CCC: Caps take on Saprissa in Sørensen’s Managerial Debut

Jesper Sørenson will make his professional managerial debut for the Vancouver Whitecaps tomorrow evening.

The Vancouver Whitecaps have traveled to Costa Rica to take on Deportivo Saprissa, current Costa Rican champions in the first of two legs in the Concacaf Champions Cup. This will mark the managerial debut of Danish head coach, Jesper Sørensen. Although Jesper has technically managed games before, this will be his proper first climb of the mountain. (Get it? Because the team is named after a mountain?)

Jesper will face adversity in his Whitecaps honeymoon, having to manage his first ever game in Costa Rica, and then traveling away to fierce rivals Portland Timbers who are looking for revenge after the wild card. And then the ‘Caps first home game in MLS? Against defending champions Los Angeles Galaxy. Needless to say, Jesper will have to adapt quickly.

However, the Costa Rican giants have been struggling as of late. Saprissa are winless in their last four games, two draws and two losses (L then D then D and L again if you’re wondering about chronological order). While the Vancouver Whitecaps ended preseason smooth after a rocky start, Deportivo will be much more match fit as they’ve already played twelve games into the season so far.

Although this is the first meeting between the two teams, Saprissa has played MLS teams before, drawing the Philadelphia Union in round one of last years CCC edition. Saprissa gave the Union hell as the Union barely scraped by the Costa Rican crazies in extra time winning 6-5 (yes you read that correctly) over the two legs. Around this time, Saprissa were also in a bit of a slump so it’s safe to say Vancouver will have to be resilient against them. Ryan Gauld, the captain of the Whitecaps had this to say in Media Availability on Wednesday, a day before the first leg: “We saw last year, [Deportivo Saprissa] gave Philadelphia a really good run over two games—so we're aware of the threat they pose for us. But I think we need to focus on ourselves as well, know the qualities that we've got. If we play to the level we're capable of, then it should be a good two games.”

This season, Saprissa has flip flopped around three primary formations; 4-2-3-1, 4-5-1, and 4-1-4-1. However, manager Jose Antonio Giacone has preferred to use the latter recently, so it seems that will be the way to go against the Caps. Throughout his managerial career, Jesper Sørensen has preferred to play a 3-4-2-1, but through leaks and and speculations, it seems he might prefer for something similar to a 4-3-3 throughout the season. The Caps alternated with a back 3/back 4 through pre season.

Saprissa has quite the experienced squad with veteran defender duo Óscar Duarte (35 years old) and former Whitecaps captain Kendal Waston (37 years old) leading the back line. In the midfield, 37 year old Mariano Torres and 35-year-old David Guzmán have been key to Saprissas play. Saprissas key attacking player this season, the tricky winger Marvin Loría, is all too familiar with MLS as he is a former Portland Timbers player. Loría jumped ship on the Timbers last season and since his arrival, has recorded four goals and two assists for the Purple Ones.

The Caps have had a rough off season, hauling off five first team players, with the biggest impact of Stuart Armstrong departure, only having played for the Caps since September. The Canadians have signed four players this off season, two back-up attackers, a third string keeper and a new promising winger Emmanuel Sabbi who unfortunately suffered a slight ankle injury. Ryan Gauld is the catalyst of this team, easily being the Caps most important player currently and even a contender for the club’s best ever player. Brian White will look to replicate his goal scoring successes through the last couple seasons, becoming the all-time goal scorer for the Whitecaps in the MLS era last April.

Personally, I think the Caps will be able to stifle the current Costa Rican champions and advance over the two legs. I’m predicting a 2-0 win on Thursday.