Vancouver Whitecaps find control, Austin FC's new formula & more from Matchday 4 | OneFootball

By Matthew Doyle

I’m back after some load management, and now we’re a month into the 2025 season. Some teams are starting to swim, and others are clearly beginning to drown. New coaches have made a difference. New DPs, less so. Here’s my favorite bit of data so far:

Year-over-year improvement has largely come from within, and with a dose of freshening up the message in the locker room.

Let’s dive into Matchday 4:

Never No More

The degree of difficulty so far for the league’s last remaining perfect team has been off the charts. We all know the toll that Concacaf Champions Cup play takes on teams, even deep and excellent ones (LAFC and Columbus are struggling; Seattle and Cincy might be dying).

However, the Vancouver Whitecaps – the Vancouver Whitecaps!!! – have not missed a beat, balancing a perfect regular-season start with what is threatening to become a legendary continental run.

Beating Saprissa, one of the giants of Central America, over two legs (and making it look easy in the second) is a feather in any MLS team’s cap. Outplaying and outlasting CF Monterrey, who have more CCC pelts on the wall (many of them MLS colors) than any team in the region? That’d be a landmark win* for literally any North American club, and is unquestionably the biggest result in the ‘Caps MLS history.

And this was not a smash-and-grab: Vancouver were the better team for huge chunks of the second leg (including a pivotal 25-minute stretch in the middle of the second half) on Wednesday night and earned their result.

* Technically it was two draws, with Vancouver advancing via away goals. But c’mon, that’s a win.

On top of all the results, they’ve checked a few boxes that I frankly doubted they were capable of, which has given me some level of confidence that this isn’t just a hot start with limited durability:

That third point… whew. Vancouver’s not out of the woods yet, as Gauld is expected to be out for at least another month (and will thus likely miss the CCC quarterfinal matchup vs. Pumas UNAM). But what they did without him, this week, is impressive as hell.

Ok, I’ve buried the lede: “What they did without him, this week” includes not just eliminating Rayados, but also stopping by Frisco on their way home and coming away with a 1-0 win over FC Dallas, courtesy of a Tristan Blackmon back-post header off a well-worked set piece.

It was ugly. It was grimy. And it was the type of win the ‘Caps have had precious few of in their MLS existence, as they went on the road and just about strangled the life out of a pretty decent Dallas side.

“I could see at the end that obviously we looked a little tired, and that was natural,” new head coach Jesper Sørensen said in the post-game presser. “But over the course of the game, I thought that we were the better team and that we were controlling most parts of the match. We also looked very solid defensively – not that we were standing low, but we just looked solid and didn’t give much away.”

Sørensen hit on it with that second sentence, about controlling the match. That’s one of the big changes for the ‘Caps, who have always struggled (to one degree or another) with pitch control.

No more. They are fifth in the league in possession and have been the very best at making possession meaningful, totaling 6.68 expected assists as per Opta – far and away the league’s best mark. They don’t do it with defense-splitting through balls (they’ve hit just two all year), but with combo play through midfield and into the final third (only a handful of teams hit more passes in those two parts of the pitch).

That pitch control Sørensen talked about? They are third in the league in field tilt and second in final third passing accuracy. They hit the fourth-fewest long-balls, but that’s not because they can’t hit them: it’s because they’re selective. Right now they’re completing the highest percentage of their long-balls in MLS, and they were equally effective in CCC play against Monterrey.

These numbers aren’t exactly night-and-day from last year as the ‘Caps, under previous coach Vanni Sartini, were middle-of-the-pack in most of the above. But it speaks to an evolution not just of Vancouver’s style, but of their mentality: they are going out there, both at home and on the road, determined to set the terms of the engagement.

And it’s working. They’re getting on the ball and making it sing.

“We’ve had a lot of games in a short period of time, so we just found, I think, this bit of flow where it was game, then alright, turn the page, next game, turn the page, next game,” said star striker Brian White, who’s having yet another excellent season (four goals in about 600 minutes across all competitions). “So we’ve been in this little bit of a grind and flow, and credit to the boys – we’re doing everything we can to get some really good results in these 24 days with eight games.”

