Saturday night in Seattle, the Vancouver Whitecaps secured a 2-2 draw against the Sounders. While it was enough to secure their eighth Cascadia Cup, the result does put their hopes of a Supporters’ Shield trophy on life support, although at this point, I don’t think that’s Vancouver’s primary focus.
More than anything, this Vancouver Whitecaps team needs to get itself healthy in advance of the MLS Cup Playoffs, which appears to be a massive challenge at the moment. Both Belal Halbouni and Kenji Cabrera missed this match due to knocks, and things only got worse during the match, with second-half substitute Brian White being forced off the field with what looked like a re-aggravation of his hamstring injury.
Doom and gloom aside, the Whitecaps should be proud of this performance. Seattle has only lost one game at home all year, and Vancouver was starting Mathias Laborda and Ralph Priso at centreback, with no real options to replace them on the bench. If you’d told anyone those two would be playing together at the start of the season, you’d probably think the Whitecaps were languishing 12th in the West and things had gone seriously wrong. Laborda has been fantastic as of late, and Priso did an impressive job at a position that is clearly not natural to him.
The first half of this match was very low event, as the two teams only managed 0.34 xG combined, with both teams feeling each other out and neither really wanting to take much risk in possession. Ali Ahmed had a few bright moments, but Daniel Rios up front and Emmanuel Sabbi on the opposite flank did not offer much threat. Thomas Müller, though not particularly impactful, did pop up in a couple of nice moments at the edge of the box.
The Whitecaps introduced Brian White for the second half, and he didn’t take long to make an impact. In the 52nd minute, after Andres Cubas won the ball in midfield, the Whitecaps quickly cut open the Sounders’ defense, with White calmly slotting the ball home past Stefan Frei. Following the goal, it felt like the Whitecaps would be able to settle into a rhythm and try to play out the match, but Seattle had other ideas.
The home team responded twice in quick succession. First, Jackson Ragen scored from a corner, towering over Mathias Laborda and glancing a header past the outstretched arms of Takaoka. Then, two minutes later, Paul Rothrock sliced through the Whitecaps’ defence. With his run drawing a crowd, the ball eventually found Albert Rusnák, who smashed it past Yohei and a lunging Tate Johnson.
While Seattle’s first goal was just one of those set pieces that happen from time to time, the Whitecaps will surely be a bit disappointed with the second Seattle goal, as it looked like the Vancouver players were still busy trying to process the fact that the match was level.
Nonetheless, the Whitecaps snapped back into focus after going down a goal, and were pretty consistently the better team from there on out. Mathias Laborda managed to get some revenge on Jackson Ragen in the 69th minute, as this time he was the one to leap high above his opposite defender, heading home yet another set-piece goal delivered by second-half substitute Sebastian Berhalter, tying the match at two apiece.
Seattle did have a late scramble chance in front of the Whitecaps’ goal, as chaos ensued after Yohei Takaoka may or may not have been fouled when leaping to claim the ball at the edge of his six-yard box. While the Sounders managed a well-driven shot on target, Ralph Priso was in the right place at the right time with a goal-line block, denying any final hopes of a Seattle victory.
One of the things I’ll take away from this match is that even though it was quite entertaining, it’s also pretty clear both of these teams are simply playing out the string until the MLS Cup Playoffs come around. This league has saturated the playoff format to the point where the differences in seeding for clinched playoff teams are not really enough to move the needle, with things like health and squad management being much more important than results at this stage. Obviously, this is a nice problem to have if you are Vancouver, but there’s a part of me that laments the fact that this match didn’t feel like a bigger occasion. Maybe we’ll see these two teams play again in a month or two.
Credit where credit is due: Keith Olbermann claims that this line (originally about construction in NYC) came from his dad and was later used by K.O. in a conversation with Aaron Sorkin, who stole it and used it in “The Newsroom”:
“The 2025 Vancouver Whitecaps. Great team if they ever finish it.”
We have the players and the support staff. Getting them all on the field at the same time has been the only real problem.
Its either very bad luck, or a lack of research, when you sign two centre backs during the January window (Schonlau and Pupe) and they both arrive here with long term injuries.
That could be hugely costly (both team-wise and financially) if they are not fit for the playoffs.
