Eighty Six Forever, Post Match, Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Post Match: Snuck up on by St. Louis

It was a performance to forget for the Vancouver Whitecaps, who fell 3-1 to St. Louis CITY SC at BC Place on Saturday night.

After a cagey 1-1 draw in midweek against CF Montréal in the first leg of the Canadian Championship semi-finals, in a game where the Whitecaps struggled to find much of a spark offensively despite spending most of the game on top, they struggled similarly in attack this game. Combine that with an off night defensively, and that set the foundation for a loss of this nature, one that the Whitecaps aren’t used to suffering in recent years.

Funnily enough, the Whitecaps actually started the game quite well, as they had all sorts of energy in their legs in the first 10 minutes. Not only did they have the ball in the back of the net just two minutes into the game after a great bit of individual skill from Emmanuel Sabbi, but they were hammering St. Louis with their high press, too, completely suffocating them with their off-ball pressure.

At that stage, it seemed like the Whitecaps were on track to cruise towards a comfortable victory – they’ve only lost or drawn once this year in games where they scored the first goal at home, after all (coming against FC Juarez in Leagues Cup).

Typically, where the Whitecaps have struggled this year is in games like the Montréal one, where they concede early and struggle to break down a low block. Usually, when they score first, they control games, especially at home.

To St. Louis’s credit, however, they did a great job of ensuring that wouldn’t be the case in this game. Once they found their feet, they started to carve out gaps in the Whitecaps backline, and started to rack up the chances.

A Simon Becher breakaway was the first warning shot in the 20th minute, as the former Whitecap snuck behind the Whitecaps defence and forced a fantastic save out of Yohei Takaoka, but Becher wasn’t so kind when a second chance fell to him in the 23rd minute, as he slotted home against his former club.

And once that goal went in, the game completely flipped in St. Louis’s favour. All of a sudden, the momentum that the Whitecaps had found early on had dissipated, and it felt like it was only a matter of time before St. Louis would find another goal.

Becher almost found it in the 32nd minute, but then Tomas Totland did eventually give St. Louis the lead in the 41st minute, as he capitalized on some more lax Whitecaps defending to get on the end of a nice Daniel Edelman cutback.

From there, a 45th-minute goal from Conrad Wallem, who was set up by Totland, all but sealed the Whitecaps’ fate, as they went into the half 3-1 down despite their early goal. They almost pulled it back to 3-2 before half-time, which would’ve given them a lifeline, but they were unable to find the net as Rayan Elloumi was denied by a fantastic save from Roman Burki after a great Thomas Müller pass.

Even though that 3-1 St. Louis lead was far from insurmountable, especially for a Whitecaps team with all sorts of attacking quality in their ranks, it felt like a big mountain to climb, as they had no answers for what St. Louis was throwing at them.

On the ball, the visitors had figured out how to crack the Whitecaps’ high press, and off it, they were giving up nothing centrally, where the Whitecaps are typically at their best.

Because of that, it became a game where the Whitecaps needed their wide players to step up and deliver a bit of magic, and unfortunately, that just wasn’t happening for them.

The second-half statistics paint the story of what went wrong for the Whitecaps, who generated just eight shots worth 0.41 xG, as they failed to craft a single big chance despite chasing a result all second half.

Typically, the Whitecaps struggle in games like this has been their finishing – think of that match they had a few weeks ago against the Houston Dynamo, who took a 1-0 lead and hung on for dear life despite the Whitecaps putting their box under siege and firing chance after chance towards their goal.

Instead, in this match, they can’t even bemoan their work in front of goal, because they didn’t get there very often – and when they did, they never really looked like scoring, such as when Ryan Gauld slashed a chance over the crossbar in the 64th minute, or when Brian White floated a dangerous header well over the mark in the 89th minute.

Heck, even when it came to potential penalty shouts, the Whitecaps didn’t have any luck, either, as they had two claims for a spot kick waved away – in the end, the referee made the right call on both, but it speaks to the Whitecaps luck that they couldn’t earn the benefit of the doubt on the first shout, for example, which came from a tackle on Cheikh Sabaly which perhaps could’ve been given if originally called as a penalty on the field.

