In The Cold Light of Day: Three takeaways from Whitecaps vs RSL as Cartagines await

Matchday one of the 2026 MLS season is in the books for the Vancouver Whitecaps and they came away with the three points they desired!

It was a hard-fought win, where the Whitecaps always looked the more likely to come away with maximum points if they could find a way through an organized visiting backline. They eventually did, made it two cleans sheets in their first two competitive matches of the year, survived a couple of scares along the way, and were fortunate to have been able to finish the game with 11 players on the pitch after the VAR assistant inexplicably didn’t refer Emmanuel Sabbi’s 50th minute challenge for a red card review. The MLS Disciplinary Committee have now acted and Sabbi will miss this Saturday’s Canadian derby with Toronto.

So what did we learn from this maiden MLS voyage in a campaign that fans hope will be just as good or even better than last year? And what are we likely to see taken from it moving on to Wednesday’s CONCACAF Champions Cup second leg game with Cartagines and that TFC game on the weekend?

Here are three thoughts:

AZ with Action Packed Debut

Having come into the squad as one of the possible replacements for the departed Ali Ahmed and Jayden Nelson, AZ Jackson proved on his full debut that he might ease the fears that the quality coming from the left side could be diminished in 2026. He isn’t as pacy as Nelson (a similar hair style doesn’t seem to be the secret weapon!), nor as direct as Ahmed (who’s old number he now wears on the back of his kit), but he is by no means slow and seems to love to take players on. During the match against RSL he was successful on five of his eight dribbles and caused serious problems for the visitors cutting in from the left wing.

It is early days and his link up play with his new teammates is bound to improve with time, which should only make him more of a threat. He managed to get two shots on target and of course one of them found the back of the net for the lone marker on the night. It was a well-worked goal, even if there was a hint of luck involved. Andres Cubas won the ball in his half and laid it off to leftback, Tate Johnson. The MLS sophomore played a long ball along the ground up the wing to AZ, who was quite wide. He then cut inside, which allowed Johnson to overlap him. AZ made the simple layoff to Cubas who was able to play Johnson into space further up the wing. Johnson made a run toward the byline, but before getting there, crossed the ball into the middle of the box. This is where fortune favoured the home side, as the pass ricocheted off the backside of Andre Yedlin and floated toward AZ. He calmly and coolly finished first time with his weaker left foot on the volley. It was a quality and instinctive strike that turned out to be the match winner!

The Whitecaps faithful will be hoping for more of the same throughout the duration of Jackson’s loan spell, one which should lead to a permanent transfer if he keeps putting in similar performances.

Altered Wing Play?

One of the things that this goal showed to a tee really was what could be a bit of a different overall approach to the Whitecaps wide play with this updated squad. Even before the match started, there was conversation in the press box about the types of players that Axel Schuster and Jesper Sorensen have brought to the club this off season. Many of them appear to be of the profile that prefer to attack by coming inside from the wing as opposed to constantly hugging the line.

Last year it seemed more likely that the wingers would be as close to the sideline as possible and the fullbacks therefore had to play a little more tucked in when they supported the attack. Now it seems with, not only AZ but also the other players that have been brought in, that the wingers will be more focused on cutting inside and allowing the fullbacks to provide the width in attack. This will suit players like Johnson, Edier Ocampo, eventually Sam Adekugbe, and the always adaptable Mathias Laborda. It may be one of the ways that Sorensen is able to tweak and extract that much more production from this group of players.

If You Good Enough, You’re Old Enough

The final thing that stood out from this match was the quality of Real Salt Lake’s young players. The club had a tragic day at training last Thursday that saw three players pick up injuries in separate incidents, including talismanic attacker Deigo Luna. Pablo Mastroeni spoke about how coming in he was uncertain about who half of his starters would be. In the end he fielded three teenagers and five of the ten outfield players would be under the age of 23.

All of the youngsters didn’t look out of place and made significant contributions. Aiden Hezarkhani (18) was lively on the left side of the attack and even took it upon himself to take some of the team’s set plays. Luca Moisa (17) acquitted himself well in the middle of the park against Vancouver’s dynamic trio of Sebastian Berhalter, Cubas, and the legendary Thomas Müller. Finally, Zavier Gozo had his hands full dealing with AZ on the RSL right side but still put in a good shift – both going forward and helping cover at the back. This trio of young Americans all have one things in common – they have all come through the RSL system and been a part of the Real Monarchs MLS Next Pro set up.

The American soccer establishment, and MLS in particular, have always known the advantage of developing young players to play for their own side and sell on to Europe, but it seems that more of them are actually taking it seriously these days (we’ll cover Red Bull New York at some point down the road as they seem to be one of the leading lights in this regard). This of course requires significant investment but also strong, experienced leadership.

On the elevator down to the RSL post-match media availability, I found myself sharing the ride with some of the away club’s top brass. One face stood out as being familiar – it was Jason Kreis. The man who played over 300 games in MLS and scored over 100 goals, is also well known for his coaching career. The pinnacle of that being leading the Utah-based club to the MLS Cup title in 2009. After sharing commiserations over the result, he expressed how encouraging his club responded to the difficult situation and was especially appreciative of the performance of their U20s. It is a long season, so time will tell how much they see the field and are given the opportunities to develop, but Mastroeni will have more confidence going forward in terms of calling on any of them again – whether it is in a pinch or on a more regular basis.