Home advantage is something that has been sorely lacking for Vancouver Whitecaps FC these past 539 days. It's hard to have home advantage when you don't actually play in your home city, province, or even country. It has been so long since the 'Caps last took to the pitch at BC Place, that for many of them, tonight was their first actual match in Vancouver, and certainly their first match in front of the often touted 'best sporting atmosphere in Vancouver'.
Ryan Gauld celebrates his first goal for Vancouver Whitecaps FC
On nights like these, it can be easy to drink the Kool-Aid, to think that yes, maybe, just maybe, the 'Caps might climb out of the cellar, and challenge for cup competition. The league, well, that was gone a long time ago. But yes, the League Cup is still on the table.
But ask yourselves this: Is simply qualifying for a place in the League Cup what you really want?
Because if it is, then tonight has shown once again the value of duct tape. Whenever a club, in any sport, goes through a rough patch, as the Whitecaps have, they bring in a player, maybe even a couple, to paper over the cracks, and repeat as needed.
It creates a vicious cycle of mediocrity, of being just good enough. In football, there's an old adage that it's the hope that kills you. That if you set your sights too high, you will suffer more when you fail.
But as Ted Lasso noted in the Apple TV+ hit, it's the lack of hope that kills you.
Ryan Gauld is a fine addition. His introduction in the second half against Los Angeles FC produced two goals, the first negating Diego Rossi's first half stoppage time penalty, and the second proving to be the game winner. Vancouver has now won two games on the trot. They're improving. But Gauld is not the final piece of the puzzle, he is simply a piece of the puzzle. It takes three people to fill a podium. On the basis of tonight, Gauld belongs to be up there.
Lucas Cavallini, who will be out for the next five weeks with a knee injury, may well be a second. He may not. The jury's still out on him. But if he is, who will join them?
And if he's not, when will Cavallini go the way of Ardaiz, Montero, Rivero, Miller, Jarju, and Hassli, and which two Designated Players will be joining Gauld?