he did at least suggest he wouldn’t have done what Montero did.
Despite the stupid ass MLS player acquisition mechanism, I'd never go to a rival team.
— Brad Evans (@brad_evans3) February 16, 2017
In his first meeting with local reporters in Vancouver, Montero seemed to at least express an understanding of where his critics were coming from while also defending himself.
“He's not in the position to say that,” Montero said. “That was [Evans’] tweet. I saw that. I got a lot of comments, but for me, it was irrelevant.”
But Montero isn’t about to inflame the situation, either. Montero still has friends on the Sounders — he was particularly close with the likes of Osvaldo Alonso and Alvaro Fernandez — and doesn’t plan to celebrate if he scores against them.
“No, no, of course not,” Montero said. “I feel that you have many examples around the world of when one player scores against the other team that they even play for one year or two years, they don't celebrate. For me, it's the same case. I won't.”