In the end, this is far from the end of the world for the Whitecaps. They remain first in the Western Conference, so even if this loss was a huge blow for their Supporters’ Shield hopes, it’s becoming clearer by the week that Nashville SC will win that trophy unless something catastrophic happens to them in the next few weeks.

You add in that the Whitecaps rotated heavily for this game, making seven changes to the team that faced Montréal in midweek, and you can understand why they had an off-night, as they never seemed to gel as a team with all of the changes.

While it is a tad bit concerning that the Whitecaps aren’t able to get results while rotating their squad in the same way that they were in 2025, they’ll hope that can change as they further integrate some new faces into the fold over the next few months. This team could look a lot different in two months depending on how quickly those new signings find their feet.

If anything, the big concern for the Whitecaps is that this game is yet another example of a habit that has dogged them this season – they’ve struggled in big games at home.

To that point, in MLS play, they’ve now dropped points against four of the other five teams currently in the top six of the West as of writing, as they drew LAFC and lost to the Houston Dynamo, the San Jose Earthquakes and now St. Louis. So far, their recent 5-0 win against FC Dallas is their lone win against a team in that top six.

On top of that, the Whitecaps have also had a dreadful home record in the various cups they’ve played in, too – they narrowly scraped past C.S. Cartaginés in the first round of Concacaf Champions Cup before getting wiped away by the Seattle Sounders in the next round, they lost both of their Leagues Cup games at home, and they had that flat performance in midweek against Montréal in the Canadian Championship.

That’s all worth noting, because if the Whitecaps are to win the MLS Cup, which is their big goal, they’re going to need some big wins at home in the playoffs.

While the top of the West is tightening up, with just six points separating the Whitecaps in first and St. Louis in fifth, it’s hard to imagine the Whitecaps relinquishing top spot, as they’ve got games in hand and a relatively favourable home schedule – and if they stay in first place, that any route to an MLS Cup would go through them needing to win playoff games at home.

They did a great job of winning those big home games last year, such as when they beat Inter Miami in their run to the Concacaf Champions Cup final, or when they faced eventual Supporters’ Shield winners Philadelphia Union in a six-pointer in MLS action, or when they beat LAFC in the conference semi-final of the playoffs, but they haven’t been able to find that magic quite yet in 2026.

Because of that, the goal for them over their last 12 regular-season games, as well as their next game in the Canadian Championship (and the final if they win that), is to find that same killer edge in these bigger matches. That second leg in Montréal would be a great place to start, as would away games against LAFC and St. Louis in early October, helping them build some momentum heading into the playoffs.

The underlying numbers show that this team has every capability of lifting the MLS Cup at the end of the year, but it’ll now be up to them to prove that, with this St. Louis defeat offering more evidence that they don’t have the sort of invincibility that their numbers, nor their reputation, suggest they should.

(Images: Chaehyun Lim)

13 thoughts on “Post Match: Snuck up on by St. Louis”

  1. No one mentioned Blackmon. He seems just as capable as last year but looks less interested. At crucial moments where he has to give 100% attention and athletic effort, he gives 90%. That’s cost us 4 or 5 points this season.
    Nowhere near MLS defender of the year

    Reply

    1. i noticed that a couple of months ago- seemingly disinterested- maybe its personal problems that are weighing him down (just speculation on my part)

      Reply

  2. Badwal was an actual downgrade from Larraz in that “Berhalter” role last night. His anonymity put too much strain on Cubas, whose passing was a mixed bag. Badwal is better in a more advanced position. Last night, hiwever, he was abigger part of the problem than observers here are willing to concede. Larraz, the whipping boy here, was an improvement, though Gauld was the biiger impact.

    Going with an inexperienced and completely left footed Gherasimencov at RB instead of playing Adekugbe (also left footed but far, far more experienced) should speak volumes as to Sam’s role and future here.

    They definitely miss Priso but Veselinovic’s absence is also a major concern: if you have both, you can slot Laborda in at RB for defensive purposes while you could put Priso in as Cubas’s partner.

    Finally, I think Muller’s fading morewhen the game requires more athletic presence. That half step slower is looking more and more like a a big step or two. As Colin Miller said in the postgame, the German is looking more fatigued. Still has the brains and technique but the flesh isn’t as willing anymore.

