Insights from the MLS Western Conference wild card game

The Vancouver Whitecaps advanced to the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs with a 5-0 victory over the Portland Timbers in the Western Conference wild card game.

The comprehensive win for Vanni Sartini's team sets them up for a best-of-three first round series against LAFC. Vancouver was scheduled to host the Wild Card game, but a scheduling conflict at BC Place resulted in the game being played at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon.

The guests made the breakthrough after a somewhat funky sequence following a corner kick. Several Portland and Vancouver players fought for the ball in the air before it fell to Tristan Blackmon, whose shot was initially saved by Portland's James Pantemis.

The ball fell to Vancouver playmaker Ryan Gauld, who made no mistake from close range as his shot bounced off Timbers defender Claudio Bravo and into the side netting. The goal came for the Whitecaps as they posed questions to Portland's defense, which conceded 56 goals in the regular season.

Minutes later the Timbers found themselves in a hole after a brilliant individual effort from Mathias Laborda. The Whitecaps defender dealt with a cross in the Portland penalty area before flicking the ball up and over Bravo to direct a pass over Brian White's goal. In the end, it was an easy shot for White, who doubled Vancouver's lead with a tap-in finish.

However, the Whitecaps weren't done scoring in the first half. Gauld was once again in the right place at the right time to take advantage of a Portland mistake by pressuring Pantemis and stealing the ball from him after a poor back pass from a Timbers defender. Gauld won possession and sent a pass back to the top of the penalty area.

Gauld received a lobbed pass from fellow Scotsman Stuart Armstrong and touched it before denying Pantemis – who managed to glove the ball – but it was not enough to keep out an unrealistic attempt from the attacking midfielder.

At the start of the second half, Armstrong was again involved in the final third. Fabrice “Fafa” Picault sent an inviting cross, which the 32-year-old headed from close range to make it 4-0 for the hosts and score his second goal for the club.

The Scottish connection was once again on point when Armstrong met Gauld and secured the hat-trick. The Timbers defense failed to track Gauld's run into their penalty area and a simple pass from Armstrong sent Gauld into the goal.

Gauld then hit Pantemis for the second time with a delicate finish into the bottom far corner to make it 5-0, wrapping up the score for the evening.

Guys like Luciano “Lucho” Acosta, Lionel Messi, Riqui Puig and Evander are often praised as the best creative players in MLS – and that’s true. However, Gauld is often left out of these discussions, despite being a very productive player on a team that isn't really blessed with tons of attacking talent.

Over the last two seasons, Gauld has recorded an impressive 27 assists in 62 games while also scoring 21 goals.

Gauld was everything you would want from an attacking midfielder against the Timbers. He found the right spaces for his two goals in the final third and helped with frontline defense by coordinating the Vancouver press.

Each of his three goals showed how much quality he has in the final third. He acted as a poacher for his first goal, moved into the right space for his volley and scored the goal many strikers dream of with his third goal.

While Whitecaps fans were devastated at not seeing their team play in a major postseason home game at BC Place, it actually suited Vancouver to play on the road due to the more direct style of play.

The Whitecaps only had 47.5% possession in the 34 regular season games. Vancouver can play well without having much possession because the two offensive players, White and Gauld, are confident.

While Portland struggled to make the right decisions in the final third, the Whitecaps knew exactly what to do with the ball as they charged forward on the counterattack or sent more players forward.

With players like Jonathan Rodríguez, Evander and Antony, there's no real reason why Portland should end up in a Wild Card spot. That doesn't even take into account the team's terrible performance in a must-win home game.

Portland finished the 2023 season in 10th place with 43 points, just one point shy of a Western Conference playoff spot. In 2024, under new head coach Phil Neville, Portland amassed 47 points, ranking ninth. It was a slight improvement in both standings and points earned, but the Timbers looked very disjointed in a big playoff game against a Cascadia rival.

As the Timbers reached the final third, the players either took too long to make a decision or simply made the wrong decision altogether. They were all over the place defensively, which was also a problem for most of the regular season.

Despite only being appointed last off-season, Neville may not be the right man on the sidelines at Providence Park if the Timbers want to get the most out of their talented group of players.