Post Match, Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Three Thoughts: ‘Caps return to successful road formula in Minny win

Fresh off a surprise four-goal explosion in a 4-3 win over St.Louis on the weekend, the Vancouver Whitecaps continued to pour in the goals in midweek, picking up a crucial 3-1 road win over Minnesota United, giving them back-to-back wins for a fourth time this 2024 MLS season. 

Thanks to two early goals from Brian White and Mathías Laborda, along with a late Sebastian Berhalter insurance goal that came after Minnesota’s Bongi Hlongwane had made things interesting with a 2-1 marker in the first half, the Whitecaps were able to nab this crucial win, one that provisionally pushed them up to fourth place in the Western Conference

Here are three things that stood out from this Whitecaps victory. 

Whitecaps re-find road savviness in key victory:

Quietly, the Whitecaps have been one of the best road teams in MLS this season, doing well to pick up results away from home, especially early on in the campaign. 

Yet, while they entered this game with a solid 4W-2D-4L (14 PTS) record on the road, it’s worth noting that they’d come into this game riding a streak of two straight road losses, having accumulated a record of 1W-1D-4L (4 PTS) in their last six on the road after starting the year with a record of 3W-1D-0L (13 PTS) in their first four games away from home. 

Because of that, it felt like this was the perfect game to bust their road slump, as they faced a Minnesota side that entered this game winless in five games, having lost four straight heading into this match. 

And the Whitecaps certainly seemed to get that memo, as they crafted together a strong road performance to get this crucial win over the line. 

First, they did something they did in each of their first four road games of the season, but have only done once in the six games since, and that’s to open the scoring, which is crucial for a team like the Whitecaps. 

A side that is at their best when they can sit back a bit more and hit teams on the counter, that allowed them to play the game on their terms, which then didn’t make it a surprise to see them add a second goal, and then later add a third. When chasing games, the Whitecaps can sometimes struggle to break down teams who sit back and defend, which is why their comeback win over St.Louis this past weekend, where they went down 2-0 before storming back with four unanswered goals, was so key, as that was the first time all year they’d won a game where they didn’t score first. 

Because of that, it was a positive sign to see them take the lead and then extend it to two goals on multiple occasions, as that allowed them to control how they wanted the game to be played. 

Certainly, they were lucky not to allow more goals than they did, as Minnesota crafted a whopping 3.44 xG and missed a penalty, which could’ve changed the game, but it’s worth noting that a lot of Minnesota’s best chances came when the Whitecaps had a two-goal lead. As some know, that means that score effects likely came into play, as they might not have pushed so hard to generate chances had the game been tied or if the Whitecaps had a one-goal lead, for example, which can skew those numbers. 

So overall, the Whitecaps can be pleased with how they were able to grind out this win. Quietly, this now gives them the sixth most road points in MLS with 17 from 11 games, which is no joke for a team that had just 18 road points in 17 games last year, and 10 in 17 games the year prior. 

And they can thank their road formula for that, one that was on full display in this game. 

Ryan Gauld continues to find new ways to drive Whitecaps forward:

It was a big week for Ryan Gauld, who continued his quiet rise in popularity among MLS circles, earning a selection to his first-ever MLS All-Star game, as Columbus Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy gave him the nod as one of his coach’s picks. With that, he also became the sixth-ever Whitecaps player to earn an all-star nod, too, an honour one will be surprised to see him take so long to achieve given how good he’s been for the Whitecaps the last few seasons. 

Tied with Brian White as the Whitecaps’ leading scorer in 2024 with nine goals, Gauld has impressed with his finishing this season thanks to a newfound ability to score goals from open play, but it’s always important to remember that he’s always done his best work as a playmaker, making it a surprise to see him enter this game with just three assists this season, as he’s been unable to generate helpers at his usual rate in 2024. 

Because of that, it felt he might be due for an explosion of assists, especially after he failed to find a goal contribution in the Whitecaps 4-3 win over St.Louis on the weekend, the first time since March that he failed to get a goal or assist in a Whitecaps win. 

Typically, when he finds the net or gets an assist, the Whitecaps tend to win or at least pick up points, as he’s a key part of their offence. And he reminded people of that with his performance in this game, which was a vintage Ryan Gauld showing. 

First, he showed his work rate on assist #1, helping win the ball high up the field while pressing, allowing him to find White on the opener. 

Then, he showed his quality on assist #2, as he found Mathías Laborda with a perfect cross, delivering the type of ball that only he can put in. 

