Good Monday morning Caps fans, hope you all had a restful and restorative summer weekend and that your week ahead treats you well.

I didn’t get the chance to watch the Caps match on Saturday night in full but did manage to catch the end — just in time to see CF Montreal equalize (maybe I was the problem). I also went back and watched the highlights and was largely content with the outcome.

The frustration with the result will likely come down to two points. One, Yohei Takaoka definitely could have done better with Matias Coccaro’s tying goal, though Taka has been pretty important as of late to seeing out results so I think that certainly should be factored in as well. And, two, Montreal isn’t especially good.

But the Caps were clearly running on fumes by the end of the match, having to rest Ryan Gauld and Brian White and basically pinned back in by Montreal, who was searching for a winner. I don’t necessarily quibble with taking off Gauld and White, as you have to play a bit of a long game here and these guys have been run into the ground in recent matches (which arguably paid off with two important wins).

This team, however, just isn’t especially deep right now and while I thought Levonte Johnson and Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau had a really nice cameo, the drop off is impossible to avoid. A point against Montreal on the road in a vacuum certainly isn’t a bad result but what separates decent teams in MLS from great teams is that little bit of depth and quality to see out a win in these situations.

The Caps were good value for that lead, as well, playing quite well in the first half. Brian White continues to remind everyone he is Brian White and Andres Cubas transformed the midfield, while Sebastian Berhalter continued his good form. Heck, even Alessandro Schopf put in a decent shift.

But the fatigue that is surely affecting the Caps isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Vancouver must decamp back to British Columbia to take on Pacific FC in the Voyageurs Cup in the midweek before returning to the Midwest to take on St. Louis City SC. A midweek MLS match looms the following week as well.

In truth, this is a pretty silly level of fixture congestion. It is all for the endgame of getting in Leagues Cup and you have to wonder whether this is all worth it in the end. But this is the sort of thing that has always been a hallmark of MLS and the Caps are not built especially well for it at the moment. A summer signing could change things and we might see some guys from Whitecaps 2 getting Voyageurs Cup minutes. But, for now, it is all about getting results by any means necessary.

Shameless Self Promotion

Caleb has the match recap and a look at where things slipped away from the Caps on Saturday night.

Best of the Rest

Is Canada’s run to the semis of Copa America a turning point for this team’s development?

The Whitecaps 2 side continued their scorching hot run of form, beating Portland on Saturday night to move up to third in the West.

Thiago Almada is headed to Botafogo/Lyon for an MLS record outgoing transfer fee.

A thrilled for Vancouver FC and a smash and grab for Pacific round up the weekend in Canadian Premier League Action.