AGREE….who was responsible?…when players arrive usually subject to pre signing medical?……………….Thought last night was a shambles!…..appeared that no research had been done on Seattle and the Whitecaps had no game plan?…A one off hopefully? let’s put it behind us for sure…Would like to hear from anyone who was at the game?…their thoughts?
Pupe had a known issue but I’m pretty confident Schonlau was injured here, getting fit with VWFC2.
As for the game plan, I assume it was to get through the first half without any CB’s then put White, Berhalter in and try to steal the game without jeopardizing the Canadian Championship in a couple days.
I just want to see the first roster play one damn game before the season is over.
AI SUMMARY?…………….lengthy but raises questions for sure
⚽️ Transfer News & Injury Concerns
New Signings: The Whitecaps signed two centre backs during the January transfer window:
Sebastian Schonlau (from Hamburger SV, Germany)
Joedrick Pupe (Belgian defender)
Injury Status: Both players arrived with long-term injuries, raising concerns about:
Their availability for the upcoming playoffs
Potential financial and team performance risks
🔄
🏟️ Strategic Implications
The team is under pressure to integrate new players quickly.
CEO Axel Schuster signed four players in under a month to stabilize the squad.
The club’s playoff hopes hinge on how fast these new defenders recover and adapt.
no medical after arrival before fully sighning.unusual for sure
You’re absolutely right to raise an eyebrow, It’s not typical for professional clubs—especially in leagues like MLS—to finalize signings without first completing a medical exam. In fact, the Vancouver Whitecaps did plan for Sebastian Schonlau to undergo a medical after arriving in Vancouver, but before officially joining the roster. His contract was contingent on passing that exam, along with securing his visa and transfer certificate2.
So while it may have looked like they signed him “injured,” the deal wasn’t fully finalized until those conditions were met. Still, the optics are tricky—especially when both Schonlau and Joedrick Pupe arrived with known long-term injuries. That puts pressure on the club’s medical team and raises questions about risk management and playoff readines
Here’s a breakdown of how MLS teams typically handle medical exams before signing players—and why the Whitecaps’ recent moves raise eyebrows:
🩺 Standard MLS Medical Protocols Before Signing
Pre-contract medicals are the norm: MLS clubs almost always require a full medical exam before finalizing a player’s contract. This includes:
Physical evaluation
Imaging (MRI, X-rays)
Fitness testing
Review of injury history and rehabilitation status
Conditional contracts: If a player arrives injured or recovering, the contract is often contingent on passing the medical. No pass, no deal.
⚠️ What’s Unusual About the Whitecaps’ Approach
Schonlau’s case: Reports indicate he arrived in Vancouver to complete his medical after the transfer was announced publicly. While the deal was likely conditional, announcing it before the medical is risky optics.
Joedrick Pupe: Also arrived with a long-term injury. It’s unclear if his medical was completed before signing, but the timing suggests a similar situation.
Why it matters:
Financial risk: MLS contracts often include guaranteed salary. If a player can’t contribute, the club still pays.
Roster risk: Injured signings take up valuable international slots and roster space.
Playoff pressure: With two defenders out (Adekugbe and Veselinović), signing injured replacements could backfire if they’re not match-fit soon.
🧠 Strategic Takeaways
The Whitecaps may be betting on long-term upside, hoping these players recover in time for playoffs.
It’s a gamble—especially for a team in playoff contention—where every match counts.
You lost me at ‘AI summary.’ People still use that crap? It’s fast, I’ll give it that. Also told me the ‘Caps were nicknamed the Eagles.
All complex systems are subject to catastrophic errors. I just like my errors to be human. Call me old fashioned.
old fashioned…….hopefully employable!…but i do enjoy your posts
We can’t all move fast and break things. There’d be nothing left. 😉
@PETER, you’re just wrong:
Schonlau was healthy when transferred … was injured playing for WFC2 in a tune-up game.
