Exciting and pragmatic sounds like a contradiction. And yet, this is how the new Vancouver Whitecaps head coach Jesper Sørensen decided himself to media at his official introduction earlier today.
Seated alongside Whitecaps CEO and sporting director, Axel Schuster, media got the chance to speak to the new man in charge of the of the playing side of things.
Schuster called it “an exciting days and also the first day of a journey.”
“Jesper is exactly the right candidate,” Schuster said. “He’s a coach who has a proven record of taking over teams and not taking a lot of time to have an impact…a positive impact. He has done that with a team that he promoted from the second to the first division (in Denmark) …He also has a record of making players better and working with young players.”
Not long out of a job
Sørensen has bounced back quite quickly after being let go by his former club, Brøndby IF of the Danish Superliga. Under Sørensen, Brøndby finished second in the 2023-2024 season, missing out on the title by a single point after losing their final match of the season to Aarhus Gymnastikforening.
And although Brøndby had not been poor to start the 2024-2025 season, a series of draws and only three wins in nine matches meant Sørensen was sacked on Dec. 11 of last year.
During his tenure as Brøndby’s head coach, the club had a 37W-17D-19L record.
But fast forward a month later, he is at the helm of the Whitecaps with a new club, new league and new country.
“I think it’s a league that everybody knows that’s creating more and more attention,” Sørensen said about the MLS. “It’s getting known everywhere now. Also in Europe, you hear much about it.”
Of the Whitecaps, Sørensen said it’s not a revolution that is required; it’s an evolution.
“When I started looking into the team, I saw a really hardworking team that was playing with a very good attitude, also a very direct football and also open. I think that we might be able to adjust a little bit. I’m not here to make a revolution because I could see that it was a great job done so far.”
Sørensen has spent his entire professional career so far in Denmark. He played over 300 matches as a midfielder before moving into coaching, first as an assistant.
He has coached professionally in the Danish Superliga and 1st Division as well as internationally for the Danish U-21s.