Whitecaps

Vanni Sartini and his Vancouver Whitecaps coaching staff wanted to give their players a little time off as they prepared for the Major League Soccer season ...

THE OUTS: Vancouver opted against picking up the options on a number of players after last year, including Canadian striker Lucas Cavallini and veteran defender Jake Nerwinski. In mid-May, the ‘Caps will start their Canadian Championship title defence as the tournament’s second round starts. “To win games we need to score goals,” the coach said. We’ll be going into the majority of games expecting from ourselves that we’re capable of winning.” They’ll also take part in the revamped Leagues Cup between MLS and Liga MX sides from July 21 through Aug. The club will begin its CONCACAF Champions League journey in Vancouver against Honduran side Real Espana on March 3. Striker Sergio Cordova, who signed a three-year designated player deal with the club on Monday, led Real Salt Lake with 11 goals across 34 appearances last year. And if we did that a little bit earlier, I think we would have put ourselves in a better position.” CALENDAR CRUNCH: The Whitecaps are set for a busy 2023 campaign, with three tournaments as well as MLS games. “Everyone feels this could be the year that we achieve something. “It was a difficult year for me personally. “So we want to continue at that point, we want to continue with that performance and we want to be even better with the new signings.”