The Vancouver Whitecaps picked up 2025 just about where 2024 left off: running rampant over Portland Timbers in their own stadium.
Sure, you can chalk much of the 4-1 win down to an 11th minute red card for the Timbers but the Caps didn’t hesitate to take advantage of their good fortune. Jayden Nelson had his coming out party, with four goal contributions, and it was a strong match for Sam Adekugbe, Ryan Gauld, and others.
Did Jayden Nelson do enough to earn a rare perfect 10? How did the rest of the squad fare in a scintillating first MLS performance of the season? The report card tells all.
Yohei Takaoka: 6.5
Couldn’t really be faulted on the lone Portland goal and otherwise had to make just a couple of saves. I’d say Taka could have brought a book for much of the match but it was probably too wet to read.
Sam Adekugbe: 8
The red card helped give Adekugbe more cover to get forward and he was much more dangerous, picking up a pair of key passes and providing some nice overlapping runs, plus a nice run and finish to get the Caps’ third. A fit and firing Adekugbe could be an underrated attacking piece this season.
Ranko Veselinovic: 7
Was wrongly denied a chance to get in on the goal scoring party but otherwise turned in a strong match without a ton to do.
Tristan Blackmon: 7
A bit poor with the header on the Portland goal but was otherwise a fine performance from Blackmon, who had plenty of license to creep forward in possession after the red card.
Mathias Laborda: 7
You can see Laborda growing into a viable right back, with Laborda’s positioning at times today resembling him falling into a back three. Solid in the air and seems to be gaining in confidence defensively, while also looking dangerous going forward and on set pieces.
Sebastian Berhalter: 7
Another solid performance from Berhalter, whose long balls looked dangerous and he offered some decent set piece delivery to boot.
Andres Cubas: 6.5
Picked up a silly yellow card, which presumably contributed to his withdrawal midway through the second half. The amount of possession the Caps had made Cubas’ typical role a bit redundant but he was solid.
Pedro Vite: 8
Vite seems to be an excellent fit for what Jesper Sorensen is trying to do and he continues to look dangerous. His goal, a lovely curler, was marvellous and it is possible he just needed a new manager to help him unlock his passing and movement as a number 8 for club, in addition to the national team.
Brian White: 7
Moved well to draw the red card on Kamal Miller. Sure, it was a bit soft but White did well to draw the contact and if you don’t go down, well, you don’t get the call. Looked better engaged in other facets of the match, playing some nice one-twos. But you still bank on Brian White to bang in the goals and he has continued to struggle in that regard, missing from point blank range on a couple of occasions.
Ryan Gauld: 8.5
A well-taken first goal capped a strong start from Gauld, who was buzzing and can justly claim credit for putting Kamal Miller in the bind that led to his dismissal. Even though he didn’t offer any other goal contributions, he was still at the centre of centre of things with lots of shots (7!) and key passes.
Jayden Nelson: 10
His movement made him the perfect player to take advantage of the red card and he looked absolutely spectacular. His first two assists were nice but his solo run and pass on the third goal hit another level, one he surpassed only with a goal to cap off his night. He also could have had another couple of assists with better finishing. For context, Nelson had three goal contributions in his final MLS season, a mark he eclipsed in less than an hour Sunday. A star is born and you will be hard pressed to get him out of the team sheet for Thursday’s must-win against Saprissa.
Ali Ahmed: 6
Any sub performance was destined to be sleepy when you’re replacing Jayden Nelson in this one and Ahmed didn’t wow. In many ways, however, some pressure from Nelson is exactly what Ahmed needs to keep pushing forward. Pinged in a great cross on Ranko Veselinovic’s “goal.”
Ralph Priso: 5.5
Another sub appearance where Priso looked unsettled at times in his positioning. I’m not feeling great about picking Priso to take a step forward this season but this is also a player who started slow last year as well.
Edier Ocampo, Jeevan Badwal, Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau: N/A
The domination helped give three youngsters promising cameos. Chateau will rue not scoring 1v1 against Crepeau but his movement and connection with Ryan Gauld is promising nonetheless.
In a World Junior hockey game between Switzerland and Russia some years ago, a Swiss player was in on a clear breakaway, then was tripped from behind at the blueline by a defender, but recovered and got up and was still in on the goalie with the puck. He was tripped again and got no shot off….and the referee signaled for TWO penalty shots!
Until I saw that the first foul was outside the box, I thought this was a possibility on the White foul early on. But the question remains: if White recovers from the first foul and scores, it counts, right? You’re not taking a goal off the board, surely. But if so, that means that play did continue via advantage, and the second foul inside the box is clearly a penalty – and why shouldn’t the non-offenders get the better of two fouls?
(BTW, the Swiss player failed twice and the Russians, tied at the time, skated off 7-3 winners.)
Rummaging through my memories of the game:
1. say no more- JAYDEN, JAYDEN, JAYDEN- happy to say that
2. Adekugbe- nice to see Sam back playing a high tempo game- can he survive leg injuries ?? lets hope so
3. Priso- we can do better in MF- gotta give an academy player the time
4. Ocampo- i want to see him get some quality time- there could be something worth unleashing; lets give Badwal some time
5. Ahmed- he is 24 so its his prime time or is this all he has ?
6. Jesper Sorensen- with a start like this, he is an upgrade from the last 2 years
3. I thought that Badwal displayed better passing, ball progression, positioning, and tackling than Priso. I think he should replace Priso as second on the depth chart behind Cubas.
I agree
Salty
It’s just one game, the first regular season one, against a shite defensive side who will be canning their coach by midseason. And I will be saying the same thing if Saprissa successfully parks the bus and eliminates the Caps from the CCL: it is just a very early season game.
Let’s see what the trend is after the first ¼ or ⅓ of the regular season. But for now, I would rather be looking really good in a road opener than having a poor result and everyone on here doing the Chicken Little routine.
Salty since1974