The Vancouver Whitecaps are off to their best start in years.
In MLS play they are 2-0-0. That is the first time that has happened since 2018. Vancouver has won three out of four games in all competitions. The only loss was the 2-1 loss to Saprissa in the first leg of their first round CONCACAF Champions Cup tie.
Speaking of the Champions Cup, that is next on the menu for the Whitecaps. After a two-legged tie against Saprissa which was harder it should’ve been, the Whitecaps have a bigger test. Mexican giants Monterrey are up next.
Can the Whitecaps build off their good start against Monterrey?
While the Whitecaps have had a good start, it is still very early in the season. The MLS season is a long and grinding road. There are good times and bad times, even for the best teams.
In the small sample size, the Whitecaps have looked dangerous. Jesper Sørensen’s possession based system looks like a breath of fresh air. The Whitecaps are looking more threatening on their transitions and when they are around the opponent’s 18-yard-box.
But of course, not everything has been perfect. Sørensen and his players felt like they could’ve finished Saprissa off much earlier and they lost the first leg in stoppage time after a dreadful second half.
But the head coach has liked what he’s seen from this team so far.
“I’ve seen a resilient team,” said Sørensen per The Canadian Press on Tuesday at the club’s training facility at UBC. “We were behind and struggled after the first game in Saprissa because we needed a win. I saw a team that fought really hard to get that done in the last cup game.”
With the amount of games the Whitecaps are playing early in the season, there isn’t much time to celebrate wins. The team is trying to build off those and learn what they can do better.
“It is a lot of games at the moment, but as players, we like it when it’s like that,” said defender Ranko Veselinovic, per The Canadian Press. “Everybody loves more games than training. So it’s good, especially when we have good results. It feels nice. There is not a lot of time to enjoy those wins, but if we continue winning, it’s going to be nice at the end.”
Monterrey: A Mexican powerhouse
Monterrey, along with Tigres, Club América, Cruz Azul and Chivas Guadalajara is one of the biggest teams in Liga MX. They have won five league titles and won the CCC also five times with the most recent being in 2021.
Monterrey has a solid group of players, including midfielders Oliver Torres and Nelson Deossa and striker Germán Berterame, whose six goals are tied for eighth in Liga MX. Attacking midfielder Sergio Canales is tied for third in Liga MX with eight goals.
They also recently signed Sergio Ramos. Yes, the notorious Spanish defender who played for Sevilla, Real Madrid and PSG and won four UEFA Champions Leagues with Real Madrid and the 2010 World Cup with Spain. However, the 38-year-old will not travel to Vancouver, so if you are going to the game at BC Place, don’t be disappointed Ramos isn’t there because this was always a possibility.
Monterrey currently are ninth in the Clausura with a 4-3-3 record. Over the weekend, Nathan Durec and I were on the Rayados90 podcast, which is a Monterrey English fan podcast. The host Eddie told us that Monterrey also plays a possession-based system. He also said Monterrey has had trouble staying consistent this season and are dropping points in games they should have won. The club also nicknamed Rayados has scored 20 goals in the Clausura but have conceded 16.
“A tough opponent, obviously,” said Sørensen on Monterrey. “A team with a great history in this tournament and a team with a lot of well-known players as well. Of course, it’s also a great opportunity for us to go up against a good opponent and a tough opponent.”
The Whitecaps will hope to take advantage of playing at home for the first leg. Kickoff is at 7:30 pm Pacific.
