Good Friday morning Caps fans, hope you are having a lovely week and that you are gearing up for a break this weekend, even though the weather is stuck firmly in spring, not summer.

The Whitecaps are gearing up for the return fixture against Austin FC, just weeks after smashing them at BC Place. That ensures the home side will be out for blood and this is the first MLS team they will be seeing twice in league play, though the Caps have shown a remarkable ability to adapt their tactics under Jesper Sorensen. Austin have also been in a mini tailspin lately and the Caps should be the favorite in this one.

This week also brought a resolution to the unfortunate incident in Minnesota a few weeks ago, with Joseph Rosales suspended for three matches after allegedly using a racial slur directed at Emmanuel Sabbi. We still don’t really know more about what happened, with MLS not saying much. Minnesota were reportedly displeased with the suspension behind closed doors and publicly defending Rosales. They did ultimately accept the suspension and put out an apology (which was largely a non-apology apology), with Rosales basically saying he was sorry for escalating things but maintains he didn’t use a slur.

The only two people who will ever know what went down are Rosales and Sabbi. But the fact that MLS has actually suspended Rosales leads me to believe there is something there, as the league doesn’t always discipline players after investigating potential instances of racial abuse.

That doesn’t mean Joseph Rosales is a terrible person and it is entirely possible (even likely) he wasn’t knowingly using a slur (English and Spanish are, in fact, different languages). But the media blitz from Loons manager Eric Ramsay talking about what an unimpeachably great guy Rosales is has been a bit much for me.

MLS does have training on what you shouldn’t be saying on the pitch and players should be held accountable for their actions. Acting as if the incident was a figment of Sabbi’s imagination is insulting, given the immediate reaction from other players, the referee and the support Loons players lent Sabbi after the match. Something happened here and while it is disappointing that MLS shrouds things in secrecy, seeing a collective shrug from leadership at another MLS club about this whole incident is a bummer.

I’m sure Sabbi himself would like to move on from what was a horrible incident. Unfortunately, Rosales’ three match ban expires immediately before Minnesota comes to BC Place. You’d hope there would be some common sense applied that would at least see Rosales start on the bench but, if not, I expect he will get booed pretty much the whole game.

Shameless Self Promotion

Our latest podcast delves into the Caps’ strong play and all things Pacific FC and Vancouver Rise. For more CPL talk, we have our latest recap of where things stand there.

Best of the Rest

Don’t bank on Ryan Gauld for the CONCACAF Champions Cup final.

A cool look at what it has been like being a Whitecaps away fan these days.

In what will give many Caps fans schadenfreude, Stuart Armstrong has been released by Sheffield Wednesday after the Championship side sputtered down the stretch. Not a shock, as he hasn’t been featuring much lately.

Vancouver Rise fell in Ottawa 3-0 on Thursday night.

Nelson Pierre has become one of MLS NEXT Pro’s top scorers for the Whitecaps 2 team.