Roles changing in Sounders-Whitecaps rivalry

VANCOUVER, B.C. — The Vancouver Whitecaps are growing up, so much so that coach Carl Robinson is trying to temper expectations. The Sounders, meanwhile, want to maintain their status as the big brother in this sibling rivalry.

It seems like just yesterday that the Whitecaps, who began play in MLS in 2011, took their first steps. But they strolled confidently into CenturyLink Field last season and swiped the Cascadia Cup from under the Sounders’ noses.

A year later, Vancouver again needs nothing less than a win to clinch the regional trophy. The rivals’ places in the Western Conference standings, though, have swapped. The Whitecaps entered the weekend as the leader in the MLS Supporters’ Shield race, and Seattle, the 2014 regular-season champion, enters Saturday’s showdown at BC Place scrapping for its playoff life.

“We’ve got the youngest team in Major League Soccer,” Robinson cautioned this week. “We haven’t won anything. We’re not L.A. Galaxy, which have won MLS Cup … five times. We’ve done nothing. I’m being realistic. We are the underdog.”

His players are bolder, more confident. A league-best 15 wins from 28 games and a plus-12 goal differential will do that.

Does that sound like an underdog?

“I don’t think so,” winger Kekuta Manneh said Friday, mischievous grin lighting up his face. “Seattle is a big team — L.A. Galaxy with all the players they have, Dallas is amazing. But being at the top of the Western Conference, you can’t really call yourself underdogs anymore. I think we’re one of the best teams in the league.”

Manneh credits his weekly one-on-one sit-downs with Robinson as a major facilitator of his breakout 2015, during which he’s added a finishing touch to already well-honed dribbling skills. The playmaker from Gambia already has set a career high in assists (six) and matched his best goal total (also six).

Player and coach break down video every week. They assess the most recent game, and Robinson pulls no punches if he thinks one of his players is giving less than his best.

The coach has given most of his players their big break, trusting young players with heavy loads far earlier than will most of his MLS contemporaries. Manneh showed his potential only in flashes during his first two seasons in the league but stayed on the field. He’s still only 20, yet the experience is paying off.

“You want to reward people that put their faith in you,” Manneh said.

Tim Parker, a 22-year-old center back, has edged his way into the rotation during his rookie season. Gershon Koffie, 24, and Cristian Techera, 23, line up behind 23-year-old Designated Player forward Octavio Rivero in the Vancouver midfield.

Robinson, at 38, is one of the youngest coaches in MLS. His team matches his brick-on-the-accelerator style.

“Their speed is always an issue,” Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said this week. “They rely on their youth and exuberance. I know they think we’re an old team and they want to try to run us. But we need to do what we do well, which is possess the ball, and we’ve got some guys up front that can finish.”

The Whitecaps certainly made Sounder legs look creaky last month in Seattle, sprinting around and through a static midfield and taking advantage of set plays en route to a 3-0 win.

But the first meeting of the season, in May at BC Place, showed how the Whitecaps can be defeated, how their exuberance can be used against them.

The hosts pinned Seattle back for the opening 20 minutes, peppering the Sounders’ goal with shots. But the Sounders weathered the storm. Vancouver blew itself out, and the visitors comfortably controlled the rest of their eventual 2-0 victory.

The Whitecaps aren’t as far away from MLS Cup contention as Robinson would have you believe, but they a not finished product, either.

Just where they fall on that spectrum Saturday could determine on which side of the border the Cascadia Cup resides come Sunday morning.