VANCOUVER, BC – Vancouver Whitecaps FC’s MLS season starts now and they're already in a full-on playoff mindset. That's how 'Caps coach Carl Robinson is viewing his side's upcoming games as his squad seek to secure their place in the postseason.
Vancouver are battling it out for the fifth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, which they currently occupy by virtue of a single point over Portland Timbers.
For Robinson, it doesn't matter what either team has done this season up to this stage, it's only what they do from this point forward.
“We've got a six game mini-season now between us, Portland, Colorado and maybe San Jose as well,” Robinson told reporters at training. “We've got to try and take as many points as we can in these six games and start Saturday. Whatever's happened up to this point is irrelevant. It's all about these next six games now.”
That all kicks off with a mouthwatering Cascadian derby against the Timbers at Providence Park on Saturday afternoon (2 p.m. PT; NBCSN in US, TSN1 in Canada).
Although Robinson has allowed himself to cast an eye on the Timbers remaining schedule, he knows that to be a pointless exercise if his team can't take care of their own business.
“I get asked all the time have I looked at other team's schedules,” Robinson said. “I have, but I haven't taken much notice because it's irrelevant. If we don't do our job then we probably won't get to the playoffs.”
“We've got a massive game on the weekend but as I say every week, every game is massive and it will continue to be massive. And if it's massive then it means that we're still in contention.”
The result of Saturday's Cascadia Cup clash could have major implications on the final regular season standings in the West, but as far as Vancouver's players are concerned the postseason has already started.
“We're approaching every game very much that it's a playoff game,” centre back Andy O'Brien told reporters. “I would say irrelevant of the result, there's still a lot of work to be done but it makes our objective a lot easier if we get the points.”
It a view shared by Vancouver's young midfielder Russell Teibert, who is relishing the battle ahead. The Homegrown star has no doubt that the ‘Caps are up for the challenge and says the intensity has been ramped up in the camp even before this weekend's Cascadian derby.
“The game down in Dallas felt like a playoff game and every game from here on in is going to feel like a playoff game,” Teibert told reporters. “This is playoff soccer. It's what we live for and what we play for and this is the most exciting time of the year apart from the playoffs themselves.”
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