Good Friday morning Caps fans, hope you all are having a lovely week and that it is starting to feel like spring in your neck of the woods.
I feel like I write some variation of this column every time the Whitecaps play a top Mexican team and, well, it was a lot more of the same on Wednesday night at BC Place against Monterrey.
In some ways, this is a good thing. The Caps looked spectacular on Wednesday, taking the match to Rayados. It bears acknowledging that Monterrey rotated heavily but, it must be said, so did the Caps, who had Andres Cubas and Brian White on the bench and missed Sam Adekugbe due to injury (plus had Jayden Nelson leave minutes in with a knock).
The Caps doubled up Monterrey in terms of the number of shots on goal and tripled the total number of shots. Expected goals were also heavily slanted in Vancouver’s favor and, against a team that has dominated possession in virtually every Liga MX match they’ve played, the Caps had 65% of the ball.
Nelson’s withdrawal, while concerning, created an opportunity, as Ali Ahmed absolutely cooked. He has gotten some stick from fans as of late and while Ali’s finishing still can be inconsistent, he was crucial in driving forward and creating chances.
A special shoutout should also go to Belal Halbouni (who was strong even before his goal) and Tate Johnson, who looked quite solid in his debut and, if he can keep up that form, would be a viable MLS depth piece already.
All of this, of course, is overshadowed by the reality that a 1-1 draw is probably not going to be good enough to see the Caps advance in this competition. And that really comes down to finishing.
Much of the finishing woes have come down to horrible, no good, very bad luck. No one is concerned about Ryan Gauld’s goalscoring abilities but my guy had nothing going, with a bicycle kick miss from a couple of yards out the cherry on top of a horrible night in front of goal.
But, be that as it may, it only took one real mistake (Edier Ocampo playing Roberto de la Rosa onside) and that remains the difference between the Caps and the elite in North America. This has been the story again and again.
Still, let’s not pretend that any other MLS team has fared better against Mexico’s top teams. Indeed, the Caps’ performance on Wednesday was one of the best I’ve seen in a long time and while it will be an uphill battle to get a result at the Estadio BBVA next week, Columbus managed it last year and Vancouver showed they can hang around.
The bigger positive is that the Caps are demonstrating a real commitment to Jesper Sorenson’s vision and their identity seems fully formed. Depth is starting to become a worry (injuries to two key players already is a recipe for disaster) but with another couple of signings, there is real reason to think this type of play is sustainable. Maybe I’ll look foolish (after all, the Caps looked great early in last season too and then fell off) but I’m choosing to be optimistic.
On a less optimistic note, the Caps appear to have struck out on Hamburg midfielder Lukasz Poreba and we’re getting conflicting reports on the Dominik Fitz transfer. Never a dull moment in these parts, so watch this space for more updates as silly season rolls on.
Shameless Self Promotion
We have the report card grades from the midweek CCC fight, while our podcast breaks down the hot start in MLS and continental play. Meanwhile, Caleb dives into the new faces for the Whitecaps 2 side this season.
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It isn’t as bad as it could have been for Sam Adekugbe, who is expected to be out for a few weeks, missing the Canadian National Team games he probably would have been called up for.
An always entertaining look at the anonymous musings of MLS executives.
MLS NEXT Pro wants to expand to 40 or 50 teams and potentially add a D2 league, in the latest move in the MLS/USL power play.
Pacific FC keeper Emil Gazdov, long considered one of CPL’s top keepers, is headed to Montreal.
I largely agree with Salty. Andrew must be talking about the 7 games in 22 days at the end of 2024 (most of which were away games). Most of those games could be summed up as “Boy, the ‘Caps look tired”. We have been relatively lucky so far with 5 games in 14 Days (soon to be 6 games in 17 days) with only the first as an away game. No matter how you look at it we certainly don’t look like a 14 place team (according to MLS)
Quote- while Ali’s finishing still can be inconsistent… actually its non-existent
i thought that the first 2-3 months of 2023 and 2024 were poor starts for the Caps-
they look terrific for 2025 and i really like the ball possession, passing, movement off the ball and energy this year- entertaining and far less lumping the ball upfield for White to get tortured- Sorensen has a Group of players who are embracing the game plans and using of all the players
real pluses has been the depth in quality of the bench players- Ngando and Ocampo (who could/should be starters), the poise of a young Tate and now the physical presence and skill of Belal (he will push for a regular role)- this bodes well for 2025 as injuries and fatique have often been a nemesis as the season plays out; Pedro Vite has enjoyed the freedoms that Jesper has given him and the question is- can he sustain his dynamic play over the course of a season ?
any significant upgrades will have to come after new owners enter the scene and how committed they are to being a serious contender- probably looking at July with maybe a small tinkering in April- if it is Fitz, then it could be the move that takes us upward into the top 4-5 teams in the West, even more than the departed Stuart Armstrong could have done
a really positive start to the season
Salty