Good Friday morning Caps fans — hope you all had a great New Years and that 2026 is off to a good start.

The start of the new year means a new season is, incredibly, not all that far off. The Caps will be boarding a plane for Marbella Spain before you know it. In the meantime, instead of resolutions for the club, I’m going to take a cue from one of our commenters, Salty, who listed off his top questions for the Caps in 2026.

I’m going to duck the two most pressing questions in the interest of not rehashing too much old material. There is no doubt that “What happens with the stadium?” and “Who is sold?” will define 2026. But here are the three next most interesting questions on my mind.

1. Can Ryan Gauld find form again? And can he co-exist with Thomas Müller?

OK, this is technically two questions but they are largely interconnected. We’ll treat them as one, larger quandary for the purposes of this column.

Aside from the second half against San Diego in the Western Conference finals, Gauldy never really looked himself after returning from injury. That isn’t unusual or necessarily cause for alarm – he was returning from a serious injury and will likely require the entire off-season to get back to full fitness and match sharpness. The flashes of the old Gauld were definitely there and I don’t think there is much doubt that the Scotsman can be an MVP-level player again.

But the added wrinkle is, of course, that this team now plays through Thomas Müller and Sebastian Berhalter in central midfield. These three players  certainly have a chemistry off the pitch but the MLS Cup final showed they have some way to go to build a synergy in the attack. Gauld as a winger is a bit of an unnatural fit, though it certainly can work if Edier Ocampo or Sam Adekugbe could help provide the width that an Emmanuel Sabbi contributes. Injuries and Sebastian Berhalter likely missing time for the World Cup might mean that it is possible to play Gauld regularly as an honest to God midfielder. But Jesper Sorensen has a lot to sort out tactically this off-season on how to fit all the pieces together.

2. Is Ralph Priso at centerback going to work long term? 

This is probably an unfair way of phrasing the question, as Priso has filled in exceptionally well at centerback under the toughest conditions possible. It’s hard to imagine that he wouldn’t get even more comfortable after a full off-season training in the position. But Axel Schuster said centerback would be Priso’s home moving forward and that creates some roster building decisions for the Caps. Priso was still a midfielder when Joedrick Pupe and Sebastian Schonlau were purchased over the summer but his quality on the ball and high-level performances would put him ahead of both of those guys heading into next season. Does that mean the Caps would consider buying one of them out or trading Mathias Laborda to generate funds that could help lock down other players to new contracts? And, if Priso continues to play like a starting-level CB, will he want a new deal? And how do you get Priso, Ranko Veselinovic and Tristan Blackmon on the pitch at once?

3. Can Rayan Elloumi, Jeevan Badwal and Tate Johnson continue to develop?

These three are certainly not the only promising youngsters on the Caps’ roster but they’re the ones who have demonstrated they are high-level MLS prospects and all were sniffing around the 22 under 22 list in 2025.

There is no real reason to think these three won’t continue to develop. Elloumi had basically muscled out Daniel Rios to be Brian White’s backup last season, Badwal will stand to benefit from Priso’s conversion to CB and Tate Johnson will have chances to start while Sam Adekugbe works his way back from injury. If that is the case, all three represent huge efficiencies from a salary cap perspective and could be looking at European moves this time next season.

What other questions are looming ahead of next season? Drop the ones I forgot in the comments.

Shameless Self Promotion

With 2025 in the rearview mirror, we revisit our preseason predictions. Some held up well and others … didn’t.

Meanwhile, Caleb looks at which players might make sense to fill in at midfield.

Best of the Rest

The Caps settled a class-action lawsuit over claims they misled ticket buyers for their clash with Inter Miami in 2024 so we can all move on from this dumb episode.

Meanwhile, Vancouver FC are having their own legal issues that raise questions about the club’s future.

Whitecaps legend Andy Rose is off to join Marc dos Santos’ staff at LAFC.

Matt Doyle recaps each team’s 2025 and, no surprise, the Caps fair very well.