Whitecaps need to compete for ‘entirety of the game’: Sartini

VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps are hoping home comforts once again provide relief after a loss on the road.

Vancouver (6-6-7) was blanked 3-0 by Sporting Kansas City on July 1, their eighth road loss of the season.

The B.C. club has not won two matches on the road since August 2018 and went seven games without a win away from home in the regular season before their 3-2 win over LAFC.

Coach Vanni Sartini wants to see more competitiveness from his squad when it hosts the rival Seattle Sounders at home on Saturday.

“I think we need to be more present in the game,” Sartini said Wednesday. “Even if sometimes things can go in a different direction than what we deserve in the moment or what we want in the moment, we need to stay in the game for the entirety of the game.”

That presence, he added, has been a consistent feature of the Whitecaps’ home field success.

The Whitecaps suffered several defensive breakdowns in last week’s loss, with the first goal coming after Sporting’s Gadi Kinda found an open Remi Walter between fullback Luis Martins and centreback Mathias Laborda to chip the opener past a helpless Yohei Takaoka.

Kansas’s goals came from pressure against both of Vancouver’s fullbacks — Martins and Ryan Raposo — and then finding space between that defender and their centreback partner. It’s an issue the defence wants to cut out.

“I think no one expected a result like that,” said defender Ranko Veselinovic. “But we know how MLS works and how those games can happen.”

He, like Sartini, talked about the Whitecaps’ ability to bounce back in home matches following road defeats.

“We know how to make that switch from a bad game and focus and bounce back,” he said.

The loss, and shutout, also meant the end of Ryan Gauld’s four-match goal scoring streak come to an end.

He finishes one shy of Camilo Sanvezzo’s club record set back in 2013.

Seattle (9-5-7) is second in the Western Conference, but Veselinovic said he and his teammates are confident.

“It’s a derby, it’s always a big game,” he said. “It’s going to be a tough game, they’re always in the top three or four spots.

“As we showed in the previous game, we can beat anybody at home and of course we can beat them.”

Major League Soccer’s secondary transfer window opened July 5 and runs until August 2.

But club CEO Axel Schuster said fans shouldn’t expect major overhauls of the squad as it’s in a “comfortable” position.

“I don’t think, that if we have all players available, that we are in urgent need to improve one set position,” he said.

VANCOUVER (6-6-7) vs. SEATTLE (9-5-7)

HOME COMFORTS: The Whitecaps are unbeaten in their last nine MLS home matches dating back to March 11, scoring 20 goals and keeping four clean sheets during that span. The run includes a 2-0 win against the Sounders in the last meeting back on May 20. Meanwhile, Seattle hasn’t won in Vancouver since 2018.

CASCADIA STANDINGS: Saturday’s match will mark the 150th all-time meeting between the Sounders and Whitecaps, dating back to when the original versions of the clubs joined the North American Soccer League in 1974. Vancouver is second in this year’s Cascadia Cup standings, one point away from first-placed Portland Timbers.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 7, 2023.

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