Caps, Real Salt Lake look for home-field edge
Vancouver aims to get back on winning track against familiar foe in Battle of Rio Tinto
When both teams are the home side, one must do what one must do to gain any advantage, however incremental.
The Vancouver Whitecaps and Real Salt Lake meet Friday at Rio Tinto Stadium, and during Thursday's media sessions with the head coaches, Marc Dos Santos and Freddy Juarez both played it coy — and cagey.
“We have to be careful a little bit, because where we train is open, and Freddy has been sending undercover agents,” said a joking Dos Santos, who sat alongside a smiling Juarez during the media session. “There's always a car with a camera filming.”
Friday's matchup will be the first league action for Vancouver (2-4-1, 11th West) in 27 days. They're 2-1 at the RioT this season, while Real is 1-1-2 at home.
Although the two coaches were relatively tight-lipped about tactics, they were both jovial and complimentary of each other.
Juarez said he and Dos Santos have been trying to find time to share both a meal and soccer knowledge, and had no problem with their division rivals setting up shop in Sandy for the time being.
“We're a welcoming club, we've always been that,” he said. “We enjoy having people over. I think it's good for the city. It helps (the Caps) out, it's great for us, soccer fans get to see something good. The relationship with Marc has always been good and respectful, and so it makes all that a whole lot easier.”
While the thin-aired altitude in Utah is usually an advantage for RSL (2-1-3, eighth in the West), the Caps have acclimatized to the conditions since relocating there in April, and the expected 30 C temperature for Friday's game is the same for both teams.
“Every game, when you talk about advantages or disadvantages, is so competitive, it really is just hard to get a result now. It's a tough league,” said Juarez. “They're
going to be defending the home-field advantage, just like we are.”
Vancouver has been subletting space from RSL since relocating to Utah because COVID-19 restrictions make cross-border play impossible. There are signs the restrictions may soon be lifted, with Dos Santos citing hockey's Montreal Canadiens' exemption for the Stanley Cup playoffs, although that requires both teams to be quarantined in hotels — something that isn't feasible during a prolonged regular season.
“It's very hard. I'm very serious about that,” said Dos Santos. “I'm actually starting to get fed up. And when I say that, it's
not related to where we are. It's the fact that we just want to go back home. This isn't because there's a problem with the city of Salt Lake — we actually enjoy it a lot. It's just getting close to that time where we hope the (Canadian) government opens everything and we get the opportunity to get back home.”
Like Vancouver, Real opened the season strong, with two straight wins, but haven't been victorious since May 1, losing the next game to San Jose before reeling off three straight ties.
The Caps lost three straight heading into the international break, and desperate to change their fortunes, are
expected to change tactics against Real, switching to a 3-5-2 formation.
Lucas Cavallini, who scored the winner in both victories over RSL last year, is back from his time with Team Canada and should be available for the starting 11, although he hasn't had a chance to train extensively in the alternate formation. Newcomer Brian White is an option to start in his place, while another change could see Javain Brown get the call at right back with both Bruno Gaspar and Jake Nerwinski nursing injuries.
Salt Lake has been drawing more than 10,000 socially distanced fans for home games,
another symptom of relocation to the U.S. that has rankled Dos Santos. The Caps haven't played at home, in front of their fans, in more than a year — it's 474 days and counting since the Caps hosted Sporting Kansas City at B.C. Place Stadium.
“We've been away since MLS is Back, and it looks so
far,” said Dos Santos. “(We went to) Orlando (Fla.) and we came back home to be shipped to Portland (Ore.). We came back home to come back to Salt Lake.
“It's hard when you play in stadiums (around the league). I've been watching the majority of the games that I could of Salt Lake in their stadium, and see the environment they have with their fans, how the fans push the team. When we went to Kansas City, Houston or Minnesota, you see a difference with teams that are playing at home — and we feel it right now.”