A last-season swoon dropped the Whitecaps down the standings and led to a first-round matchup with a first-place LAFC side
The Vancouver Whitecaps have parted ways with head coach Vanni Sartini.
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The MLS club has confirmed a report from Tom Bogert at GIVEMESPORT. There’s a press conference slated for Monday afternoon.
“We are incredibly grateful to Vanni,” Axel Schuster, Whitecaps FC sporting director and chief executive officer, said in a news release. “Since arriving in Vancouver six years ago, Vanni gave his all to this club and city. He embraced everything with passion and enjoyed tremendous success along the way. I am extremely thankful for our friendship and wish him all the best.
“I took my time with this decision, and it was not taken lightly. We have taken important steps each year and it is now the right time for someone else to lead this group on the pitch with fresh and new energy. We have started the process to find our next head coach as we look to take the next step and build a championship contender in MLS, as well as continental tournaments.”
It was the final leg of the regular season, a seven-game winless run, that cost the Caps their spot in the top-four in the West and set up a meeting with LAFC in the first round, instead of deeper in the post-season.
“To be good when … it’s not able for us to be very good, I think that’s the next step,” Sartini told the media at the end of the year. “When we were in form or we had the possibility to work one week between games, we had the record that was probably top three in MLS. … And then we had two parts of the season, one right before the summer and one right before the end of the regular season, where we did (nine) points in 11 games.
“When you can’t shoot for the moon … you have to at least to try to do the basics and go for the sky instead of falling down. It’s a good learning lesson for the next year.”
More to come …