Following the frustrating defeat in the Champions Cup final, Jesper Sørensen will have to pick his Vancouver Whitecaps side up and get them ready to go again ahead of their MLS clash with Cascadian rivals Seattle Sounders.

However, an immediate rebound will not be an easy task, as Vancouver have had an outbreak of illness in the camp. Further, the Whitecaps will have 9 (yes 9!) players absent due to international duty, meaning that yet again the Whitecaps will be required to heavily rotate.

This clash will likely have huge implications on the destination of the Cascadian Cup. Vancouver currently lead the way after their 4-1 win over Portland Timbers at Providence Park on the opening day of the season, whilst Seattle earned a 1-1 draw there a few matches ago to keep the race close.

Starting with the home side, and Vancouver will be reeling after the defeat in Mexico. It’s hard to comment on a game where absolutely everything went wrong, but the bottom line is that the Whitecaps must improve and fast if they want to continue their upwards trajectory.

Nevertheless, that should not detract from the sensational journey that this team have taken us on over the course of the season. Whilst the defeat will hurt for some time, in a few years we will think fondly about the run to that final, and hopefully that defeat just becomes a sour footnote in a glorious season.

However, gathering momentum may be difficult as, according to a statement published by the Whitecaps on Thursday, “Following the team’s return from Mexico, a significant number of Whitecaps FC players and staff reported gastrointestinal symptoms.” That has meant that the team has not completed a full training session since their trip to Mexico, and this will see many key players miss out on selection due to illness, although we are still waiting to see who those absences will be. Good luck for Guess the Starting XI this week.

Beyond that, for some reason the MLS still insists on playing games over the international breaks. Whilst this will impact every team to some degree (well, not this time as there is only 5 matches being played), it disproportionately affects successful teams who have a lot of players called up.

This is exactly what has happened to the Vancouver Whitecaps, who as victims of their own success have a grand total of 9 players called up for international duty. Frustratingly, Sam Adekugbe, Ali Ahmed and Jayden Nelson with Canada and Brian White and Sebastian Berhalter for USMNT have all called up to compete in the Gold Cup which may see them absent for an entire month, whilst Pedro Vite with Ecuador, Andres Cubas for Paraguay, Guiseppe Bovalina with Australia’s u23’s and Tate Johnson in the USA’s u20’s have all been called up to play in the June international window.

Whilst I’m sure all Whitecaps supporters are happy for them for representing their country, it means that Vancouver are without players who make up 44% of the side’s total minutes this season. For any team this would be a huge loss, but it may be catastrophic for a side who is desperate for a rebound and still struggling without their talisman.

Somehow, the MLS has taken the ludicrous decision to say that they will not call the game off. This has seen Vancouver forced to call off the WFC2 fixture against The Town FC for the same night, as too many of their players will be required to play in the first team. I suppose now is another good time to plug Caleb’s mid season review of the WFC2 team, and it creates an opportunity to see those players in the flesh against top MLS opposition, but those are the only upsides to this fixture being played.

AS MLS Next Pro players have a limit on the number of short term contracts and matches that they can be called up for, this might also have further ramifications towards the end of the season if players are no longer eligible because they had to play against the Sounders.

Of course, Seattle do have their own absentees, but given that their 3 players on international duty have a singular start combined across MLS play this season, even those of a Sounders persuasion can surely understand frustrations about playing through this large of a selection crisis.

Seattle did start the season with a run of poor form, but they have picked up lately to find themselves in 5^th place in the Western Conference. However, after a frustrating 3-2 defeat to Minnesota United, they will see this game as a final opportunity to build a bit of momentum ahead of their summer Club World Cup campaign.

Indeed, the danger-men for the Whitecaps to watch out for will undoubtedly be Albert Rusnak and Pedro de La Vega. Rusnak has 7 goals from 16 MLS matches this season, and he is also a creative threat as he has made the most chances per 90 of any attacking midfielder in MLS, whilst Argentinian winger de La Vega will torment Vancouver’s defence with his blistering pace.

They would both likely be providing service to Jordan Morris, but the striker is currently out injured, meaning it will either be Danny Musovski or Jesus Ferreira who starts up front. Other key players for the Sounders include Seattle native Paul Rothrock and 19-year-old defensive midfielder Obed Vargas, who has made 14 MLS starts this season.

Vancouver’s only MLS defeat so far this season came during the last international break against Chicago Fire, and I know there are many who are expecting this to be defeat number 2. However, Sørensen will have to change his squad for this game, and based off the resilience that the Whitecaps have shown this season, it may be perilous to underestimate Vancouver in this derby clash.