Diving deeper into the final matches of the MLS regular season for the Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Schedule

The Whitecaps will have 4 more games remaining against D.C United, St Louis, Seattle and LAFC for Decision Day so a few more matches to get through and define and observe on if the Whitecaps will finish in a automatic playoff spot.

D.C United

The next and upcoming challenge for the Whitecaps is against D.C United where former Whitecaps players Cristian Dajome will be facing the Caps the first time since leaving, the same case will be happening for former Whitecaps player Erik Hurtado who has left in 2018 but will return to Vancouver these two. While former Whitecaps FC Head Coach Carl Robinson will return to the fans of Vancouver but as an opposition so 3 players from the past that was involved with the Whitecaps are all visiting in this one. Other than that this is most likely the best opportunity to get a win this season, as the other 3 matches are against strong and fierce opponents so the Caps need to capitalize on this great opportunity of I would say the weakest out of the other opponents in these 4 matches remaining. This will also be the match where the Whitecaps supporters reunite with their players after a long month or so. A Orange Shirt Day inside of BC Place, sure we are going to learn slightly more about the Indigenous people and the history of that which will be a interesting event at BC Place this Saturday. That will be a lovely experience as the Whitecaps are expecting a "huge" crowd here in the next match against D.C United after 1 month and a bit more of being on a road trip. This will be the last time the Whitecaps will play a Eastern Conference team this season, unless they somehow find the ways to the MLS Cup Final then that'll be a different storyline but it'll be highly unlikely as playoffs currently is a uncertainty for the Whitecaps.

St. Louis

This will be the final weekday match of the season, it'll be against current top of the conference in a newly expansion club in their establishing season. It'll be College Night at BC Place probably honouring some of the Vancouver Albion a youth supporters group, that's a group going uphill as it continues to expand and the first registered youth supporters group inside of Major League Soccer. This will be a tricky match after falling 3-1 to them earlier on this season. This will be pivotal with the playoffs too, as basically every game will be super important now but against top of the league St. Louis wouldn't want to bottle that number 1 spot due to their newly expanded club and can maybe drop under pressure. Best case scenario for the Whitecaps is if St. Louis already has clinched the 1st seed maybe they'll rotate the squad a lot especially on a weekday so if that happens the chances of a Vancouver win definitely increases. That'll be a interesting matchup in a midweek match.

Seattle

Another Cascadia derby, the final regular season Cascadia derby this season there is a possibility where this is the round one matchup. The atmosphere is about to be so great inside of Lumen Field, as even though the Cascadia Cup has officially been secured after Seattle and Portland tied 2-2 on September 2,2023 and it would add a spicy element into this match if there was also a Cascadia Cup on the line. But the Caps don't have to worry about that anymore, instead there's only a better playoff position up for grabs as the difference between these two teams is only 3 points, so a Whitecaps win can potentially make the Whitecaps surpass the Sounders if everything goes smoothly for the Whitecaps. As I was saying, Cascadia atmospheres are something else as although it isn't the main Cascadia Derby as some people say Seattle vs Portland but there are still both clubs representing themselves with passion. As the Southsiders are ready to take a Southsiders Express into Seattle while there are still different Whitecaps fans in the stadium as there always are in Cascadia Derbies. This match will be pretty ginormous for the playoffs anyways, but add that Cascadia twist into it and it'll be a entertaining and passionate matchup. This will also be the final away game for the Whitecaps in the regular season and also be the end of a stretch of 7 games in 22 days.

LAFC

The final regular season match and it'll likely come down to this match after 33 matches of hard work, effort and perseverance as it seems like not more than 1-2 more teams would qualify for the playoffs before the Decision Day match and either way LAFC won't rest even if they've successfully gotten playoff berth they'll still fight for better seeding. So Vancouver will have to persevere and be resilient before as this most likely will decide your fate of the season as they have to put their hard hats on and give effort in the 2 weeks of recovery and training before this ginormous matchup on Decision Day against the winners in 2022 and they'll look to repeat in LAFC. This will probably be one of the most electrifying atmospheres of the season I'll assume, on Decision Day potentially even hoping for a crowd bigger than the one we got against Montreal and be the best in 2023. If we're aiming high and want to beat the last time there was a decision day for the Whitecaps in 2021 where they successfully gained 25,117 and that'll be insanely difficult and with how the attendance has been downgrading over the years that might not be too realistic but aiming to be the record for 2023 would be a reasonable goal to attract more people into next year if they have fantastic experiences. Max Crepeau the former Whitecaps goalkeeper who was sensational for the Whitecaps will be back to BC Place and Vancouver for the second time, so that'll be slightly interesting. A lot of storylines in this match, Decision Day probably fate and hardwork on the line, Crepeau returning, possible 2023 record crowd at BC Place a lot to look forward to on October 21st.

Conclusion

It's really simple here for the Whitecaps is to just give it your final ounce of energy as these are all crucial points that can get you into the playoffs or even home advantage in the first round, a few lost points in these matches is the difference from making the playoffs and having to play a extra wildcard match where you aren't even sure if you would make it in that. So these games against really difficult and strong opponents and the Whitecaps would benefit by being helped by other teams, but you also have to lift yourself up with some good performances in this home stretch of the season.