Saturday night in Austin, the Vancouver Whitecaps played out a 0-0 draw with Austin FC in the blistering Texas heat.
So far, the Vancouver Whitecaps have been on an incredible run of form to open 2025. Given this stellar play, a rather dull scoreless draw on the road feels like a massive disappointment. In a “normal” season, points on the road, especially after travel in difficult conditions, would be lauded as a successful outing, and in some ways, this match still was.
Yet, the price of Vancouver’s success so far this season is that the bar has been substantially raised. The Whitecaps did not show their best football on Saturday, and you could sense the frustration from Jesper Sørensen after the match because of that. With a massive Cup Final on the horizon, it’s important to avoid complacency in the matches leading up to that fixture. I am confident Vancouver will get back on track, and I think this wake-up call might not be so bad for the team in the long run.
Alright, on to the player grades.
Yohei Takaoka – 9.0
The Japanese keeper has been on a great run of form and he was the clear man of the match in this one. He was the biggest reason Vancouver was able to grab a point.
Edier Ocampo – 5.0
It was a second frustrating match for the youngster, who is dealing with some growing pains in his first full MLS season. Edier needs to be a bit more patient on the ball at times, and the chemistry with Sabbi just wasn’t there.
Ranko Veselinovic – 6.5
The centrebacks were quite busy for Vancouver, and Ranko had 10 clearances and 17 total defensive actions. Another solid match from the Serbian.
Tristan Blackmon – 7.0
Similar thoughts to Ranko above, as the CB’s were quite busy but handled it well. Blackmon was 4/4 in his aerial duels.
Tate Johnson – 5.0
If there’s a spot where Vancouver has suffered in recent matches, it’s been at the fullback spot. Tate’s small stature has led to a lot of back post balls that challenge him physically. You can see why, against certain teams, Laborda or Adekugbe are better options. I also think this is something he will learn to handle over time.
Andres Cubas – 6.0
Cubas was alright in this one, though overall, Vancouver did not control the midfield the way you would have hoped.
Sebastian Berhalter – 6.5
The Whitecaps did not have enough composure in the midfield this match, especially when pressed, and it led to a lot of misplaced passes. I thought Berhalter was the most involved physically of the midfielders in this match, which was good to see, even if the play with the ball wasn’t great.
Pedro Vite – 5.0
Perhaps this is a bit anecdotal, but Vite was pretty invisible in this match, at least from what I can recall. There were a bunch of wayward passes, and he just didn’t look interested in the physical duels in the midfield.
Emmanuel Sabbi – 4.5
I think we are starting to see why Sabbi has been such a mercurial player everywhere he has gone. The physical traits are there, but when he’s not getting the ball in the box, his impact is non-existent. He only completed 4 passes in 66 minutes.
Brian White – 6.0
White did as best he could in hold-up play, but he had very few opportunities, with just 22 touches. He did manage two shots from close range in a match where Vancouver had very little going.
Ali Ahmed – 6.0
The Canadian looked like he was struggling a bit physically, and though he made a couple nice runs, none of those chances really came to anything.
Substitutes – 6.5
It was nice to see Laborda and Adekugbe back in the mix. I didn’t think either of them was particularly sharp, but it was not a great match to get back up to speed. I did think Ralph Priso was very strong when he came on, providing the most composure and initiative of anyone in the midfield. Jayden Nelson showed effort, but was not very effective.
Alright, those were my thoughts from Austin, let me know yours in the comments!
I thought Blackmon had his worst game in a long time – he was terrible on the offside goal. It’s really great to see Taka stepping up like he has in the last two games – that’s what you need from a goalie. MLS still seems to ignore him in their team of the week.
i dont understand why some writers are seemingly panicking over this result- i mean playing on a long distance travel in +38C heat and getting a draw was a good result- – if you have ever played in that kind of heat, its very draining from the get-go
and to underline the result in saying that Priso was your most solid MF shows us how the game went- Ralph has been solid in coming off the bench- its the Jesper effect
i would rather have Nelson start games as Sabbi just leaves me MEH on his play and contribution- i can see why he had little offensive numbers in places like Lique 1- i think Axel needs to upgrade with another striker with some force because its a long-time mystery as to when Gauld will be ready- it could be another month or 2, reading
between the lines
as far as outside defenders go, its time for Adekugbe and Laborda to get some starts – other Teams are figuring out the weaknesses and inexperience of Ocampo and Johnson who- eventually- will be regular defenders
all players can be slotted into a 4.5-6.5 ranking- we have to realize the demands that have been placed on this Team in the past 2 months- they will bounce back- gotta be patient
Takaoka can take a well-deserved bow for his game on Sunday- 9.0 is right
Salty
Everyone but takaoka and utvik needs to have at most a 4
With all due respect, this might be why you are anonymous. Utvik didn’t even travel with the team. Were you being anecdotal?
With all due respect utvik just had a kid and takaoka carried with multipe remarkable saves. Aren’t u also anonymous?
Can’t really disagree with anything here. Takaoka has shown up when we needed him to the past few games. That save against Bukari near the end was great.