The Whitecaps have a forward problem, but it’s good to have him

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Brian White has been undervalued, undervalued, underrated and underrated since I left Duke University. One thing he hasn’t done with the Vancouver Whitecaps with Vanni Sartini is underperformance.

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Since Sartini took over as interim head coach nine games ago, the Flemington, Pennsylvania native has scored seven of his 10 goals. In a five-game stretch between September and October, he wasn’t just part of the offense, he was the offense, scoring each and every Whitecaps goal.

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He had a hat trick against San Jose, the first multi-goal game of his MLS career, and he lives up to his career in goals, assists, shots, shots on goal, minutes played and even passing percentage.

White’s name rarely graces hot shots from league experts, except for some enthusiastic observers .

But it also doesn’t help their cause. There is no self-promotion or bombastic interviews. Project Gandhi’s humility. Getting any kind of self-praise out of him is more difficult than preventing Zlatan from speaking in the third person.

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“Whenever you can, especially in a forward, have that humility, I think it’s something that I think is really important,” said the 25-year-old. “I have gone through sections where the goals do not arrive and it is easy to go down. And when the goals come, it’s easy to get really high in those moments. As long as you can stay stable, with your feet on the ground, it is difficult to get carried away by the moments and you can play better.

“I would not say (I have felt) undervalued. I think you understand the MLS environment … where they want the great players, and obviously there are a lot of better players than me. But every time I get the chance, you know I’m just looking to do what I can for the team, work hard, try to score goals, have fun. “

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His rise in the charts has coincided with the absence of Lucas Cavallini. The Caps Designated Player has played 10 games for Canada this year, scoring five goals, while making 13 starts for Vancouver and scoring three times.

The Canadian international injured his knee in August against the Galaxy, missing a month of action and five games, and the team slowly regained him in a substitute role before his injury worsened, missing three more games.

He’s been a complete participant in practice this week, and with Sartini’s penchant for rotating players to keep his legs cool, he could see action against the Timbers (11-14-4, West quarter) Wednesday night. The leaders of the Cascadia Cup, by the way, have the best record in the league (6-1-1) in the last eight games.

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Cavallini scored the team’s first goal of the season against the Timbers on April 18 in his MLS curtain opener, and he’s extremely tired of being a spectator.

“It sucks, to be honest,” he said. “Too much anxiety about not being on the field. But (I have been) able to share those results with the team; impressive results, good wins and victories. It’s good to be with the Whitecaps, pushing for the playoffs. It’s good to be with Canada, pushing for the World Cup spot. I am motivated by that to work harder and harder every day to get back to the boys.

“I have not been here 100 percent on the field, and I have had my injury, and that is what happens every day. It has been a struggle for me, but in the end, I am working hard to get back and I will have my chance. “

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Cavallini, who has a contract until the end of 2022 and an option a year later, reaffirmed his desire to continue playing in Vancouver. White, for whom Vancouver sent $ 400,000 in GAM to the New York Red Bulls, is approaching his year of choice, which the Caps will no doubt pick up.

Since turning his luck with a 10-game undefeated streak that put the Whitecaps (10-9-10) back in contention for the playoffs, the team has only been shut out four times, with three of them being a scoreless draws. The other was a 1-0 loss to Portland at BC Place Stadium, a game decided by an own goal from Ranko Veselinovic.

Since Sartini took office, he has averaged 1.56 goals per game, with an expected goals per game of 1.43. Before that, they averaged 1.15 gpg / 1.19 gpg.

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“I think the key to our game is pressure, high pressure,” Sartini said. “We’re winning the ball higher than before, and it’s easier to rack up and create opportunities if you start from 70 yards from goal instead of 95 yards.

“The other reason is also because the guys are really buying into the system how to play… Without organization, it’s nothing. It is simply chaos. So organization is the most important thing in football and in life.

“Nobody achieves anything by himself, nobody achieves anything by trying to do something crazy, but you must do what is best for your team and what is best for your collective organization.”

With just two losses in the last 17 games, the Whitecaps are a single point behind the playoff line in eighth place, with just five games left. While White admits to doing some pre-game habits to win Lady Luck’s affection – he always puts his left boot on first, stretches his socks, listens to the same pre-game songs, and says a couple of sentences, he’s not. trusting in good luck to lead the Caps to the postseason for the first time since 2017.

“I’m not superstitious, just a little ‘stiff,'” he joked. “But the work is not done. We still have a few games left in the season to make the playoffs, so that’s all we’re focused on, and that’s where all of our priorities should be. “

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