Pupe picked up a hamstring injury in his final appearance before the transfer. Not a serious injury and the ‘Caps knew it would take a month or so. They expected to be OK through that period with Blackmon, Schonlau, Halibouni all available with a lengthy (3 week) schedule break coming up. His injury has taken a bit longer to recover but that happens.
blame that damn AI!
thats not going to happen- Veselinovic wont be back until 2026; Blackmon, Pupe, Schonlau might make it back
Axel knew that Pupe was injured prior to being signed; and Schonlau picked up his injury while playing a game with Whitecap 2
Laborda and Takaoka have come up BIG with our top 5 CBs MIA- we might get Halbouni back soon, but the other 4 will still take more time
Salty
I’m wary of trying to make too much sense out of loosely held together thoughts but the way MLS schedules work is almost the opposite of giving fans what they want.
There is hardly a single regular season game that doesn’t come with some caveat. Either the squad is diminished during an international window, the kickoff is at a stupid hour, or one or both teams are playing on short rest and long travel or, like last night, strategically the game doesn’t fully matter. I bought three games this year with top teams involved and saw approximately 25% of either team’s best lineup and yet MLS got 100% of my money. On top of this, instead of a familiar, knowledgeable voice pairing, Apple gives me a variety of random dudes who, despite the week of research, bless their hearts, have no idea about any of the subtleties of the rosters or training developments going on. No local flavour. The complete effect is like that of a lamb being led through an abattoir, carrying an overpriced beer and wearing a $200 jersey of a player he won’t even see.
If the season wasn’t going so well I’d despair. As it is I’ve just grown wary and disillusioned. Cascadia barely maintains any significance. The unbalanced regular season means even less than I imagined and the playoffs only slightly more – and are interminably long besides. At least the lamb can anticipate a quick end. I’ll be getting fleeced through to the new year.
Still, go ‘caps.
On your comment about the commentators, I totally agree. My son and I cheered loudly a few weeks back when Blake Price and Paul Dolan were covering a caps match. I received an apple mls survey in my email with this question: “What one thing, if anything, would you like to see Major League Soccer change or do differently to make your at-home fan experience even better?“ to which I responded “using local commentators who know my city, have done their homework and possess a depth of knowledge of my team beyond the obvious storylines.” I encourage ya’ll to do the same!
Go Caps Go!
I did the same survey, hoping to make the same comment, but reading that question it asked what *MLS*, not AppleTV+, could do. So I responded “better officiating,” expecting a similar question about what AppleTV+ could do later. But there was no such question, because apparently they think they’re perfect. Not even a spot at the end for comments.
Agree with you. Perhaps I’m I really optimistic but I’d hope apple will share the feedback with MLS. A guy can dream…..
AGREE ……….RE “Apple gives me a variety of random dudes who, despite the week of research, bless their hearts, have no idea about any of the subtleties of the rosters or training developments going on”…………..Watched last night on TSN /much better they actually do commentate on the game
It was the same fool on play-by-play who did the Portland game, with the sidekick only hinting that he thought some of his anti-Caps takes were completely nuts. In the Seattle game there were two that stood out:
1) Ahmed goes past a Seattle defender and crosses from near the goal line. Instead of telling us who’s in the box waiting to convert, PBP fool tells us that it looked to him like it went out; the replay shows that it never even REACHED the line, let alone crossed it.
2) Rothrock grabs the ball after a Caps call and Laborda taps him to get the ball. Rothrock pretends to have been slugged and falls to his knees but manages to hang on to the ball. Apple TV+ PBP fool, who, remember, sided with Zuparic on Wednesday when he assaulted Elloumi with not one but two kicks, decides that Rothrock is faultless and Laborda should be carded.
Arrrgh. I forgot that TSN had the game on last night. Did they manage to get their mikes away from the drunken choir?
i have never seen a professional soccer team loose its top 5 CBs at the same time- and yet the Caps team still survives and gets points- its quite amazing- the duo of Laborda (POTM) and Priso did a good job of stifling the Sounders attack- and Priso’s save was him throwing his body at the ball at any cost
and if White tweaked his hamstring, he will probably be gone for another 2 games
otherwise a dull first half and a second entertaining second half- even a stuffy ref allowed the game to entertain
Salty
You think the squad is depleted now, wait until the international break; Oct-6-14th. We have an away game on the 11th with Orlando. Who will be away on that break…scary!
White
Caps!!
I would try Laborda up front!……I have seen him at training a few times
And is Rios going to be a CB then?
Guess he should try to find his place somewhere!