    Reply

    1. Sam did play 90 mid week though. I was wondering the same thing so that could have been the reason not because they don’t want Sam playing. Totally agree about missing Priso and Ranko. That’s a huge miss because then we can’t shift Laborda. Even having Halbouni back would have helped in this situation. Or wait is he gone now ?! I haven’t checked that on the roster.

      Reply

        1. Oh ok I thought we still had him and he was out. I knew he got a bad injury. CB’s they seem to go down with the Caps. Dedication to defending!

          Reply

  3. It’s astonishing to me that the loss of one player has made so much difference. Our top 11 is strong but once you start subbing in the B team, the difference is very noticeable. And that really showed last night. We missed Ocampo badly, gauld needs to be able to start every game, and we need to find a substitute for berhalter. I don’t think we’re the best team in the West and we are certainly not up to beating Nashville, Miami, Chicago etc.

    Reply

    1. Mihail was definitely struggling at RB and Caicedo and Sabaly were also at wing positions- Sabbi was adequate

      Jesper is wise to use Gauld with less time- we cant afford to have him reinjured and missing the playoffs

      i think that because of the discussions around new ownership, Axel was restricted in signing a significant- and costly- AMF to replace Berhalter- we are going to struggle to keep up with the elite in MLS as the playoffs are looming- gotta hope that the 4 new additions will help (Modesto, Ramirez, Cvetković, Diaby)

      as long as an option for starter and sub are Sabaly (at $1.1 mill/season for 3 years- how did that happen???), Elloumi and Mihail, we have to accept a drop-off in talent on the field- so many games this month dictate the rotation- and with an aging Muller, Jesper has to be the magician and sometimes he will miss hitting gold – last night was a bronze night- i just hope we get home play-off games

      the game last night was deflating- but mustn’t give up the ship

      Salty

      Reply

  4. Not quite panic mode, but our play is concerning. Too many give aways and some questionable defending. If you add that to spotty scoring…..it doesn’t bode well for a long run into the playoffs. My gut says we’re lacking a certain intensity over 90 minutes….a killer instinct….you match that to the fact that opponents appear to have “figured us out” and it’s making me nervous. On paper we look ok, but something is wrong here. Hoping the new guys we’ve brought in come with an intensity to their play. The more games down the stretch we lose like this, the worse it’s going to get for us. Teams need to fear us and I suspect the word is out on the street – we start strong-ish, but come at us with intensity and we have little response. I thought Cubas played well….but I was not overly impressed with Sabbi’s play. I’m getting the impression Caceido is a good player if not a little lazy. I hope the team hasn’t started to tune Müller out because that would be a mistake of epic proportions. Whatever the issues are – this team needs to wake up. We aren’t going to the MLS final playing like this.

    Reply

    2. Müller aged ten years last night! has to stop coaching and play Questionable issue each game with Jesper\s starting line up …..if best players fit enough to be on the bench they should be starting!.players have been believing what they read about them ….they are in the top six in the league not the top three

      Reply

    3. I agree with everything you’re saying here except regarding Muller. He had a very poor game. If a player is going to be an on field coach that player better be good. If not it’s a liability. At some time father time will catch up to Muller and if that happens this season then we’re in trouble. Muller should have been subbed but it seems Muller is the one who makes these decisions and that’s not good either. The coach needs to be in charge and if a player isn’t playing well then the coach should be bringing in someone else. That’s how it goes in football/soccer. I realize there’s injuries and rotation involved and Muller probably was going to be rested against LA but if it’s not your day then it’s time to take a seat.

      Reply

  5. i have been saying for the last 3 months that i am concerned with this Team- the outside wing players are weak and have a pop-gun offence- even Caicedo who i have ben positive about is showing a lack of skill and soccer intelligence (truth be told, Bruno had a bad game)

    yes, we miss the drive and offence of Berhalter and none of the present and new players can fill his boots; but what is most concerning me is that our defence is showing holes – i really think we miss the pace and intelligence of Ralph Priso at CB

    we best hope that a couple of the new arrivals can give us a bump up or the MLS Cup will not happen

    this a Team that is more fragile than 2025

    Salty

    Reply

Join the Conversation!