Vancouver Whitecaps name Denmark's Jesper Sorensen as new head coach

Jesper Sorensen pictured in 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Milligan/PA

VANCOUVER — When Jesper Sorensen looks at the Vancouver Whitecaps, he sees a strong foundation — one he believes he can build on now that he's been named head coach.

"I think that we might be able to adjust a little bit," he said in an introductory press conference Tuesday. "I’m not here to make a revolution — because I can see that they’ve done a great job so far — but to make an evolution to try and make some adjustments so we can get better from a very good starting point.”

Sorensen, 51, comes to Vancouver from Brondby IF in the Danish Superliga where he spent two seasons as head coach following two and a half as an assistant.

He also spent more than a year as head coach of Denmark's under-21 national squad, and played more than 300 matches as a midfielder in Denmark's top league.

Sorensen lived in Toronto a few years ago while his wife, Pernille, an oncologist, worked on research there. He said the couple and their three sons loved their time in Canada, even making a short visit to Vancouver.

The hire answers one major question for a Whitecaps side that weathered a tumultuous off-season.

In mid-November, exuberant Italian Vanni Sartini was been fired as head coach. A month later, news emerged that ownership was putting the club up for sale.

Whitecaps sporting director Axel Schuster did not provide an update on the sale process Tuesday, saying only that it would take time.

Sorensen said he isn't concerned about the pending business.

"I'm here to coach the team, and I'm pretty confident that there's a team to coach," he said. "So that's what was important for me."

Sorensen takes over a 'Caps team that finished the 2024 season with a mediocre 13-13-8 regular-season record.

The campaign included the club winning a third-straight Canadian Championship title, but the team limped through the end of the MLS season and was ousted from the playoffs in the first round by Los Angeles FC.

“I think we have said several times that we have been happy with most of our progress and development over the last years," Schuster said.

"But that we felt that we lost a little bit the speed, we lost a little bit the energy at the end of last season.”

The Whitecaps interviewed a number of candidates while searching for the sixth full-time head coach in club history, Schuster said. Part of what set Sorensen apart was his proven record of taking over teams and quickly having a positive impact as a coach.

During his time leading Brondby, the team went from 10th in the league to finishing the 2023-24 season in second place with the second-least goals conceded, the second-best goal differential and the third-most goals scored in the league.

Under Sartini, the 'Caps often allowed their opponents to control possession and made use of speed and captain Ryan Gauld's playmaking abilities to create offensive opportunities.

Sorensen said he wants his team to be known as a tactically strong group that plays close together and has more control of the ball.

"In this league, there's a guy called (Inter Miami superstar Lionel) Messi," he said. "You cannot control him when he has the ball, but you can try to affect him to play. But if you have the ball, you can control it, and then you can control better the outcome of what's going to happen.”

Vancouver's goal differential last season was a middling +3 in MLS play, but the squad boasts some high-quality offence in Gauld and striker Brian White.

White led the team with 15 goals last year and Gauld contributed 10 goals and 15 assists. The Scottish attacking midfielder was tied for third most helpers in the league.

“From what I've seen from the players in the games I watched — and I don't know them that well yet — but they have the qualities to do it. I saw a game where they scored five against Portland. Let's see if we can try to copy that," Sorensen said.

"Football is also about entertainment ... And the best way to entertain somebody in soccer and football is scoring goals, right?”

Time for Sorensen to make his mark ahead of the MLS season is fleeting.

Just hours after Tuesday's introductory press conference, the Whitecaps were set to fly to Spain where they'll spend more than three weeks training.

Players and staff will return to Vancouver in mid-February ahead of the club's first game on Feb. 20 when the team visits Costa Rican side Deportivo Saprissa to kick off a two-legged CONCACAF Champions League matchup.

Vancouver will play its first MLS game of the year on Feb. 23 when it visits the Timbers before hosting Saprissa on Feb. 27. The 'Caps will hold their home opener when the L.A. Galaxy visit on March 2.

Adjusting to a new coach will take some time, Sorensen said, but he expects his players will start picking up some of the new tactics he'll introduce before they leave Spain.

"Things don't happen overnight. All the habits we have put in the back of our brains, and they are there for a long time, and you have to really work them out if you need to do something different," he said.

"We are not perfect all the time, and we can live with some mistakes. But we work with the right intentions all the time, and then we go and make progress.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 14, 2025.

Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press