Whitecaps: How Ralph Priso’s success means everything

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To understand how the Vancouver Whitecaps have grown into one of Major League Soccer’s top teams, we should understand the evolution of Ralph Priso.

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Picked up early in 2024 as a bit of a dart throw, he rarely played much of role until last fall, when he was pressed into emergency service as a centre back.

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To that point, he’d been a capable enough defensive midfielder. He’d come through Toronto FC’s academy, debuting as a professional in 2020. He made eight starts and 25 appearances in all, over his first two-plus seasons. But when TFC saw a chance to pick up Mark-Anthony Kaye, they traded the promising Priso to Colorado.

Over the next season-and-a-half he made 36 appearances for the Rapids but wasn’t enough for Colorado to commit to so the Caps sprang for him two weeks into the 2024 MLS season. He was a depth midfielder that season and then into 2025 too.

He was sliding down the depth chart when suddenly the Caps found themselves in an injury crisis at the end of the summer; after not getting into a match for two months, he was suddenly pressed back into service in late September. Jesper Sorensen’s squad was in such crisis that he had to turn to Priso to start at centre back for the first time on Sept. 27 vs. Seattle. Priso had never lined up as part of the backline in his life before: he’d always been a midfielder.

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But Sorensen had a feeling. And what a feeling that proved to be: Priso truly changed the course of the Caps’ season. He answered a question that hadn’t been there until that exact moment: what would happen if all of the Caps’ centre backs were hurt?

That said, even the head coach admits to a little surprise that it’s gone as well as could be for the 5-foot-9 Torontonian; Priso isn’t just capable enough to be pressed into service in an emergency, he’s actually now literally described as a centre back. That’s how well he’s developed. With Ranko Veselinovic still out for months and Belal Halbouni also out — both are recovering from knee injuries — there’s still plenty of playing time available at centre back.

“I didn’t see it coming, honestly, for him to be playing at this level, this consistent at that position, so fast,” Sorensen said. “I, of course, saw a potential for him to play this position, but having him playing at this level is quite special, and kudos to him, because he’s embraced the challenge and done everything he could to pick up information, not you know, it could also be that he thought that, yeah, I see myself as a midfield player, but now he really, really evolved on this position, and still he can play multiple positions.”

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Priso’s personality is almost stunning in its calmness. That’s a big factor, surely, in how he’s found success. Once he was a midfielder. Now he’s a centre back.

The label for the position is different, but the task, he says, remains the same. And that task is the microcosm of the Whitecaps’ success: play with tempo, play tight, play with balance, make smart decisions all over the place.

“I think having always played in midfield, it helps being at the back, because I know where, I guess, midfielders want the ball, how they want it, where they expect the next pass to go so that they can get it,” he said Tuesday, a day before he and his mates headed south to Spokane, Wash., for a CONCACAF Champions Cup showdown with the Seattle Sounders. “And so I think it just helps me, helps the team have clear ideas of what we want to do. And the biggest thing, I would say, that’s different is just thinking more about what happens when we lose the ball? I’m always making sure I’m in a good spot to be able to help the team not concede goals.”

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His athleticism is a big factor too, he admits. Being quick allows him to defend higher up the pitch than you might expect. He’s started the year with Tristan Blackmon, the defending MLS Defender of the Year, as his partner at centre back. For on-going professional development, there’s no one better for him to learn from.

“Playing besides him makes my life a lot easier,” Priso admitted, with a hint of a smile. “He’s also someone that’s really athletic, and so I think the fact that we’re both pretty fast, helps to be comfortable in defending high because we know that we can cover space behind us.”

Sorensen called Priso’s development a truly unique thing, but also didn’t disagree that his evolution was in keeping with the overall progress of the squad in the year he’s worked with them.

“Ralph is a unique example of a player who has showed that a willingness to take upon him a completely new challenge, but also a guy clever enough to see that it might be benefiting for him to do so for the future. And then, I think what is not unique about Ralph is that we have a lot of players in this group who’s willing to to take upon them challenges,” the Danish head coach said. “I think this group has embraced the challenges put in front of them, and then we have succeeded in some and some we haven’t. That’s what it is, but we are, but I think this group is, you know, they always looking forward to challenges ahead of them, and that’s been, that’s been, you know, a thing I’ve noticed ever since I came that everybody was also the things I wanted to introduce and do different. They were all in to that challenge.

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“I think that’s an important lesson for everybody,” Sorensen went on. “Put the work in and see put the work in and listen to the advice you get, then you’ll you’ll have a very good opportunity. They have all been very easy to coach, and I expect, and I know that they also were before I came so I think that’s that’s definitely a message for everybody, focus on your improvement and put the work in. And also, I think, you know, it’s not an it’s not been a steady path. There will be ups and downs for everybody, but don’t lose faith in yourself just because you have a down period. But yeah, trust that you will come strong out on the other side.”

pjohnston@postmedia.com

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