Good Monday morning Caps fans. Hope you all had a great weekend and that your week is starting off well.

The next two weeks will be busy ones for the Caps, who have four games in about 14 days, as they finish off their epic road trip and begin to dream of a BC Place return in early August.

Fortunately, Monday should be straightforward, with a road match against Cavalry in a Canadian Championship tie that should be more or less done and dusted. The league matches that follow are not easy ones, however, with all three of Chicago, FC Cincinnati, and Minnesota United currently sitting above the playoff line.

And the second half of the season presents more unknowns than usual. How will the team respond to a month-plus-long break? How will it reintegrate Ryan Gauld into the lineup? What other injuries could disrupt things (the lineup for the Canadian Championship match last week was a bit short-handed and we haven’t gotten updates on when Emmanuel Sabbi and Cheikh Sabaly might return).

But if the 4-1 win over Cavalry was any indication, the Caps appear to be in good shape. While Vancouver lost the momentum it had been building before the World Cup, this was also a team in need of a rest. Buying time for Gauld, Ranko Veselinovic, and Sam Adekugbe (possibly?) to get healthy is ultimately a big win.

While Jesper Sorensen’s ability to develop players has helped paper over the gaps, being without a designated player and two highly priced defenders, some of whom have never really meaningfully played under Sorensen, will give Vancouver a lift. Sure, there will be tough choices about who plays. But these sorts of choices have been the exception, rather than the rule, over the last year or so. Being able to pick either Gauld or Thomas Müller is a nice thing. Ditto for Sam Adekugbe vs. Tate Johnson or Ranko Veselinovic and Tristan Blackmon vs. Ralph Priso.

Four or five points out of the next three matches would be a fine return and would set the Caps up well to their triumphant return to BC Place against LAFC. Getting Gauld integrated again and figuring out a way to play him alongside Müller would be a nice bonus. We’ve spent a lot of time talking about the second half of the season. It’s time to see how it all shakes out.

Shameless Self Promotion

A look at what Monday night might have in store for both the Caps and Cavs. And get those lineup predictions in!

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