Lastly, he got a bit of luck on assist #3, as Sebastian Berhalter scored a banger, but even that was a sign of Gauld’s ability to read the game, as he easily could’ve overcomplicated his pass or looked to shoot instead of laying off for Berhalter, who is known for having a dangerous long shot. 

With that, Gauld was able to provide some much-needed inflation to his assist numbers, putting him up to six on the season, having doubled his season output with this performance. Given that all three of those assists came on the only three chances he created in this game, it shows how effective he was on the night, too. 

And, not only that, he’s climbed up to 11th (as of writing) in assists in MLS and 10th in goals+assists, too, already sitting in 11th in goals, giving an idea of what this game did for him in terms of counting stats. 

Safe to say, there aren’t many in MLS who can influence games in the ways that Gauld can, as seen with his goals, assists and work rate, and this win was another fine example of what that can do for the Whitecaps when he’s at his best. 

Berhalter and Vite find some joy in midfield pivot:

It’s been a big storyline for the Whitecaps over the last few weeks – how do they cope with the absence of Andrés Cubas, their star defensive midfielder, who has missed the last few weeks due to international duty, away with Paraguay at the 2024 Copa América?

Turns out, not great, as the Paraguayan has been sorely missed, as there’s been a giant Cubas-sized hole in the middle of the park in the three games he’s been absent for. With that, it raised questions about the Whitecaps’ depth in that position, given that they tried (and failed) to use Laborda as a #6 recently, before otherwise riding the duo of Sebastian Berhalter and Pedro Vite without much success. 

In this game, however, head coach Vanni Sartini stuck with that pivot of Berhalter and Vite, and was finally rewarded with a strong showing from the duo, who showed a glimpse of what they can do at their best. 

And the big thing that they can provide? Offence, as they were quite involved in the build-up play and the attack, even beyond Berhalter’s missile, and the numbers reflect that involvement for both of them. 

For Berhalter, he was getting involved in a lot more final actions, as he created two chances and had two shots to go along with five passes into the final third, three crosses and three long balls, as he seemed to constantly pop up in dangerous areas around the box in this game. 

Meanwhile, Vite ended up operating as more of a deep-lying playmaker, completing 28 out of 31 of his passes (90%), making three passes into the final third and pulling off three of his five long ball attempts. 

Through that, that helped the Whitecaps massively in possession, as they were able to push play in the right direction, helping put pressure on Minnesota’s midfield everytime they had the ball. 

Certainly, they weren’t without their faults – they did struggle a bit defensively at times, but other than that, it was a strong performance from the pair, which is huge for Berhalter, in particular, who has been finding some fine form lately after some early-season struggles, much to Sartini’s pleasure. 

“Earlier in the season, he wasn’t playing the right way, training the right way, he was not up to the standard of last year,” Sartini said of Berhalter after this game. “When he can play like this, as a six or an eight, he’s one of the players who can do it and he can run a marathon.”

With that, this offers the Whitecaps some intriguing flexibility when Cubas returns, which could be as soon as this weekend after Paraguay’s early Copa América elimination (and it’s worth noting that Cubas does come back fresh after missing their last game with a red card suspension), as they could put together some intriguing midfield combinations going forward.  

For example, what about having Cubas in his destroyer role with Vite helping progress the ball alongside him and Berhalter pushing up the box to get involved offensively? Or how about a midfield box with all three along with Ali Ahmed, who could also feature in midfield after playing as more of a wing back this year? And, of course, there’s the option of including Alessandro Schöpf in either of those scenarios in the wing back/midfielder hybrid role he’s done well in as of late. 

So while it’s been a tough few weeks for Sartini in Cubas’s absence, his incoming return could help give the Whitecaps a boost, especially if Berhalter and Vite can build off this performance, as they could give the team a bit more juice in midfield to support Cubas with. 

This post was done in collaboration with Canadian Soccer Daily, who cover all things Canadian Soccer at https://canadiansoccerdaily.com

2 thoughts on “Three Thoughts: ‘Caps return to successful road formula in Minny win”

  1. Just FYI, if they score on the penalty it changes little if nothing in the game since they scored on the ensuing corner. I would argue that actually giving up the goal the way they did was a bit harder to recover from than if they gave up the pen

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  2. Up 2, give 1 back before half … Hmmm. Where have I seen that before? I was so praying “Don’t be Saint Louis” for the second half LOL. My prayers were answered.

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