Vancouver Whitecaps FC head coach Vanni Sartini, two days after his team's 2023 campaign ended, addressed the elephant in the room during the club’s end-of-season media availability.
Sartini apologized for his post-game critique of referee Timothy Ford, who made several controversial decisions in Vancouver’s 1-0 home loss to LAFC that eliminated them from the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs. The Italian manager said his attempt “to play ironically" resulted in "bad choices in the words that I chose."
“For that reason I’m sorry," Sartini said Tuesday. "I should have had better judgment to choose the right word. But there was no malicious intent or violent intent in my words."
After Match 2 of Vancouver's Round One Best-of-3 series, Sartini most took issue with Dénis Bouanga's late goal that was overturned by Video Review. The Golden Boot presented by Audi winner, in second-half stoppage time, had capped a Carlos Vela-led fast break after Ford collided with 'Caps midfielder Alessandro Schöpf atop the box on a cleared corner kick. Following the sequence, Ford sent off Sartini for angrily protesting.
“At the end, we didn’t have a fair chance, to be honest,” Sartini said, among other things, postgame at BC Place.
Sartini's tone shifted dramatically on Tuesday, expressing a level of regret.
“I could’ve done much better and I made a mistake," Sartini said. "I’m sorry for that.”
Meanwhile, Whitecaps CEO and sporting director Axel Schuster backed his manager publicly while avoiding specifics pending a potential league ruling.
“We allow mistakes to happen and the most important thing for me is that we learn from these mistakes," the German executive said. "That we find ways to do better the next time and that we also find a good way to deal with them."
For starters, that includes Sartini personally reaching out to the Professional Referee Organization (PRO) to make amends.
"Don’t get me wrong: We are open to speak about all of the details at a later point," Schuster said. "But I don’t think it’s the right thing at this point to speak about every detail."
Looking ahead to 2024
The Whitecaps' contentious playoff exit aside, Sartini and Schuster offered a positive analysis of the year that was.
Vancouver not only repeated as Canadian Championship winners, thus ensuring a return trip to the Concacaf Champions Cup, but were back in the postseason after missing out in 2022 and hosted a playoff home match for the first time since 2017 – all while playing 46 official matches across all competitions, a new club record.
“We need to make sure that the good things that we did this year, okay let’s do even better next year,” Sartini said. “So consolidate the work that we’ve done with the players that we have.”
Schuster was even more direct: “I would say we all have the feeling that there’s not a lot of changes we have to make” for 2024 after finishing sixth in the Western Conference with 48 points (12W-10L-12D).
In 2023, the Whitecaps were led by attacking duo Ryan Gauld of Brian White, Canadian internationals Richie Laryea and Sam Adekubge, d-mid Andrés Cubas, center back Ranko Veselinovic and goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka.
“We have a pretty strong group where almost all of the core pieces are under contract next year,” Schuster added.
Still, Schuster wouldn't entirely rule out the possibility an offseason surprise or two.
"Of course, we want to find the right balance," he said. "I would say it doesn't hurt to have one or two more players that can give that to the group."
