Good Monday morning Caps fans, hope you all had a lovely weekend and enjoyed a well-deserved break.

There was no break from Vancouver’s winning ways, as the Whitecaps shut down any possibility of a hangover from their midweek upset of Monterrey. Instead, they shut down Dallas, who were bereft of ideas and mustered few meaningful chances, even when chasing the match.

The Whitecaps, by contrast, bossed play, dictating the match and building towards a seemingly inevitable goal from Tristan Blackmon, who got a fitting reward for a nice performance. J.C. Ngando too deserved his assist and continues to be a real revelation for the Caps (seriously, how was this guy out on loan last year).

Blackmon can sometimes raise anxiety with a nervy moment or two but this current role is perfect for his skillset and he read the match well drifting forward. Adding Blackmon or Mathias Laborda into the mix going forward injects just a bit of chaos for the opposing defense at times. At others, they add a bit of control in possession and give Vancouver a chance to change the angle of attack. In any event, they are a key part of this new tactical approach.

But it was Pedro Vite who continues to shine, playing more of the Ryan Gauld role in attack, drifting in wide but working well with the overlapping runs of Edier Ocampo, who continues to look phenomenal. We are quickly approaching the point where Vite might be playing too well — one imagines European offers are a foregone conclusion if he keeps playing at this rate. Of course, the Caps probably won’t be too upset if he leaves them at the top of the Western Conference for a hefty fee but it is difficult to imagine this team without Vite at the moment.

And while Jesper Sorensen has been deservedly credited with remaking this team’s attack, its defensive structure and quality was the most notable part of Saturday’s win. Dallas were never in this match and that is a credit to good midfield organization and an incredible push to track back, even deep in the second half. This was a team last year that would sometimes drop sloppy moments out of nowhere and it cost them points. That was nowhere to be found on Saturday — they had an iffy Dallas team on the ropes and didn’t let them back up.

Next weekend will be a stiffer challenge, as the injury list will collide with other key performers out on international duty (Andres Cubas, Brian White, Ali Ahmed, Pedro Vite). Chicago, meanwhile, won’t lose their top players. Vancouver’s depth has withstood the fixture congestion and health problems to date and the impressive thing about Sorensen’s system is he has total buy-in and understanding, even from the depth pieces. But there reaches a certain point where any MLS team would struggle with enough of their starting XI unavailable.

Still, the Caps are top of the Supporters Shield standings for now and, at the moment, that is entirely good enough to keep the good vibes rolling.

Shameless Self Promotion

We have the breakdown of a fourth straight win and what it says about where the Caps are at right now.

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From Matt Doyle: A look at the state of the league a month in and a dive into the stats behind why the Whitecaps have been so good.

Old friend Fafa Picault scored his first Inter Miami goal in style Sunday, bagging the winner over Atlanta United.

Max Anchor is headed to Pacific FC on loan, the presumed replacement for Emil Gazdov between the sticks.