Whitecaps ‘taking it one game at a time,’ Harvey says
Jordan Harvey swears the Vancouver Whitecaps aren’t about to get ahead of themselves.
With five games left in their MLS regular season, the Whitecaps are atop the Western Conference standings.
Preparing for a Wednesday visit to CenturyLink Field to face the Seattle Sounders, Vancouver is riding a seven-game unbeaten streak (5-0-2).
We’re getting into some unique territory for the franchise. For instance, the Whitecaps (149-6) have already accumulated the second-most wins in a regular season in their MLS history, behind the 16-13-5 campaign in 2015.
It’s easy to wonder where this season might wind up. Harvey, the veteran left back, maintains getting all tangled up in the possibilities isn’t a problem for the players, though.
“I know it’s cliche, but we really are taking it one game at a time,” said Harvey, 33, the Mission Viejo, Calif., native who is one of the longest-serving Whitecaps, having joined the team midway through that inaugural MLS campaign in 2011 after a trade with the Philadelphia Union.
“We’re chipping away at the season. This is a hard league and it’s a long season. You have to keep grinding away.
“How hard a sell is that to the young guys? I don’t think it’s that hard at all.
“You take a guy like Alphonso Davies. He grinds every day. He works hard every day. He’s not a guy who’s boasting about the success we’re having.”
Part of the reason to believe that Harvey is doing more than serving up a party line with his comments is that the Caps have assorted teams hot on their heels. The Portland Timbers (13-10-8) and Sporting Kansas City (12-611) are both one point back, while the Sounders (11-8-11) are four behind.
Vancouver has two games in hand on Portland and one on Seattle. Kansas City, which hosts Vancouver at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday has played 29 times, like the Whitecaps.
Also at play for Harvey and his teammates staying on task is that the Whitecaps have depth like we haven’t seen before in their MLS tenure.
And coach Carl Robinson isn’t afraid to use it.
During this seven-game roll, 22 different players have started at least one game for Vancouver, and nobody has started every game of the stretch. Harvey is the latest example.
Robinson started Marcel de Jong in Harvey’s usual post for Vancouver’s 2-1 win over the Colorado Rapids at B.C. Place Saturday.
“This team had a few ups and downs until we started to find our identity. Now, down the stretch, we’ve honed in on that.
“We’re a team that’s going to grind it out, but we also have the capability of playing attractive soccer in the final third.”