‘We Will Continue This Journey’ – Thomas Muller Believes Vancouver Whitecaps Are Built for MLS Success
We Will Continue This Journey: Muller Vision After MLS Cup Loss
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. — As Lionel Messi lifted another trophy into the South Florida night, Thomas Muller stood just a few yards away, watching the celebrations with a tired smile. It wasn’t the smile of a defeated man, not really. It was the look of someone who believed what happened on the pitch wasn’t the end of anything — it was the beginning of something much bigger.
Inter Miami beat the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 to win MLS Cup, with Messi creating two second-half goals that broke Vancouver’s resistance. For Muller , the night hurt, of course it did. Finals are cruel; they don’t reward effort or progress, just perfection. But even as he spoke to reporters afterward, the German icon talked about the future, about growth, about “the journey” more than about defeat.
“It hurts, but in the best way it could hurt,” Muller said, leaning into the microphone with a half-laugh, the kind that comes from exhaustion and belief. “We will come back stronger next season. Even stronger. Jesper is in now for one year. It’s only one year. I think nobody expected a season like this one year ago.”
And he’s right — nobody did.
The Vancouver Whitecaps, a team many still describe as coming from a hockey city more than a football one, made a run that felt like something out of a film. New manager Jesper Sørensen, a core built around young, hungry players, and Muller arriving with the kind of energy you don’t normally see from a player who has already won everything.
The result wasn’t the one they wanted, but in the eyes of their new leader, this wasn’t a failure. It was a foundation.
Muller : “We Will Come Back Stronger”
Still, Muller refused to let it define the year.
When Muller speaks about football, his tone always carries a mix of lightness and certainty. Maybe that’s what two World Cup finals and a decade of pressure at Bayern Munich will do to you — everything feels like perspective.
“I still feel that our process is not at the top,” he continued. “At the moment we are on our way up. We have a very young group, a very talented group, and a very hungry group. And you know how it is with the big losses — that gains a lot of energy for the future.”
Anyone who watched the final could see that hunger. The Whitecaps weren’t outclassed. At 1-1, they were in the match, pressing high, matching intensity, giving Inter Miami more than one scare. But Messi, at 37 years old, still bends the rhythm of a game in a way that no one else can. Two assists, two moments, and a season of dreams slipped away.
Still, Muller refused to let it define the year.
“Maybe it’s not the right moment to talk about next year,” he said with a shrug, “but I try to focus my emotions a little bit more on the upcoming months.”
He talked about players still feeling the pain in the dressing room, the quiet conversations, the disbelief that settles into a team that has just walked off a final pitch. But he also talked about excitement — about what happens when you take all that emotion and turn it into fuel.
Turning Vancouver Into a Soccer Town
If there was one part of the night that made Muller genuinely proud, it was what the Whitecaps have done off the pitch.
It’s not a secret — Vancouver is hockey territory. The city breathes the Canucks, lives in rinks, talks in jerseys. But this year, something shifted. Crowds grew louder. Scarves became more visible on the streets. The discussions in bars changed tone.
“It’s so nice to hear that we created, in a city like Vancouver — the hockey city — we created the buzz,” Muller said. “We wanted to create that when we talked about it two or three months ago when I considered joining. And that this happened — it was very nice to experience that by myself and with the group.”
Fans packed BC Place, flags waved on Granville Street, and the city showed it had the heart for football. Muller , a visitor turned believer, clearly loved being part of that transformation.
“So we were happy for every support,” he added, “and I hope the buzz continues next season.”
And that buzz may matter more than any tactical tweak or transfer move. Because football becomes powerful when it becomes community — when it stops being just a game and becomes a habit, a ritual, a culture.
‘Today We Cry’ – Sorensen Proud Despite MLS Cup Defeat
Vancouver manager Jesper Sørensen cut a different figure. Where Muller tone was bright, Sørensen’s was emotional. His voice cracked slightly when he spoke about the team, because this run meant everything to him — not just the final.
“We are a very strong group,” he said after the match. “And today, obviously, we cry. But I think what is important is that it is proud tears, because I know that we have excited a lot of people in Vancouver.”
Three finals in one season — that is not a normal first year. The Whitecaps weren’t supposed to be here, not yet. But Sørensen’s style — fearless pressing, vertical transitions, possession with purpose — turned Vancouver into a problem for everyone they faced.
He called this season “masterful,” not because they won MLS Cup, but because of how they carried themselves. “It’s important you can be a champion on the pitch,” he said, “but you also have to be a champion outside the pitch.”
“When you play against a team like that, they also have a plan for playing against you,” he said. “Obviously, that’s how football works.”
Uncertainty Ahead — But Identity First
The future is not entirely clear for Vancouver. Their lease at BC Place is ending and the club’s ownership explored the possibility of a sale last year. There could be a new stadium, new leadership, even new direction.
But Sørensen didn’t hesitate when asked about what comes next.
“We will play in the same style again,” he said. “We will work hard and see if we can continue this great run together with the fans. It means everything… football is not just for the players. It’s for the fans, for the atmosphere, for the tension, for the excitement. And the fact that we’ve been able to create that together with our fans in Vancouver — I think it’s the most important thing.”
Messi and Miami celebrated into the night. Vancouver packed their bags and flew home with silver medals. But if you listened closely to Muller and Sørensen, you didn’t hear the end of a story.
You heard the opening lines of the next chapter.
The Whitecaps aren’t done.
And if Muller is right, this journey is only warming up.
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