Episode 423 - The AFTN Soccer Show (The 2020 State Of The Whitecaps with Marc Dos Santos)

The latest AFTN Soccer Show is out for another packed show of Vancouver Whitecaps and Major League Soccer chat.

It's the time of year where football in North America winds down and the focus is on both reflection of the year past and looking ahead at the year to come. In the current Covid world, the latter is harder to do than it's ever been before, but we look at the current state of play with three MLS clubs in this episode.

Vancouver Whitecaps head coach Marc Dos Santos joins us for our annual State of the Whitecaps chat. We look back at the difficult year that was and ahead to what the club are doing to improve for 2021.

What kinds of DPs will be coming in and from where? Will we finally get a true number 10 difference maker in Vancouver or will it be a hybrid multi-position player? Will those defensive holes be plugged? And are the club prepared to do a blockbuster GAM deal to land some MLS experience? We talk with Marc about all of that a lot more too in a 45 minute chat.

We also look at the season past and future plans of another Canadian side, Montreal Impact, as their season finally came to an end this past week, and hear from head coach Thierry Henry about his first year in charge, Sporting Director Olivier Renard, and Canadian midfielder Samuel Piette.

Plus we look at a busy week for expansion side Austin FC and hear from head coach Josh Wolff and Sporting Director Claudio Reyna, and we cover the exciting action as the CONCACAF Champions League wraps up. Can LAFC make history for a MLS side? We hear from head coach Bob Bradley, along with NYCFC's Ronny Delia as he looks ahead to next season.

Here's the rundown for the main segments from the episode:

03.30: The State of the Whitecaps with Marc Dos Santos
56.30: Unpacking MDS
65.33: Wavelength - Parlour Flames - Pop Music Football and Girls
73.13: Austin FC's busy week, with audio from Claudio Reyna and Josh Wolff
95.41: CONCACAF Champions League wraps up as history awaits LAFC - with Bob Bradley and Ronny Delia audio
109.05: Montreal Impact end of season review with audio from Thierry Henry, Olivier Renard, and Samuel Piette