Calling this stretch “good” undersells things. The ‘Caps look real in a way they’ve never quite managed before.

Dallas… still need work. They’ve generated chances this year via individual quality, but overall they haven’t consistently generated the type of rhythm in possession that gives them ownership over a match. That cost them with a late collapse last week vs. Chicago; this week, it cost them as they never really got into the game.

“Anytime you drop two games, especially at home, you have to look at what you're doing,” head coach Eric Quill said, before basically promising there’d be changes. “If you’re a guy who hasn’t had a lot of minutes, it’s game on.”

One Trick Pony

Nico Estévez has made it a priority to fix Austin’s defense during his first year at the helm, just as he did with FC Dallas in his first year back in 2022. It was extremely necessary then; it is even more necessary now, as Austin have been a bad defensive team since Day 1. They finished second-to-last in the Western Conference in expected goals allowed last year; fourth from bottom in the conference in 2023; third from bottom in their remarkable (and unsustainable) 2022; and second-to-last in their debut 2021 season.

If not for Brad Stuver’s yearly excellence, this team would have been ever-present in the Wooden Spoon race this decade. As it is, they have mostly scuffled along just outside the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs picture.

So yeah, even with around $30 million worth of attacking spend over the past two transfer windows, the first item on the to-do list for the new head coach had to be the defensive structure and overall performance.

The early returns are good, particularly following their 1-0 win at LAFC on Saturday:

This is basic stuff – keeping the game in front of you and denying teams access to the half-spaces is the whole point of playing a low block – but getting the basic stuff right is how you become the type of team that can sustain slumps or injuries or underperformance. And it’s how you become the conference’s best defense in terms of underlying numbers, which is exactly where Austin are now.

The issue, as mentioned in the video, is they’ve got just two goals in two games (both off set pieces). Estévez never quite figured out that side of the ball in Frisco; for his next trick, he will need to solve it for the Verde & Black. Next weekend’s Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire visit from San Diego would be a very opportune time.

“We are not there yet. We are building that,” Estévez said after the final whistle. “But it takes time. The courage, the determination, the connection, the sacrifice that the team showed, it shows the mentality of a team that wants to win, but in the middle of everything, we still need to improve. We have to play better.

“I think this time we talk about we have to be more aggressive, we have to be more brave to win,” he said later. “We can't just defend.”

Not over the long term, no. But in the short term, at least, “just defend” has been a great plan for Austin.

As for LAFC, they looked gassed for one. For two, waaaaay too much of the creative burden is falling onto the shoulders of Mark Delgado. Really good player, mind you, and an excellent progressive passer. But he’s never been the type of guy to crack open a set defense, and so far, neither are any of the other central midfielders.

And for three… look at the midfield spacing in that clip again. Might want to work on that this week in the film room.

They’ve now lost three straight across all competitions over the past week (though one of them was a second-leg “loss” that still saw them through to the CCC quarterfinals), and I think it’s fair to say they’ve missed the creativity – and subsequent attacking unpredictability – Eduard Atuesta brought to the side last year.

Around the League

13. The Fire have made visible progress defensively over the past month, and put together their best outing on that side of the ball in a 2-1 win at Toronto – Chicago’s second straight comeback victory on the road.

The first goal, an Andrew Gutman screamer, came off their high pressure as the Reds tried to play out. The second goal, a Hugo Cuypers tap-in, came off one of those patented, Berhalter-ball “turn possession into penetration” back-to-front movements.

Chicago are still under water by most metrics (they have the worst xGA in the league), but at this point in the season I’m less interested in the numbers than I am in the trendlines. And the trendlines over the past few games have been good, even with crucial pieces missing.

I had TFC pegged as Wooden Spoon favorites heading into the year and they have yet to disabuse me.

12. Oscar Pareja was very clever in having his Orlando City side mirror RBNY’s 3-4-2-1 shape in their trip to Harrison on Saturday afternoon, which resulted in an open and attractive 2-2 draw, powered by a couple of assists from Atuesta:

I’ve written a few times this year (ok, I’ve written it every single week) that Orlando are a defensive piece or two short. Alex Freeman’s ascent at right back and Kyle Smith’s comfort playing as a left center back in the modified backline somewhat eases that, but they should still be shopping.

