Good Monday morning Caps fans, hope you all had a lovely weekend and are gearing up for an equally lovely work week.
The most Caps-related news we got over the weekend came from the Canadian Premier League, courtesy of Shaan Hundal, who decided to pop off after helping secure a 2-1 victory for Vancouver FC over York United, the maiden victory in the club’s history.
“It’s nice to have a team in Vancouver that has a brand,” Hundal said. “I know the Whitecaps are there, I don’t think they’re winning a lot of games. It’s nice to be a new team that got a win this early in this season. I hope we can show all of Vancouver what we can do and what the Whitecaps can’t.”
So, first things first, congrats to Vancouver FC on their first win. I think most people in Vancouver have no ill will towards the Langley side and I would like to see them become a credible challenge to the Caps’ presence in Vancouver. The Caps need someone to push them to be better and if a CPL side can do that, all the better for everyone involved.
But come on man. Your team just crashed out of the Canadian Championship, the competition the team you’re dumping on won last year. Not saying some Caps Voyageurs Cup hijinks are out of the equation but at least we will have made it further than Vancouver FC.
There are few MLS fan bases that are more self-loathing than the Caps’ and a lot of that is deserved. It’s true, the Caps haven’t won much! No one disputes that fact and fans discuss this all the time. Win a few more games, build something sustainable and then maybe you can talk a big game. But for now? Sit this one out.
Ironically, it’s the ambivalence of Caps fans that give Vancouver FC the clearest pathway to viability and relevance. Riling them up with dumb comments is going to do something that the Caps can’t do: Unite the fanbase.
The Caps won’t get to face their Langley neighbors this year. But it’s nice that the rivalry got a little juice during an otherwise sedate bye week.
Shameless Self Promotion
Speaking of Vancouver FC, we run down their big win on Saturday. Mike Rice also profiles three of the top Whitecaps 2 players you should be keeping an eye on amid their hot start.
Best of the Rest
That Whitecaps 2 side pummeled Minnesota United’s reserves 5-2 on Sunday evening to see them up to third in the Western Conference
Monday is the last day before the first MLS transfer window slams shut. It is expected to be a quiet day for the Caps but other teams might be making moves
Tata Martino has said he is interested in the notion of returning to coach in MLS
U.S. Soccer has reportedly tapped former Southampton executive Matt Crocker as its new sporting director
A deep dive on the harrowing dynamic facing those who tried to report abuse in Canada Soccer
As much as a few Whitecaps players try, the games will never be exciting while ceding to Vanni Sartini’s style of coaching. Sartini is satisfied with 0-0 tie games, and those will never be games fans want to watch. The Whitecaps need to score goals. Lots of goals. That’s what sells tickets and that’s what sells merchandise. Want to spice up the game? Put Blackmon up front in place of White.
its not Sartini’s fault the Caps won’t spring for a player with a Ryan Gauld level salary to play at striker. let’s be honest at the root cause. Changing the coach can’t squeeze out what you so correctly note the team needs.