Last season, Vancouver Whitecaps came to Talen Energy Stadium with one of the clearest strategies and flawed lineups in MLS. They were a bunker and counter team without the backline or central midfield to support their excellent front line, and the Union exposed Brek Shea at left back with what can only be called supreme ease.
2019 brings a new head coach and a new style, but it also ushers in the post-Alphonso Davies era. Marc Dos Santos is a talented coach and will need time to change the culture in Vancouver, but it’s already clear that this is a team with potential if they can simply… score a dang goal.
Six goals in eight games is tied for the worst return in the league with New England, and no Whitecaps player has two goals yet this season. Inbeom Hwang finally got on the scoresheet against LAFC last week, but the goals promptly dried up over the weekend when Orlando City held Vancouver to six shots — only two on goal — in a shutout win.
That match marked the third time the ‘Caps had been held scoreless in their last five, but the upside is that Dos Santos’ men have only given up five goals over those games after allowing seven in their first three. The defense is coming around, and it took a deflected goal to beat former Union man Zac MacMath and hand all three points to Orlando.
It will be intriguing to see if MacMath retains his place in goal against the Union as Dos Santos looks to find a lineup that can deliver points. Other key questions heading into this matchup with the Union include: Will Fredy Montero find his goalscoring boots, or will uber-talented young striker Joaquin Ardaiz earn his second start of the season and notch his first goal?
For more on Vancouver Whitecaps, stay plugged in to PhiladelphiaUnion.com throughout the week as we build up to a Saturday, April 27 showdown at 5 p.m. ET on PHL17.
