Good Monday morning Caps fans, hope you all are gearing up for the week ahead after a lovely weekend.

I was already making excuses on Friday for what I assumed would be a lackluster performance on Saturday against FC Dallas, in light of the volume of starters the Whitecaps have out on international duty.

I shouldn’t have bothered. The Caps were clearly better than a largely full strength Dallas team — the only thing missing was a goal, despite 21 total shots and large stretches of the game where the home side just dominated.

This leaves a complicated feeling for fans. On one hand, I was on the record saying I’d take anything the Caps would be able to get out of the match, even against an FC Dallas side that is struggling to even make the playoffs.

But after such a strong performance, including two excellent chances for substitute Deiber Caicedo, you can’t help but see it as two points dropped, despite everything the Caps were up against here.

There were plenty of positives, however. Caicedo will want his two big chances back but the fact that he seamlessly stepped back on the pitch and showed danger is a good sign in the long run and I have a hard time seeing him continue to come up empty once Ryan Gauld and Brian White are back.

Similarly, Stuart Armstrong and Edier Ocampo showed promise on their debuts, particularly Armstrong, who chipped in multiple key passes in a brief period of work at the end of the match and already showed what he can offer in terms of progressing the ball.

Meanwhile, depth players like Ralph Priso and Belal Halbouni looked quite good, while Sebastian Berhalter continued a good run of form. For a team that has experienced a steep, steep drop off without their best players this season, it was refreshing to see the backups largely hold their own in this one, particularly against an FC Dallas side that has a formidable attacking duo in Jesus Ferreira and Petar Musa.

You still need to get the three points, however, and on a night when both Seattle and Houston unexpectedly got results against Columbus and LAFC respectively, it would have been nice to get a surprise three points to maintain a leg up.

The good news is the international break won’t go on forever and the Caps get the worst team in the West, San Jose, at BC Place next weekend. If they play like they did last night, with Cubas, Gauld and (hopefully) White back and Armstrong coming off the bench they will be totally fine.

Shameless Self Promotion

For more on what the Stuart Armstrong signing might mean for the Whitecaps in 2024 and beyond, Caleb Wilkins does his patented deep dive. We also break down the Caps’ performance on Saturday night.

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