Good Monday morning Caps fans, hope you all had a lovely weekend and are mentally preparing for the week ahead.
The Caps largely tamed the high octane attack of Portland on Saturday but still only managed to walk away with a 1-1 draw against their Cascadia rivals.
Let’s start with the positives. Brian White was back on the scoresheet after a quiet Canadian Championship final. Indeed, the attack hummed along nicely even with Ryan Gauld missing out due to injury, with Fafa Picault looking solid and Deiber Caicedo making a decent cameo.
The one goal Vancouver conceded was a bit harsh, as it caught a nasty deflection off makeshift left back Bjorn Utvik and wrongfooted Yohei Takaoka.
This was the first time all season where Vanni Sartini went with four defenders and it looked solid, with some potential as a way forward if Gauld has to miss multiple matches. A full 90 minutes of Stuart Armstrong would probably make it look even better.
But this still has the feeling of two points dropped, particularly on a night where Houston and Colorado dropped points. The Caps are still well positioned from a points per game standpoint but their match in hand remains against LAFC, which looks a bit more promising given their recent form. But still, not a gimme.
Moreover, the Caps have just not taken advantage of opportunities at home lately. The Caps haven’t beaten a playoff team at BC Place since June 1. Sure, there was a Leagues Cup break in there and you can only play the teams in front of you. But it is a point of concern as we head into a key stretch run where Vancouver will need to start beating some quality teams at home if they want to maximize their position heading into the playoffs.
Shameless Self Promotion
We have all the details as the Caps share the spoils and clinch a playoff spot against Portland.
Best of the Rest
More on the Caps clinching their second straight playoff berth and what it means for the run in.
Christine Sinclair will retire after the NWSL season ends after a legendary career for club and country.
MLS has made it in the U.S. to the point where we now get the traditional White House visit afforded to other sports leagues.
Is Pacific’s recent resurgence enough to get into the Canadian Premier League playoffs?
it is definitely time to get Stuart Armstrong integrated into the starting line-up–
with a point accumulation of 52% at home (basically the same on the road), we are left pondering where the Caps would be if they had a home point clip of over 65%
i think the Team doesnt handle home pressure well as they dont know how to ‘go for the throat’ of an opponent- maybe Armstrong would help us start more energetically and put our stamp on a game if he started