Pressure grows as winless Whitecaps prepare for Canadian clash with CF Montreal
VANCOUVER — Vanni Sartini believes his Vancouver Whitecaps have a “moral imperative” to return out sturdy of their first Canadian conflict of the season on Saturday.
Hosting CF Montreal is at all times large for the ‘Caps, however this weekend’s recreation will characteristic a pair of groups who’ve sputtered to begin the Major League Soccer season — and will use a win to get again on observe.
Montreal (1-3-0) began the marketing campaign with three straight losses, then downed the Philadelphia Union 3-2 on March 18 earlier than heading right into a bye week. The Whitecaps (0-2-3) got here out of the gate with a pair of defeats however have managed 1-1 attracts of their final three league appearances, together with a highway tie towards Minnesota United final week.
The strain to take all three factors will ramp up but once more on Saturday, Sartini stated.
“I think it’s an imperative, reaching the playoffs for us. ⦠If we win Saturday, we are above the line,” the coach stated. “But if we keep not winning, the line is going to be far and far and far. That’s the pressure for us.”
The ‘Caps will get a pair of key items again within the lineup towards Montreal.
Midfielder Andres Cubas has returned from his time with Paraguay’s nationwide workforce and defender Javain Brown is again from taking part in for Jamaica.
Brown watched his Whitecaps teammates play from afar final Saturday and preferred a lot of what he noticed.
“We’re really hungry,” he stated. “We’re playing some good football but we’re just not getting the results. But I think it’s time that we need to get a win to start our season.”
Vancouver outshot Minnesota 23-8 throughout the sport, together with 5 on-target pictures in comparison with the house facet’s two. It wasn’t till the 98th minute, although, that striker Simon Becher — coming off the bench — lastly buried a shot.
Scoring continues to be a wrestle for the ‘Caps this season. The membership has 5 targets throughout its first 5 MLS video games of the yr, regardless of creating quite a few possibilities in every outing.
The lack of ability to get the ball into the again of the web has been irritating, stated midfielder Julian Gressel, who has three assists on the season.
“You want to score, especially when you have that many shots. You want to score and you want to get something out of the game,” he stated.
“Putting the ball in the back of the net is difficult. So, we’ve just got to kind of maybe take a breath and focus on the final quality and hopefully it’ll come.”
Some gamers are feeling extra strain than they need to at this level of the season, Sartini stated, and which may be impacting their efficiency.
“It’s normal that they themselves, they feel a little bit of pressure more. The thing is that they shouldn’t,” he stated.
When a participant strays from his assigned duties, he can create bother for his teammates, the coach added.
“Everyone needs to feel the moral obligation to do everything for the team and the only thing that is important is to get the three points,” he stated. “So everyone needs to be reminded that he needs to stay on task and do what he is expected to do.”
CF MONTREAL (1-3-0) AT VANCOUVER WHITECAPS (0-2-3) Saturday, B.C. Place.
THE INJURED LIST: @Vancouver striker Sergio Cordova (hamstring) and midfielder Alessandro Schopf (hamstring) have each been dominated out for the sport, whereas midfielders Ryan Gauld (hamstring) and Russell Teibert (ankle) are listed as possible. Montreal will probably be with out defender George Campbell (ankle), midfielders Matko Miljevic (knee), Jojea Kwizera (hamstring) and Lassi Lappalainen (left leg), ahead Jules Vilsaint (proper leg) and goalkeeper James Pantemis (shoulder).
FAMILIAR FACE: @Whitecaps defender Karifa Yao will face his former workforce for the primary time. The 22-year-old centre again got here up via Montreal’s academy and spent 4 seasons together with his hometown membership earlier than he was acquired by Vancouver within the 2023 MLS re-entry draft.
Yao stated he’s been speaking to a few of his former teammates on Instagram just lately and is trying ahead to going through them on Saturday.
“It’s a normal league game,” he stated. “We need to have wins, especially at home. So I think it’s a bit of a new sensation, especially because it’s my old team. But at the same time, it’s a normal game.”
WELCOME BACK: @Saturday will mark CF Montreal’s first recreation in Vancouver since September 2020. The ‘Caps maintain a 3-2-1 edge over their Canadian rivals at B.C. Place.
STACKED SCHEDULE: @The Whitecaps are about to embark on one other busy stretch of 5 video games in 14 days. After Saturday’s matchup, Vancouver is about to host reigning MLS champions Los Angeles FC on Wednesday within the first leg of the Champions League semifinals.
