The Vancouver Whitecaps are the best team in MLS and the most irrelevant club in the league, a contradiction that exposes the hollow promise of on-field success when ownership refuses to treat winning as anything more than a marketing inconvenience.
Let’s start with the facts because they are absurd. This Whitecaps side sits atop the Supporters’ Shield standings in June, anchored by the league’s best defender, Ranko Veselinović, whose reading of space and aerial dominance have neutralized the likes of Denis Bouanga and Giorgio Chiellini. Their engine is Ryan Gauld, the Scottish playmaker whose vision and work