As for the Red Bulls, they play fun soccer – they care about completing passes now, and are pretty good at it – but they also press like a team built around two DPs in their mid-30s, and haven’t been super organized in that back three. So I wouldn’t be shocked if a formation change (they were best last year in a 4-2-2-2) is nigh.

11. Speed kills, and that was the whole story of Charlotte’s 2-0 home win over struggling FC Cincinnati. First Liel Abada got onto the end of a disastrous back-pass to make it 1-0, and then a few minutes later Pat Agyemang got his first of the year on the break. This was all straight out of Dean Smith’s dream journal.

Nothing’s going right for Cincy. They’ve now won just one of their past six across all competitions and saw Miles Robinson substituted with an injury at the half-hour mark, then saw Gilberto Flores earn himself a red card late in the second half.

Pat Noonan’s going to have to get creative with that backline next week.

10. CF Montréal did well to go down to D.C. United and hold on for a scoreless draw, picking up their first point of the season.

“We are happy to have unlocked our counter,” said Montréal head coach Laurent Courtois afterward, perhaps overstating things just a tad. “We tried to be a little more aggressive in transition, and that's something we believe we can improve on in the future.”

D.C. are technically unbeaten, but they’ve played by far the easiest schedule in the league and have managed only a single win. Things get much more difficult over the next, uh, forever. I guess.

9. Our Pass of the Week goes to Keegan Rosenberry, who sliced the Quakes’ defense open for the late winner in a 2-1 win for the Rapids:

This is one of the weak points in a 3-5-2 that any team playing in a back four has to exploit: bring your fullbacks up, force the opposing wingback to make a choice (pressure the ball or stay deep on the winger), and if you get a passing lane, hit it.

I’ll say again in this space that Zack Steffen has been excellent this year. He’s staying deeper on his line and doing less in build-out, and simplifying the game like that seems to have suited him.

8. Let's turn it over to Armchair Analyst Special Correspondent Calen Carr, who was on the 1s and 2s for New York City FC’s 2-1 win over visiting New England:

As for NYCFC, 1) a counter goal from Julián Fernández (punishing New England’s messy rest defense), 2) a true poacher’s goal from Alonso Martínez, and 3) another really promising performance from young Jonathan Shore. They don’t look great, but they’re answering some crucial questions they had entering the season.

7. Face of the Week goes to this guy, who was in the pits of hell early in what looked like another surefire Sporting KC loss:

But for the first time in club history, Sporting came back from a three-goal deficit to snag a result! A mad dash through the tape over the game’s final 25 minutes saw them overturn Minnesota’s 3-0 lead (a brace from Tani Oluwaseyi and a THUNDERBASTARD from Hassani Dotson) and come away with a point thanks to a 3-3 draw.

That snapped a 10-game losing streak across all competitions, one that stretched back to the end of 2024.

“I can say this: It shows that at least the guys are fighting and that part is very good. It's easy for a team not to fight, but they did,” manager Peter Vermes said in the postgame. “They could have given up.”

This was an uncharacteristic meltdown from Minnesota, who have mostly been very good defensively since August of last year. Gonna give them a mulligan and see what happens next week.

6. Diego Luna got himself a goal and a secondary assist and just looked like the best player on the field by a mile in RSL’s 2-1 win at Houston:

RSL have now won two of three. Houston, meanwhile, have taken just one point all year, and have lost all three of their home games.

Three of their next four are on the road. Maybe that’s a good thing.

5. The Sounders seem a little cursed. Between injuries (Paul Arriola is likely done for the year; Jordan Morris and Pedro de la Vega are shelved for the next month or so) and self-inflicted wounds – including Jackson Ragen’s slip and hand-ball that led to Eduard Löwen’s free kick banger in this one, a 1-0 loss in St. Louis – they just can’t seem to catch a break.

St. Louis, meanwhile, have now pitched four straight shutouts for the first time in club history, this one even coming without the injured Roman Bürki (hand).

Still, they were down around 35% possession and are playing against the ball more than new head coach Olof Mellberg would like.

