The Vancouver Whitecaps will be without some major baggage as they hit the road this season.
Last year, away games quickly took on a weight for the team, said head coach Vanni Sartini. The 鈥楥aps battled to several draws and collected victories at home but didn鈥檛 win on the road in Major League Soccer action until June 24.
鈥淢aybe some of them we played well, but we didn鈥檛 win for, like, the first seven or eight (away) games,鈥� Sartini said. 鈥淎nd it became maybe a little bit a kind of curse or something that you need to break. And it can go into your head.鈥�
That weight has already been lifted this year. The 鈥楥aps (1-0-1) captured their first victory of the campaign last Saturday, beating the Earthquakes 2-0 in San Jose.
鈥淣ow that we have the first win, we can be a little bit lighthearted,鈥� Sartini said.
Vancouver will look to add another three points Saturday when it visits FC Dallas (1-2-0).
In Texas, Vancouver will face some fearsome forwards, including Dallas鈥檚 big off-season acquisition, Petar Musa. The 26-year-old Croatian striker comes to MLS from Portuguese side Benfica, where he registered 17 goals in 66 appearances.
Whitecaps attacking midfielder Damir Kreilach also hails from Croatia and has been watching Musa鈥檚 ascent.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a young player, a young star, a great holding-up striker scoring so many goals for Benfica the last couple years,鈥� Kreilach said. 鈥淚 just hope he鈥檚 going to be far away from the ball this weekend.鈥�
Vancouver also needs to watch out for Colombian striker Jesus Ferreira, who had 12 goals in MLS play last season 鈥� including two in the Toros 2-1 win over the 鈥楥aps on May 17.
Locking the game down defensively doesn鈥檛 simply fall to the back line, said 鈥楥aps captain Ryan Gauld.
鈥淚t鈥檒l be just good teamwork to prevent (Ferreira and Musa) from getting on the ball as much as possible,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e good players, so it鈥檚 inevitable that they鈥檙e going to get on it. And we just need to them down, be as close as possible, put them under pressure, just do our best to stop them from influencing the game.鈥�
The game in Dallas isn鈥檛 one where the 鈥楥aps will be happy to come out with a draw, Gauld added.
While the Whitecaps were ousted from the playoffs in the first round last year, they finished the regular-season with a five-game unbeaten streak (1-0-4) and the bar has been raised for the 2024 campaign.
Two games in, the 鈥楥aps know there鈥檚 still a lot of work to do both on and off the field, Gauld said.
鈥淥bviously we鈥檙e not at our best now, just a few games into the season,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not at our sharpest, we鈥檙e not where we want to be tactically so it鈥檚 going to be a process.
鈥淲e鈥檝e started well, but we need to go hopefully take points off of Dallas and keep us moving in the right direction.鈥�
VANCOUVER WHITECAPS (1-0-1) AT FC DALLAS (1-2-0)
Saturday, Toyota Stadium
INS AND OUTS: Sartini will watch from the press box as he continues to serve a six-game suspension. On the field, the Whitecaps are still without Canadian fullback Sam Adekugbe (knee). The Toros have an extensive injured list and are expected to be missing seven players this weekend, including defenders Geovane Jesus (knee), Sebastien Ibeagha (calf) and Amet Kor莽a (groin), as well as midfielders Asier Illarramendi (adductor), Marco Farfan (back), Paxton Pomykal (knee) and Alan Velasco (knee).
HISTORY BOOKS: The two sides have met 28 times in MLS regular-season play. Dallas holds an 11-9-8 record in the all-time series and won the last matchup 2-1 on May 17, 2023.
THE NEW GUY: Ralph Priso trained with the 鈥楥aps this week after Vancouver being acquired from the Colorado Rapids for general allocation money and draft picks on Monday. Schuster said he鈥檚 long had his eye on the 21-year-old Canadian midfielder and believes Priso is a versatile young player who has yet to reach his ceiling. The sporting director said the move will add depth to a Whitecaps roster that鈥檚 expected to see a lot of action across various competitions this year.
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