Hello!

It's the Friday before the World Cup break and the Whitecaps FC remain one point behind Nashville at the top of the Supporter's Shield table.

Is it wrong that I am touch disappointed?! Are my expectations so out of line these days?! 😆

Obviously they have had a heckuva season so far, and that needs to be recognized, but I’ve become greedy and want all the points. Every last one of them!

And I still haven’t a clue what I’m going to write about over the course of the next month, but my plan is to somehow find a way to show up in your inbox on a weekly basis. Some have suggested providing a little World Cup coverage while others have suggested a walk down Whitecaps FC memory land.

Whatever I land on, expect it to be full of vibes and light on substance. Because that’s just how I roll.

Oh… and one last thing. If you happen to enjoy receiving this newsletter, and think others might enjoy the vibes too, I would be all sorts of excited if you could share it wherever and with whomever you can!

Word-of-mouth marketing is still the best form, and as someone who struggles to promote himself, I both rely on and appreciate what you do!

Now on to the newsletter!

The View

If you’re a long-suffering Vancouver sports fan, (or even a not-so-long suffering Vancouver sports fan, you’ve likely come to the realization that:

1. We can’t have nice things.

2. Losses are inevitable.

3. Vancouver will always find a way.

It’s simply the mindset shared by many, and despite Thomas Müller calling it out last season, one that remains.

And I’m ashamed that I am one of them.

It’s not to suggest that my expectations are tempered. As I said in the intro, they might be a little out of line right now.

But in the back of my mind, I expect the wheels to come flying off at any point and the potential of defeat to be ever present.

For instance, when Dallas was awarded their PK only 8’ into the match and scored soon after, that voice got a little louder - this is where it comes crashing down.

Just a note on the PK. While it looked like the foul occurred outside of the area, Tristan Blackmon was the last man back and had VAR brought the foul outside the area, pretty sure Tristan would’ve been sent off due to DOGSO. So arguable, the PK was the better option of the two.

Yet as the Whitecaps FC have proved time and time again over the past season and a half, you can’t count them out.

Going a goal down early to Dallas didn’t cause the ‘Caps any amount of concern, and actually seemed to help them settle into the match.

And only ten minutes after the Dallas goal, Sebastian Berhalter did what he does best and hit an absolute cracker to level the match up.

Eight minutes after that? Another Whitecaps FC goal after sustained pressure. Now they lead by one!

While the eventual score line was 3-2 Whitecaps FC with the winning goal courtesy of Berhalter’s boot (of course it was), the ‘Caps got the job done on the road and secured a result - much like they’ve done all season long.

Maybe Müller is on to something here.

And while he might be right that us Vancouver sports fans shouldn’t possess this defeatist mindset where mediocrity is acceptable, us long-suffering fans know that trouble is always around the corner.

Or down in Houston.

Going into the first moments of the match, the third in seven days, Vancouver did what they do best - stick to their gameplan of four attacking modes and bend but don’t break defending. And arguably, potentially had themselves a lead save for a offside call on Brian White.

Now was he offside? Maybe. As MLS broadcasts are allergic to showing us the same replays that VAR gets to look at, it’s hard to tell if White is truly offside or onside. And based on the call from the pitch, nothing apparent to overturn.

What rocks my socks a bit though is how MLS doesn’t use, or doesn’t make apparent, the technology many other professional leagues use to present those fraction offside/onside calls. How hard is it to use technology and draw us some lines so there is no doubt in our minds?!

Sheesh.

But going into the half, it felt like any other Whitecaps FC match - one where they do what they need to in an effort to grab a result.

The thing is, that’s not what they did in the second.

Short of some poor showings against the Seattle Sounders in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, what we witnessed in the second half against the Dynamo has to be the roughest performance of the Whitecaps FC this season.

What little offensive push they had in the first half disappeared. Ball distribution was suspect. And defensive miscues were aplenty.

Yet the biggest gaffe of them all had to be Yohei Takaoka charging out of his area to challenge a through ball to Houston’s Mateusz Bogusz (if you didn’t catch the play, I’ve got it queued up on YouTube for you).

Despite the ball being put long and towards the corner, and despite defensive coverage from Ocampo and Blackmon trailing nearby, Yohei elected to try and save the day with a desperate sliding tackle.

Unfortunately Mateusz got a touch to the ball first and all Yohei got was Dynamo player.

Red card.

In real-time, the red card didn’t seem out of the question. It was a through ball and “clearly” Takaoka was the last-man back.

The thing is, and as the replay shows us, that wasn’t the case. And if we consider the direction of play, there’s not clear line to the net, so another criteria of DOGSO is in doubt. Yet even with VAR taking a long look, the dismissal stood and the Whitecaps were down a player.

Oh boy…

While I still don’t know the official reason for the red card, I do wonder if instead of DOGSO the card was issued for Serious Foul Play? Still a harsh decision, but one that only happened due to Takaoka going full Whoopsioka in the moment.

With the Whitecaps FC now down a player, and a substitution needing to happen to bring Isaac Boehmer into the match, the ‘Caps form changed a fair bit. And Houston, smelling an opportunity, did everything they could to make the final twenty-ish minutes hard on Vancouver.

But the ‘Caps kept finding a way to get that stop. To make that save. To get that call.

Could it be they’d find a way to salvage a point?!

No.

With only moments to spare in the match, a Guilherme shot deflected Brian White and past an already reacting Isaac Boehmer, to provide the Dynamo a win at the death.

Harsh.

The Good

• Sebastian Berhalter. Do I have to say more?

The Not So Good

• Yohei Takaoka’s poor decision making. He had no business making that attempt on the ball, let alone sliding in like a madman.

• Isaac Boehmer’s reaction time. I do credit Isaac coming into the match cold, and understand the goal came off of a Brian White deflection, but Isaac needs to make that save.

With the match in San Diego tomorrow night, Vancouver will be without Yohei Takaoka (red card suspension) and Andrés Cubas (yellow card accumulation). Everything will still be okay, right?!

And while I had hoped that we might see the return of Ryan Gauld before this break, all signs point to him continuing to get match fit over the course of the World Cup break, so the potential of some White-Guald-Müller magic to lift the team will likely wait.