Sartini out as Whitecaps head coach

VANCOUVER, BC–On Monday, Vanni Sartini was let go as head coach of Vancouver Whitecaps after four seasons. The Whitecaps had made the MLS Playoffs three out of four years with Santini in charge and won the last three Canadian Championships. However, the Whitecaps have only gotten beyond the first round proper of the playoffs just once in their MLS era (2017). This season ended with a 3-0 loss at LAFC in Game 3 of the Western Conference quarterfinals. The Whitecaps finished the regular season on a seven-match winless skid that dropped the Whitecaps from a top four position to the play-in match against Portland.

However, sporting director Axel Schuster maintained that loss was not the main reason for sacking Sartini.

“The decision was really made on how will our pre-season look like, and what kind of energy and mindset we will go into the first game of next season,” Schuster said when asked if Sartini would still be employed had they not lost their three-game series with LA.

“Winning against LAFC, and maybe winning the conference, could have changed that — or not. I don’t know, but it wasn’t really (that) game.

“It has nothing to do with the outcome of last year, to be very clear. That’s a clear statement. This decision has nothing to do with the outcome of last year, although we all agree, including Vanni, we felt like we haven’t got to the outcome (we wanted). It is only about our belief where we can get next year and how we will start into next year.”

Sartini finishes with a record of 57-51-39 across all competitions for Vancouver and was known for his outgoing personality and quotes from his press conferences. However, it got him into trouble after the 2023 season–ended by LAFC in the playoffs–when he joked that he would be the prime suspect if they found referee Tim Ford in the Fraser River following some controversial decisions that went against the Whitecaps in the playoff decider. That landed Sartini a six-match suspension to start the 2024 season, later commuted to three.

So for 2025, the Whitecaps will be looking for their eighth coach in their 15th season in Major League Soccer. Jim Curtin is available after being let go by Philadelphia Union–a team that the Whitecaps brass seem to admire according to the Vancouver Province’s JJ Adams. The goal for the Whitecaps these days is to get from Point B to Point C and Point C is beyond the first round of the playoffs in MLS. However, whether the front office is capable of finding that person remains to be seem given past history.