The Vancouver Whitecaps have bolstered their Western Conference championship hopes by signing German legend Thomas Muller.
However, Muller won’t make his debut until later this month so the Whitecaps will look to excel without him when they visit the struggling San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night.
Vancouver (13-5-6, 45 points) sits one point behind San Diego FC in the West — though with one match in hand — and club brass hopes Muller can push them over the top.
Muller is thinking the same way.
“I saw some videos of the previous games and I think this year can be something special,” Muller said. “I want to take my part.”
The speculation mill points to Aug. 17 as Muller’s debut. That happens to be the Whitecaps’ next home match, against the Houston Dynamo.
Saturday’s match is the first for Vancouver since it beat visiting Sporting Kansas City 3-0 on July 26. All-Star goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka raised his league-best clean sheet count to 11.
Whitecaps coach Jesper Sorensen sees the possibility of a wide-open match against the Earthquakes.
“They’re very aggressive in their defensive style of play, going very high, playing man-to-man, very open and we can see a lot of goals in their games,” Sorensen said. “We like to play a game that’s a little bit more closed and play closer to each other, but they want the pitch to be longer for some of their offensive players…
“It’s going to be a challenge. An away game in San Jose is difficult.”
San Jose (7-10-8, 29 points) has lost consecutive matches and is winless (0-3-4) in its last seven MLS matches.
Despite the slump, the Earthquakes are one point out of a playoff spot with nine matches left in the regular season. San Jose fell 2-1 at host Real Salt Lake in its last match on July 26.
Team captain Cristian Espinoza said returning to the team’s early-season form is a must.
“Everyone has to step up a little bit more in the team, including myself,” said Espinoza, who is tied for second in the league with 12 assists. “We have to try to do things better and go back to the basics — and go back to how we played at the beginning of the season with that intensity.”
Cristian “Chicho” Arango leads the Quakes with 11 goals and fellow forward Josef Martinez has 10.
San Jose coach Bruce Arena said his squad will be able to bounce back.
“These are professional athletes and coaches competing in a game,” Arena said. “This is what we do for a living, and we know how to deal with it.”
–Field Level Media
