VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Whitecaps are hoping their momentum has staying power as they head into another Major League Soccer season.
The 'Caps surged through the last three months of the season, finishing sixth in the West with a 12-9-13 record and securing a spot in the post-season for the first time in four years.
It's been more than three months since the club lost 3-1 to Sporting Kansas City in a first-round playoff matchup, but striker Brian White said the players are confident they can pick up where they left off. Vancouver kicks off the 2022 season on the road against Columbus Crew SC on Saturday.
“We can tell that the momentum is continuing, especially since we returned most of the guys from last year," White said. "Guys are coming fit and sharp and we’re just working on the tactics, getting the flow of the game, getting each other's movements down again and we’re just really excited to get out on the field."
The 2021 campaign wasn't all highs.
Vancouver struggled through the middle of the season, prompting the club to fire head coach Marc Dos Santos in late August. Director of methodology Vanni Sartini was named interim coach and the team went 7-2-5 with the colourful Italian at the helm.
The 'Caps added a wealth of talent across 2021, bringing in White and defender Florian Jungwirth via trades and signing Scottish attacking midfielder Ryan Gauld as a designated player.
The moves proved to be effective, with Gauld netting four goals and six assists in 18 games and White leading the team in scoring with 12 goals and five assists in 27 appearances.
"We built great chemistry last year and we’re just looking forward to continuing that this year," White said.
While the club is returning much of the roster for 2022, there's one glaring change. Star goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau was dealt to Los Angeles FC in a blockbuster trade last month after informing the 'Caps he needed to leave Vancouver due to a "very special personal situation."
With Crepeau gone, 22-year-old Canadian Thomas Hasal has been promoted to No. 1.
"It’s a great opportunity. I recognize it’s what I’ve been working for for a long time," Hasal said. "At the same time, I’ve taken it one day at a time and just been focusing on what I’ve been doing to help the team.”
The product of Saskatoon has been thrust into the starting spot before. Back in 2020, he took over during the MLS is Back tournament in Orlando when Crepeau suffered a hand injury and backup Bryan Meredith left the bubble following the death of his mother. Hasal took the starting spot and performed admirably before a concussion and a stress fracture in his left tibia ended the 'keeper's season.
Last season, the homegrown talent made seven MLS starts and posted a 2-23 record.
Taking over the No. 1 role does come with extra pressure, Hasal said, but it's nothing new.
"There have been multiple points in my career where I’ve put a lot of pressure on myself to perform because I work hard and it means a lot to me," he said. "So there could be a bit of extra pressure but at the same time, it’s nothing new and it just adds to the focus."
The Whitecaps have also made some changes on defence and in the midfield, with defender/midfielder Andy Rose ending his playing career, midfielder Janio Bikel out on loan and defender Bruno Gaspar back in Portugal after his loan ended.
Vancouver acquired midfielder Sebastian Berhalter (son of U.S. men's team coach Gregg Berhalter) from Columbus Crew SC earlier this month and picked up former LAFC defender Tristan Blackmon in a trade via expansion side Charlotte FC.
The new additions have quickly melded into the group.
“I came from a place that played a little bit of a different style but I think I can pick up ideas pretty well," Blackmon said. "I’m excited to use my attributes as a player and put them to use on the team here."
The coming season will also give the Whitecaps better looks at midfielders Caio Alexandre and Pedro Vite.
Alexandre appeared in 15 games for the club last season, registering one assist in 959 minutes played before he broke his foot in training in mid-August. The Brazilian finally joined his teammates in Vancouver last week following extended visa issues.
The 'Caps signed Vite, a 19-year-old from Ecuador, last August but had to wait on his work and travel documents. He has yet to play a regular-season MLS game.
Over training camp, Sartini has tinkered with his lineup, trying various players in different positions. He feels he has a clear idea now which position is best for each player and how they fit into the system he's creating.
Having versatile players is "mandatory in modern soccer," the coach said.
"I don’t think a guy that can play only one position — unless he’s extremely good at that position — is going to be beneficial to the team."
Sartini was known for switching up his starting 11 last season, a trend that he plans to continue in the 2022 campaign.
In fact, he thinks his first full season as head coach will look a lot like the 14 games where he held an interim tag last year. That means taking each game one at a time, Sartini said, using a popular TV show to punctuate his point.
“There’s a quote from "Ted Lasso" when he said, ‘You need to be like a goldfish.’ That after 10 seconds you need to forget the thing that you did," Sartini said. "And I think that’s the approach that we need to have and we’ll treat every game like the next game is the most important game.”
WHITECAPS AT A GLANCE
GAME ON: The Whitecaps start their season on the road against Columbus Crew SC on Saturday before hosting the reigning MLS Cup winners New York City FC on March 5.
LAST SEASON: After a struggling through the middle of the 2021 season, the 'Caps came on strong in the final stretch and finished sixth in the West with a 12-9-13 record. Vancouver clinched its first playoff spot in four years before losing 3-1 to Sporting Kansas City in the first round.
MAN IN CHARGE: Vancouver dismissed Marc Dos Santos at the end of August, naming then-director of methodology Vanni Sartini interim coach. Under the exuberant Italian, the club finished the year 7-2-5. Sartini was named head coach in November, signing a contract through 2023.
MOVED ON: Goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau (traded to Los Angeles FC), midfielder/defender Andy Rose (retired from playing, now coaching with the Seattle Sounders), midfielder Janio Bikel (on loan to Italy’s LR Vicenza), and defender Bruno Gaspar (loan to the Whitecaps finished, now playing for Vitoria Guimaraes SC in Portugal).
NEW ADDITIONS: Defender Tristan Blackmon (traded from LAFC via expansion side Charlotte FC), midfielder Sebastian Berhalter (acquired from Columbus Crew SC for general allocation money).
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Colombian forward Cristian Dajome, Brazilian midfielder Caio Alexandre, Canadian goalkeeper Thomas Hasal.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 23, 2022.
Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press