Undefeated. Six points out of six. Top of the Western Conference. Can things get any better?
Actually, yes. They can.
The Whitecaps have looked good in some areas so far this season, a bit dodgy in others and with work to do all round. Nobody should be getting too carried away. The Caps haven't faced any really tough opponents yet. They haven't faced any adversity. They haven't played away from home or in heat and humidity. We still have to see them up against our Western Conference rivals.
Yet there are some great signs already there. Some key blocks to build upon. And you can't help but imagine just how good this team could be once they get into full flow. It is a genuinely exciting prospect.
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Caution is paramount. As is keeping our feet on the ground. We started last season with maximum points from our first two games and ended up crawling over the finish line.
There are no guarantees in football, but you have to think the same mistake is not going to be made this time around, aided by no ridiculously long runs of away matches dominating the summer months.
The Caps first real test comes in two week's time when they head to Houston. MLS Cup finalists for the last two seasons, and very strong on home soil. How strong? Well they haven't lost a match since they moved into their new BBVA Compass Stadium in May last year. That's 20 games, 14 wins and 6 draws, and Toronto managed two of those draws when they were woeful last year.
If Vancouver can go there and take anything, I'll be happy. Having shared the spoils in their two pre-season encounters, I wouldn't put it past them this season. Six points out of nine would still leave me happy.
To do that they need to iron out some kinks, the main one being a little bit more cohesion at the back, prevent their opponents getting so many chances (better opponents will make them pay), make their wing play and speed count for something, and somehow manage to get Darren Mattocks back involved in games.
Mattocks is looking a little lost out there at times. We mentioned this last week, but he was even more so against Columbus.
Kenny Miller is taking all the forward plaudits from the weekend, and rightly so, although there were still some missed opportunities. He ran himself into the ground and played a true captain's role. He was back defending again, creating, scoring and helping to kill the game off. These are not all things that Mattocks bring to the table just yet, and with Miller now missing against Houston, it is something that the team is going to miss.
It took a while for Mattocks to get going last season, but he wasn't seeing starts immediately either. He is clearly not yet comfortable in the playing style of the Caps this season, without those opportunities to chase down long balls and test defences to the max as he runs at them. He's not getting those chances, at least not at home, but may get them on the road, as the Caps will no doubt look to play more defensive and less gung ho.
Mattocks will no doubt work hard in training to try and bring out the new part of his game that is now required, but after putting the added pressure on himself preseason with his 20 goal target, the more games where he doesn't perform you will have to start asking the question of how many more games does he get as a starter? And more importantly, who then takes that spot, as the Caps are getting much more out of Miller in his withdrawn role that I think they will get out of him as an out and out striker.
This may be Camilo's chance to shine and we could even see that in Houston, with Mattocks playing in behind in and looking to run on to the Brazilian's hold ups and passes, assuming he does pass!
Last season's defensive play by the Caps away from home was hard to watch at times and the big problem was that if they fell behind, which they invariably did, and especially early on in the game, they simply did not seem to have the players or ability to make the tactical change to be more offensive and get themselves back into matches.
This season that looks to be very different, with the likes of Nigel Reo-Coker and Gershon Koffie having the ability to work together and change from defensive mode to attacking. Having the raw rookies on the bench waiting to come on and tear up the wings will now also bring an added dimension to what Martin Rennie can bring to the table in away games.
Kekuta Manneh didn't see game time on Saturday, which I thought would be the case this week, but Erik Hurtado did get some more valuable minutes on what will be a key learning curve these first few months of their MLS career.
What both of these players will offer the team as the season wears on, and far beyond, is mouthwatering, but again you want to temper expectations so as not to heap too much pressure on the guys.
If they have a season where they both just mainly play secondary roles, coming on to liven up the attack and/or to entertain the crowd towards the end of matches, that's just fine by me and will allow them to both star and learn at a less pressured pace. If either can develop into regular, and performing, starter by the time we enter the season run-in then that would not just be an added bonus, but a major weapon in making the Whitecaps a playoff team to be reckoned with. And I think both of them have the ability to do just that and maybe even sooner than we think.
The player I'm most looking forward to seeing how he performs, and develops, as the season ticks on is Daigo Kobayashi.
He was my 'man of the match' last week and scored an absolutely beauty this week. He also contributed well, if a little more quietly than last week, elsewhere on the pitch.
Such performances bring hype and expectations. We already saw with Davide Chiumiento in 2011 a flair player who catches MLS by surprise, plays excellently at the start of the season, but is then worked out and fades away as the creative force he needs to be, only showing it in stops and starts for the remainder of the season.
I'm not for one minute saying that I expect Kobayashi to go down this path, but it's certainly one worth monitoring.
It's no secret that I'm a fan of what Jun Marques Davidson can offer the team in his DM role, covering the back and allowing the wingbacks to tear forward, and I thought he had another excellent game on Saturday. 57 successful passes and a dominance in the middle of the park. Fantastic stuff and he is going to be a key piece to the Caps jigsaw this year.
I know he offers little to no attacking option but it's a small price to pay and we have many others around him this year that can now offer that instead.
At the back, we looked a little less solid without Jay DeMerit and I thought Brad Rusin and Andy O'Brien had a couple of shaky moments between them, but the key thing we have to work on in that regard is to stop our opponents getting off so many shots.
Toronto had nine in week one and Columbus peppered us with 15 on Saturday. That just seems like a lot for an away side to get off and at some point, if we keep letting that continue, we will pay the price. Our first two opponents only got seven of those shots on target. A LA, Seattle or DC side will surely not be so wasteful.
On the flip side, we are creating chances. It feels like a lot more than last season, although the stats aren't clearly backing that up right now with actual attempts on goal. We are looking way more dangerous with nearly every attack though, but again, if we don't start to get more of them on target, and hopefully in the back of the net, better teams will make us pay.
And a word on YP Lee. The guy has started the season like a beast and covered so much turf running up and down and up and down that right wing on Saturday. It's like having a second right winger out there. 69 successful passes. Immense.
There's two final very pleasing aspects that I want to touch on from what we've seen in the first two games.
We're seeing games out, and with little panic. Despite holding narrow leads, we're not letting opponents put us under the cosh and are still in command of possession and managing the clock well.
Secondly, one of the most pleasing aspects of this season so far is how well our discipline has improved. There's been 27 bookings in the first two weeks of the new MLS season and not one of them has gone the way of a Whitecap player. Even Darren Mattocks has gone card free in 157 minutes!
Long may it continue, as the way some of our rivals are going, they're going to pay a heavy price as the season goes on.
So after all that, going back to the original question, just how good can this Whitecaps team be when they get into firing on all cylinders and more used to playing with each other week in and week out? Pretty damn good by the looks of it. But we've been here before, haven't we?!
Bring on the next test.
'Mon the Caps.
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<b><u>AFTN 3-2-1:</u></b>
Had a real tough time choosing between the top two this week and went back and forth a few times before settling upon...
3 POINTS - YOUNG-PYO LEE (The guy is playing like a beast once again and just covers so much ground up and down that right wing)
2 POINTS - KENNY MILLER (Played a true captain's role. Ran his heart out and got his reward with an opportunistic goal that an experienced striker thrives upon)
1 POINT - JUN MARQUES DAVIDSON (Giving him a point because a lot of what he does in a game goes unnoticed a lot of the time. Dominant in the area between the Caps box and the halfway line)
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