Whitecaps season kickoff: A history of righteous indignation, and little success

The Vancouver Whitecaps take their first meaningful kicks of the season in Thursday ’s CONCACAF Champions Cup game in Costa Rica against Saprissa .

The Whitecaps’ actual average finish over the past five years : 7.6th place.

The current iteration of this team, with a core of Ryan Gauld , Andres Cubas and Brian White , has shown itself to be competitive, able to go toe-to-toe with anyone on any day .

Depth, especially in midfield , remains a question mark.

Vanni Sartini took the Caps to the playoffs with a memorable second-half run in 2021 after taking over from Marc Dos Santos midseason .

The Caps were on an eight -game unbeaten streak in league play and had just added Gauld and White a few weeks before Dos Santos was sacked.

Is this the season Ali Ahmed takes the next step, a standout season that would springboard to Europe ?.

9th MLS optimist: Marcelo Balboa , 9th - Whitecaps acquire forward Daniel Rios on loan from LIGA MX’s Chivas de Guadalajara - To boo or not to boo? The complicated relationship of U.S.-Canada sports.