‘It’s been self-inflicted’: Whitecaps looking to correct mistakes

The Vancouver Whitecaps’ main concern isn’t that they’ve dropped their first two games of the season. It’s the self-defeating way those losses came about.

The club fell 3-2 at home to the Montreal Impact in its opener before last weekend’s 2-1 road setback to Sporting Kansas City.

There’s no shame in losing to Montreal, a team that finished 2015 on a 7-2-2 run to make the playoffs, or at K.C., which is quickly becoming one of the more difficult away stops in Major League Soccer.

The troubling aspects were the shocking defensive lapses from the Whitecaps in both games that gifted their opponents goals and the familiar storyline of Vancouver failing to capitalize on its own chances at the other end of the pitch.

“It’s been self-inflicted, which is both a positive and a negative,” said Whitecaps goalkeeper David Ousted. “Obviously negative that we’re making mistakes that we shouldn’t, but on the positive (side) we’re not meeting any teams right now that are outplaying us.”

Added Vancouver defender Jordan Harvey: “We beat ourselves. You can look back and there are obvious things that we can change that have been very impactful on the game.”

Right back has been the main area of concern early, with youngsters Fraser Aird and Jordan Smith, who was sent off against Sporting, struggling to replace Steven Beitashour after his trade to Toronto FC in the off-season for salary cap reasons.

Meanwhile, Kianz Froese and Deybi Flores, both 19, have each started a game in defensive midfield alongside Matias Laba. Froese looked good against Montreal, but Flores was subbed off after a nightmare first half against K.C.

“It’s a little bit disappointing,” Vancouver head coach Carl Robinson conceded. “We haven’t made teams work for their goals, which is what we did a lot last year.

“We know we can be better. That’s collectively and individually, and that’s something we’ll try and work on.”

The Whitecaps get another crack at their first win on Saturday when they visit the Seattle Sounders, the only other team in the Western Conference with losses in its first two games.

Vancouver made big strides last season, with a franchise-record 53 points, while Seattle isn’t used to sitting at the bottom of the standings.

The Sounders lost star striker Obafemi Martins after he signed with a club in China last month, and the front three of Clint Dempsey, Jordan Morris and Nelson Valdez has yet to find the range for a club that, like Vancouver, has made a number of costly mistakes.

“They’ve had a tricky start as well,” said Robinson. “Something’s probably got to give … we’ve got to try to get our season off and running. We’ll give it a good go.”

Notes: Whitecaps midfielder Andrew Jacobson, acquired in a trade from New York City FC last week, could see action against Seattle. … The road team won all three league meetings last season by way of shutout. … Vancouver has not lost at CenturyLink Field in MLS play since June 2013.

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