VANCOUVER, BC – A new era has begun in the North.
On Tuesday morning, Vancouver Whitecaps FC announced the appointment of Jesper Sørensen as the club's new head coach.
The native of Aarhus, Denmark arrives in Vancouver after recording over 200 matches as a head coach and over 300 matches as a player at the top level in his home country. Sørensen was introduced alongside sporting director Axel Schuster in a packed media conference on Tuesday at the National Soccer Development Centre, giving fans and media alike an in-depth look into his footballing mind ahead of the team departing for their preseason camp in Marbella, Spain.
"I'm very excited to be here. I think it's great being in Vancouver, I've been in Danish football the entirety of my career, both as a player and also as a coach but I'm very happy also to get the experience to now be in the MLS in a great city like Vancouver and also in a great country like Canada," said Sørensen.
"I'm very much a student of the game still, I have been all these years. I normally have an outward look for new ideas and also think a lot about how we can do tactically."
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Most recently, Sørensen served as head coach of Brøndby IF, posting a 37W-19L-17D record and a 1.75 points per game average during a two-year spell with the club. The Dane altered between utilizing a 4-3-3 formation and some variations of three-at-the-back systems, showing his ability to be flexible with the tools at his disposal.
When asked about his preferred formations, Sørensen stated his main focus is finding the best system for the team while instilling the tactical principles he lives by.
"If there were a superior formation, everybody would play it so I'm actually a guy that looks into what do we have to competence in the team," explained Sørensen. "I can come here and say 'okay, we'll play 4-3-3 with wide wingers' but if we don't have anybody, then that would be stupid. If we have players suited for something better, that's what we're going to find out. We're going to play whatever we think is best for the team."
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For Sørensen, it's not about undoing what the current group has already done. It's about using those achievements and qualities in order to take the team to the next level.
"I'm not here to make a revolution, because I could see that there was a great job done so far, but make an evolution to try and make some adjustments so we can get better from actually a very good starting point. I can see a lot of good players with good mentality and playing with a strong heart for the club and that's good to see."
He also mentioned he'd like his team to be known for being tactically strong, for being able to play in close quarters and be more ball dominant.
Like any new player or coach coming into a new league, Sørensen faces the challenge of adjusting to the ever-demanding constants of MLS. However, when he was approached with the prospect of moving to Vancouver, Sørensen took pride in the challenge of coming to a new league and coaching outside his home country for the very first time. It was one of the many reasons that attracted him to joining the club.
"It is a big challenge because football varies a lot abroad," said Sørensen. "Football in Denmark is not the same as football in Germany. Football in Germany is not the same as football in Spain, and footballl in Spain is not the same as football in North America. Football is a product of the culture right? So that's something I also have to learn."
"I think it's very attractive right now to see what's going on in the MLS, I think it's a league that everybody knows that's creating more and more attention about it. I know that there's excitement about football generally in North America right now also due to the World Cuo coming up. For me to have an opportunity to be part of that was, of course, easy for me to say [yes] when Axel actually told me that he preferred me as the coach here."
Another key part of why Sørensen was attracted to the job was the quality of the 'Caps roster, which features 23 returning players from last season.
"From what I see from the squad right now is that you have a lot of quality, you have experience, but you also have potential, you have younger players that can maybe take the next step," stated Sørensen.
The Dane also showed his humble side when speaking about his goals with the roster.
"My job here is to help them, help the team, help the players win football games and help them get better individually, that's actually what I'm here for."
The work's just begun for Sørensen, as he and the 'Caps are now set to begin their three-and-a-half-week preseason camp in Marbella, Spain.
"I would like to see, of course, no injuries [in Spain]," he joked. "I would like to see that we have adapted a little bit to the things that I've introduced, so I'll start introducing stuff, then we'll have it implemented and it'll take some time, things don't happen overnight. I just hope to see the players really starting to figure out how to do things the way we want to do it."
Following the camp, the ’Caps will return to Vancouver to continue preparations for their Concacaf Champions Cup Round One first leg against Costa Rican side Deportivo Saprissa on February 20 at Ricardo Saprissa Aymá Stadium. The ‘Caps will then stay on the road as they open up their 2025 MLS regular season campaign three days later with a Cascadia clash at Portland Timbers on February 23 at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon.
Shortly after, Sørensen will make his home debut in the Round One second leg against Saprissa on February 27 at BC Place. For more information on tickets, visit whitecapsfc.com/tickets.
