With their road woes in the rear-view mirror at last, the Vancouver Whitecaps are looking to stretch their unbeaten streak to six games across all competitions when they head to the Midwest for a Canada Day clash with Sporting Kansas City.
The Whitecaps (6-5-7) are coming off a 3-2 win over Los Angeles FC last Saturday. That snapped an 0-8-7 run of road futility which dated back to July 13, 2022.
With 25 points in the standings, Vancouver goes into the weekend holding down the final playoff spot in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference.
Kansas City (5-10-6) sits 11th in the West with 21 points. They’re 0-2-1 in their last three games after a 1-0 home loss to the Chicago Fire last weekend.
Four weeks ago, the two sides played to a 1-1 draw at B.C. Place. Vancouver coach Vanni Sartini believes his group has more to give.
“I think that the first-half performance against Kansas City was one of our poorest, offensive-wise,” he said this week.
“Our way of playing relies a lot on the team structure and the way that everyone needs to make movements, also sometimes in order to free space for other players.
“I think that we were too individual in that game in the first half.”
Last weekend, Sartini deployed a fresh formation that generated tremendous early pressure and allowed the Whitecaps to build an early 2-0 lead in their 3-2 win against the defending MLS Cup champions.
However, Saturday’s weather in Kansas City could require a different approach.
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“If it keeps being 37, 38 degrees (Celsius), I don’t think it’s going to be possible to sustain the level of intensity and the level of pressure that we did in L.A. last week,” Sartini said.
“We need to be, maybe, more intelligent. Choose when to go and when to keep a block that’s going to be a little bit more set.”
The Whitecaps have been a force offensively this season. They are sixth in the league with 1.7 goals per game and second in both expected goals and big chances created.
Vancouver has tallied 13 times across its five-game unbeaten streak and attacking midfielder Ryan Gauld was named the MLS player of the matchday after his one-goal, two-assist performance in Los Angeles.
“It was a big win for us,” said Gauld. “A really good team performance.
“It’s given us a lot of confidence, as long as we use that to our advantage from now on and we don’t get complacent just because we won over the best team in the West.”
After going scoreless in the first 18 games of the season across all competitions, Gauld is now on a five-match scoring streak.
“I don’t know how long it took me to get a goal,” said the 27-year-old Scotsman.
“But once one went in, it just seems like the ball has found the right spaces. As long as that continues, we’ll be happy.”
Sartini is pleased with how Gauld has worked his way out of his uncharacteristic offensive funk.
“We like to be honest, and we were honest with him,” said the coach.
“At the beginning of the season, he was … I don’t want to say underperforming, but we expected him to be more because we know that he can do more. Now is the Ryan Gauld that we all like to see and we also expect.
“He’s helping us in both ends of the game, is real quality but also has a very high work rate. He’s on the good path and I hope that he continues like this.”
ROCKSTAR: Sartini said he didn’t feel nervous when he took to the stage to sing ‘Rockstar’ with Vancouver-based band Nickelback on Wednesday at Rogers Arena.
“I’m more nervous when the team is warming up before the game,” he said. “We are expected to be good as a team, and they’re expecting me to be good at my job.
“No one was expecting me to be good yesterday. So I went there and just enjoyed the experience.”
ALL-STAR: No players from the Whitecaps’ main squad were named when the rosters for the MLS All-Star Game were announced on Tuesday. But Jeevan Badwal, a Surrey, B.C., native who is part of the Whitecaps’ U-17 squad, was selected to play for the West in the MLS Next All-Star Game, which will be part of the festivities in July.
SIGNINGS: The Whitecaps signed forward Levonte Johnson to a contract to the end of the season, with an option for two more years.
From Syracuse University, where he scored 11 goals and six assists in 25 games, Johnson was chosen 29th overall by Whitecaps FC in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft. He spent the entire pre-season with the club’s first team, making four appearances. He has six goals for MLS NEXT Pro side Whitecaps FC 2 this season.
Johnson has been called up to the first team several times for the Canadian Championship and CONCACAF Champions League action to fill in for injured players.
He also scored on his first team debut in the Canadian Championship match against York United FC on May 10.
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