Why Everyone Got the Vancouver Whitecaps Wrong

The Whitecaps have delivered a statement to begin the 2025 season. They are currently top of the league and are in a CONCACAF Champions Cup Semi-Finals against Inter Miami. However, this was far from what the Major League Soccer analysts predicted. I have always contemplated creating this blog, but now being roughly a quarter into the year, Vancouver still remained first in the table, and are completely proving the analysts wrong.

The article previewing the upcoming Vancouver Whitecaps season by the MLS, had criticism by the analysts about the Whitecaps, and had lots of predictions that are currently aging horribly. Only one of nine analysts predicted the Whitecaps to qualify for the MLS playoffs. Even though that wasn't an automatic playoff spot, it was the eighth seed, which indicates they will need to play a wildcard match. Another analyst had the Whitecaps at the bottom of the conference. The rest had the Whitecaps in between 10th-14th, heavily underestimating Sørensen's system and the quality of the players.

Now, instead of me continuously bashing the pundits about the poor predictions that they made. We will look at things from the opposite side, why were pundits underestimating the Whitecaps so much?

Firstly, the article from MLS stated that the Whitecaps had a low-ceiling, and that meaning they will never be there for long. It further states that the player who was supposed to raise the ceiling Stuart Armstrong had already left. This seriously depends on perspective. I believe this could be proven untrue, due to the start to last season's Vancouver Whitecaps. Vanni Sartini and Mike D’Agostino had led the Whitecaps to a 4-1-1 start to begin the 2024 season, being top of the conference after six games.

But this year's Whitecaps compared to last year's has a large difference in terms of style of play and competition they beat. So I would assume this year's Whitecaps won't suffer the same downhill slide as last year.

The second reason provided by the MLS analysts was that there is lots of uncertainty regarding the Whitecaps. With long-time Head Coach Vanni Sartini fired, many thought that the Whitecaps would decline after the loss of Sartini and key players. Many key players like Armstrong, Raposo, Fafà Picault and Alessandro Schöpf departed Vancouver for different clubs. While Vancouver didn’t get any replacements for the midfield losses of Armstrong and Schöpf. But to counter the departures of these players, Sebastian Berhalter, J.C Ngando, Ralph Priso and most importantly, Pedro Vite have really stepped up in their advanced roles this season.

Finally, the final reason that the analysts thought the Whitecaps wouldn't be successful this season was because they have “very little depth”. While this can be noticed in some circumstances, the Whitecaps currently have multiple injuries and haven't let that affect them. Some players who would have never gotten game-time like Badwal have been a consistent substitute. Admittedly, the Whitecaps don't have the best depth, but they do have competent players who are able to make an impact substituting on.

For me, I believe that last season's regular season finish had a major impact on the analyst's predictions. Finishing the last seven matches winless, is not a good look coming into the upcoming season. Now, it is worth noting they had an entire managerial change, but possibly that was entirely neglected by the MLS pundits.

In conclusion, the analysts just assumed a lot of details without looking at the full picture. They truly have a strong squad and have proven a chance for MLS cup contention. The Whitecaps had a sense of direction heading into the season, hiring a new Head Coach was the correct call by the Whitecaps front office. People weren't convinced about the Whitecaps before, but now the Whitecaps have certainly put everyone on notice.