“Obviously, we're trying to be better on the ball and have more quality, and now we are playing again [against] a team that is very good on the ball,” Mellberg said. “So, we would like to have more possession, and a little bit more quality when we win the ball, especially. We are still wasting possession a little bit too fast and too easily.”

4. Columbus went to San Diego and, short-handed and on short rest, got themselves a point against los Niños in a 1-1 draw. The first half was a clinic on how to attack the hosts’ ultra-compact shape:

The second half, though, was a different story, as San Diego head coach Mikey Varas dropped an attacker for a midfielder, switching from their typical 4-3-3 into more of a 4-4-2 diamond with two forwards just relentlessly attacking the channels for balls over the top.

It worked a charm, as they induced a Malte Amundsen red card and then made that count by controlling the rest of the game and eventually finding the equalizer.

That equalizer, from Onni Valakari off a set piece, was the first home goal in club history.

“During the week, we worked a lot on set pieces. We knew where the spaces are. We knew how they defend set pieces. We knew they're really space-oriented, so we just have to make the correct runs,” Valakari said. “Everybody made the runs that they were supposed to do, and the ball just landed on my head.

“Happy that I could convert. But the feeling that we have in the locker room, I think we were a little bit disappointed. Felt like two points lost. We tried to push for the second goal, but yeah, didn't happen, and now we just recover and focus for the next week.”

The job next week is that visit to Austin – an altogether different defensive challenge than the Crew – for Sunday Night Soccer.

3. Nashville SC had to be really happy with not just the result – a 3-1 win in Chester over the previously perfect Union – but also with their composure as Philly repeatedly tried and failed to rev the tempo of the game. The ‘Yotes weren’t exactly prime Barça out there, but they were composed and determined to use the Union’s penchant for over-pursuit against them.

If you’re going to do that, you need two things:

I have been down on Sam Surridge, but he was superb at all the little things. Any time it felt like Nashville were about to let go of the rope, he was there to win a long-ball, or check into midfield to create a lane for Ahmed Qasem, or simply combine with Hany Mukhtar.

Just really excellent all-around stuff from the DP No. 9. Even without the goal (he opened the scoring in the 15th minute) he was superb.

I said after Matchday 2 that, despite playing better soccer overall, Nashville still looked distressingly soft and timid in both boxes.

That hasn’t been the case the past two weeks. They haven’t been clean, per se – they’re leaving goals on the table, and were lucky not to ship three – but over the last 180 minutes they’re showing a level of commitment that’d been missing.

2. Portland and LA both looked like teams that had great No. 10s last year and are still trying to figure out how to play – how to consistently create anything – without them this year. And so that resulted in a 1-1 draw on Sunday afternoon with two veteran center forwards doing veteran center forward things on two of the even halfway decent chances on the night:

My theory of Galaxy competence in 2025 revolved almost entirely around Marco Reus’s ability to be a very good-to-great creative hub for the first two-thirds of the season, until Riqui Puig’s healthy return. So far that has been a bad theory.

As for Portland… I usually don’t write much about officiating here – the call’s the call – but man, they’re going to feel hard done by not getting a late PK after an insane Emiro Garcés tackle. I can’t imagine why that one wasn’t called.

1. And finally, Miami went up to Atlanta and exacted a small measure of revenge for last year’s playoffs elimination with a 2-1 win thanks to an early Bartosz Slisz giveaway and a late Fafà Picault header.

First, though, a moment of appreciation for Miguel Almirón, who is so much more than just speed and a good left foot:

But the issue is you need several of those moments if you’re going to survive vs. the Herons. And on the other side of the ball, you need to be clean – no cheap giveaways (Slisz) and no falling asleep at the back post (as happened on the Picault goal). The margins, when you’re playing against Leo Messi & Co., are smaller than against anyone else.

Credit to Miami for making that so, because it wasn’t the case last year. Even as they were racking up points, you could get on the ball and get at them at times in 2024. But this season, with a simplified structure (they play a 4-4-1-1 with Messi in a completely free role), they’re less prone to self-destruction.

And still, obviously, as ruthlessly opportunistic as anyone on the continent.