Good Monday morning Caps fans, hope you had a weekend of beautiful fall weather and that you’re mentally preparing for the week ahead.

It was a weekend of indignities for the Whitecaps. First they dropped their season finale against Real Salt Lake, with a Ryan Gauld go-ahead goal ultimately for naught, as the Caps once again dropped points and allowed RSL to come all the way back to secure a 2-1 win.

That result led the Caps to secure only 8th place (a win would have ultimately not mattered anyway, as Minnesota United battered St. Louis City 4-1). Still, that should mean a home playoff match, right?

… right?

If you’re reading this, you surely now know the answer is not so straightforward. A previously scheduled event will once again boot the Caps out of their home for a second hugely consequential match this year, forcing them to travel to Portland, effectively punishing them despite being the higher seed, a punishment of the organization’s own doing.

BC Place management has washed their hands of any criticism by saying that the event (motorcross) was scheduled 18 months in advance, well before MLS would have released any playoff schedules.

That is all well and good, but for the fact that MLS playoffs occur roughly the same time of year, every year. Scheduling another event in that window effectively says “we don’t care about one of our main tenants.” Imagine Atlanta or Charlotte or Seattle having something similar happen to them for the playoffs — it wouldn’t.

Personally, I find it unfair that MLS is effectively rewarding Portland for finishing in 9th and feel like they should have found some sort of neutral venue at one of the other MLS stadiums (though this arrangement leaves open the possibility for away support anyway).

But the Caps screwed themselves on this one by never taking seriously the need to find a stadium of their own. It would be one thing if they had a landlord whose interests dovetailed with their own. That clearly doesn’t exist in this case.

Stadium-gate will mean one more obstacle for an out-of-form Caps side to advance, though it isn’t unprecedented for them to play well in “home” matches held in someone else’s stadiums (see: 2020).

The result on Saturday was frustrating but probably not all that instructive. Most key starters only came in for the final half hour and the strategy almost worked, but for some poor decision making in the back half of the final 45 minutes (a poor Ali Ahmed turnover sparked the break that led to the first goal and Isaac Boehmer made a youthful mistake on the second). The lack of focus can hopefully be explained by the match being effectively meaningless at that point.

Still, the mistakes and lack of sharpness speak to broader problems as of late. A win wouldn’t have changed the Caps’ reality but it would have given them some momentum. Instead, they must take on a Portland team fresh off a Cascadia Cup triumph.

I still believe in this team — I think, somewhere, there is the side that was playing so well, not all that long ago. The optimism that was surging around when Stuart Armstrong was signed can still be summoned. This, however, is a key point for this team to decide what it wants to be. Historically, the Caps haven’t given fans or pundits much reason for optimism in these do-or-die type games. Here is a chance to flip the script.

Shameless Self Promotion

We run down how the Caps limped into the play-in game in our post match recap.

Best of the Rest

The Whitecaps 2 side nearly pulled off a playoff comeback but shipped a late goal to North Texas SC to get the first round boot. Hopefully not a sign of things to come for the senior team.

Inter Miami secured the MLS points record on Saturday after Lionel Messi popped off on New England. Are they the best team in league history? Not for me but fair play.

Messi and friends will be in the Club World Cup, FIFA announced, which is … pretty suspect.

How do all of the MLS Cup playoff teams stack up heading into the postseason?

Pacific FC snuck into the Canadian Premier League playoffs, while Vancouver FC found themselves on the outside looking in.