The banter is enjoyable and good-natured, however the stakes are excessive because the Vancouver Whitecaps go to growth aspect St. Louis Metropolis SC on Saturday with invaluable Western Convention factors on the road.
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It’s important to give the St. Louis’ media credit score: they tried, repeatedly, to get Jake Nerwinski to say one thing spicy, one thing quote-worthy. One thing, something, to hold a narrative on.
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However the St. Louis Metropolis SC fullback, late of the Vancouver Whitecaps, didn’t take the bait. As St. Bathroom media prodded him to make a daring assertion forward of Saturday’s MLS battle towards his previous staff, the longtime Cap stayed strictly bland.
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NEXT GAME
Vancouver Whitecaps vs. St. Louis Metropolis SC
Saturday, 5:30 p.m. PT, CityPark Stadium
TV: Apple TV, TSN. Radio: AM980 CKNW
Q: What are you able to dislike about Vancouver? What’s there to get offended about?
A: They’re simply our subsequent opponent. I do know I performed there for six years and I owe loads to that membership for giving me an opportunity, however I’m right here now and I’m trying to get three factors.
Q: So that you say there’s nothing, no rivalry forming … however is there at the very least like a chip in your shoulder? Is that this an announcement sport?
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A: I’m not attempting to take a look at it that means. I’m not attempting to hype this sport up an excessive amount of the place I get my feelings all tousled. I’m a level-headed man, I simply keep in my very own zone … Wouldn’t it be nice to beat them? In fact, but it surely’d be nice to get one other three factors and perhaps be on prime of the league.
In fact, the advantageous people masking the outstanding rise of growth St. Louis to the lofty heights of the Western Convention’s higher echelon have solely had a couple of months to get to know the Metropolis fullback. They don’t learn about his Jersey Boy bromance with Caps striker Brian White, the story about Utah pet Ash, his love of air fryers or which buttons to push to get him to zest-up his responses.
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Enter Vancouver journalist Har Johal.
“How’s the banter this week? … How do you cease Brian White?”
A vibrant grin, a “howdy Har!” And he was off.
“Yeah, I’ll most likely discuss a little bit smack to him,” Nerwinski mentioned. “That’s the one man … that’s considered one of my good pals. He’s a superb participant, he’s obtained an ideal work charge, he’s good in behind … I feel we simply have to be aggressive with him. We have to be sure that we don’t give him house.
“Possibly I’ll hit him or one thing,” he added with a chuckle. “I don’t know. We’ll see. Possibly just a bit examine, you already know?”
White and Nerwinski constructed a decent bond of their time in Vancouver, with each rising up 20 miles aside in New Jersey. They have been frequently interviewed collectively — and extra typically, took over the microphones to interview one another — and have been texting one another within the lead-up to the sport.
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“I feel some folks tend to (act like) they’re not pals in any respect,” mentioned White, the Caps’ main regular-season scorer. “I feel the friendliness brings out the competitiveness in me. I discover it actually enjoyable to compete with them; go exhausting in tackles and attempt to beat them up,” he mentioned, smiling.
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There could be a 3rd added to the Jersey Boys; White grew up taking part in with Metropolis winger Jared Stroud within the japanese seaboard state. White additionally performed with Tim Parker in New York with Pink Bull, the place present Metropolis head coach Bradley Carnell was an assistant.
“It’s good to see these guys doing so effectively at St. Louis,” mentioned White. “It’s going to be a superb time … just a bit bit extra intense, clearly. But it surely’s enjoyable to play towards guys that you simply’re so shut with.”
The one member of the St. Louis’ media was proper; this can be an announcement sport. But it surely’s for everybody concerned.
On one aspect, the nascent MLS staff is eager to show that their sizzling begin wasn’t a fluke. They have been simply the third staff — and solely growth aspect — to begin a season 5-0, three of these being come-from-behind wins, and have been the primary growth aspect to win their first three video games on the highway.
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St. Louis (7-4-1) has stumbled a bit since then, with simply two wins of their final seven video games, however is presently third within the West, a degree behind No. 2 Seattle with two video games in hand.
On the opposite aspect, the Whitecaps (4-4-5, seventh West) want to point out that they will win a league sport away from B.C. Place, one thing they haven’t accomplished since final June — a 14-game winless skid (0-7-7).
The important thing to Saturday’s sport can be stress versus possession.
Metropolis are second in goals-per-game (1.97), however that quantity vastly outperforms their xG by plus 8.5, which is by far and away the league chief. Ten of their dwelling targets have come from open play (second MLS) whereas conceding simply two (third).
However St. Louis are a high-pressure counterpunching staff that cedes possession to the opposite staff, averaging a league-low 44 per cent. The Whitecaps can be completely happy to have the ball and let it do all of the work, resting their legs as they undergo an prolonged congested schedule of two-a-weeks, however can’t afford to make any errors for Metropolis to pounce on.
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“They’re an excellent staff,” mentioned White. “They play with a high-intensity type that may smother some opponents, can suffocate them, particularly with their excessive stress and at all times desirous to go ahead. So it’s going to be a troublesome check.”
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