Dynamo 4, Whitecaps 3: As one window opens, another could close ...

Ok, Vancouver Whitecaps fans. You want Fafà Picault to stay? Find him a good Caribbean restaurant.

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The Vancouver Whitecaps striker has been the subject of trade rumours since a report on July 27 saying he was seeking a move to an East Coast team. And Saturday night, he boosted his trade value by dragging the Caps back from a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead — scoring twice and assisting on another — before the Houston Dynamo scored twice late to snatch a 4-3 road win at B.C. Place.

He was clearly weary of answering questions about the trade rumours post-game, but readily addressed the pack of media outside the locker-room regardless.

“I just put it aside,” he said. “I don’t care about what anybody says. I love this game and I give my all every time I step on the pitch. And if it results in a double three goals or one or an assist to help us win, that’s what matters. I just focus on what I got to do and keep loving the game.”

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He does, for the record, love the city and the team, and said his cats adore their sweeping views of the North Shore mountains. Vancouver’s natural beauty even has shaken his urban-centric tendencies.

“It’s beautiful. You’ve got a good combination of downtown building and city life, and at the same time, you step out and in a few minutes you in some beautiful nature. I don’t even like to hike I’ve gone for a hike, so that says a lot,” he said. “This is the best locker room, or at least one of the best, in my career. Love all the guys, get along with everybody on and off the field. That’s been that’s been fantastic since I got here. It’s been really easy to come into work and deal with those guys every day.

“One thing I’m missing a probably Caribbean food. It’s hard to find that in the city.  I’m still searching. I might have to fly mom out to sort me out … come out and whip it up in the kitchen.”

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He’s now scored in three straight games — he has eight on the year, just behind Brian White (12) and Ryan Gauld (9) — along with four assists. And Saturday night’s game came with Gauld sidelined; he aggravated a knee injury in the first half and may miss the MLS All-Star game on July 24.

It will be a tough pill to swallow if Picault leaves, as Caps CEO Axel Schuster has been searching for a player to help alleviate the opposition’s defensive focus on White and Gauld.

Picault has done that. And he’s made no secret of his desire for more playing time, either. He’ll press relentlessly, and tries to mesh with the team’s defensive system.

“I’m just doing what I have to do. I’ll do the the dirty work if I have to. When it comes to scoring goals, I’ll do that too. I think I’ve done that over the years. Some years, you get more goals than others and sometimes less, but I’ve been pretty consistent over the last six, seven years in the league,” he said. “I do what I can or whatever (in) minutes given. My job is just to play and whatever decisions are made are not up to me as a player. I just stay professional and do the best I can.”

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Schuster said Saturday before the game there was going to be movement in this transfer window, likely both in and out. The window for Canadian clubs opened last week and runs until Aug. 8, the last day to bring in new players. But the MLS window runs to Aug. 14 for U.S. clubs, if there was any outgoing intra-league move they wanted to complete.

Saturday’s result snapped the Whitecaps six-game unbeaten streak, and dropped them into fifth in the West. But two months ago, after the May 25 loss to Inter Miami, there were plenty of hard questions being lobbed at Schuster.

Aside from the stratospheric ticket prices that crashed harder than a Cybertruck that hasn’t had its accelerator pedal fixed when Lionel Messi was a no-show, there were serious questions about the team.

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They’d just lost to an undermanned Inter Miami team missing its star players, and at home, to boot. It capped a span of six games without a win, thanks to a pop-gun offence that produced just six goals.

Would Vanni Sartini last the season? Was a housecleaning coming for the roster?

The Caps won six of their next nine, with a draw thrown in there. And heading into Saturday’s game, Vancouver sat in an all-important top four spot in the Western Conference — which comes with a home playoff game.

There now just 10 regular season games remaining in 2024.

“Things can change quickly,” Schuster said before the game, almost prophetically.

“We should we should keep that in mind before we (play) another game today. We are a club that wants to punch over its weight, and to do so we always need to do almost everything right. … That said, I’m super happy where we are right now because I think the last weeks we have done outstanding.”

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Houston Dynamo goalkeeper Steve Clark, back centre, watches as Vancouver Whitecaps’ Fafa Picault, front, scores his second goal during the second half of an MLS soccer match, in Vancouver, on Saturday, July 20, 2024. Photo by DARRYL DYCK THE CANADIAN PRESS /THE CANADIAN PRESS

Vancouver’s form this year is what we’ve seen over the past few seasons; quality enough for the playoffs, an ability to beat any team in the league on any night.

But this season, being good isn’t good enough. They want playoff results. They haven’t made the conference finals in their MLS history, let alone an MLS Cup.

That’s why this transfer window feels so crucial for the club.

There are the Picault reports, as well as a cloud of uncertainty around defender Javain Brown, who’s been absent from the team’s game day roster the past few games.

When asked about reports that Atlético Nacional 20-year-old Edier Ocampo was coming to Vancouver — a fiery, fast attacking-minded fullback that would fit well into Sartini’s system as a wide player — Schuster was cagey, only saying he would deny the reports if they were false. His aims this window were, at the very least, to add speed and skill on the wing.

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That could also come in the form of Deiber Caicedo, whose loan to Colombian side Junior FC is up at the end of this month.

If Picault was to move on — and the Whitecaps have shown themselves willing to let players move on, like acceding to Julian Gressel’s trade request last season — that would rob them of one of their few offensive players.

Vancouver Whitecaps’ Fafa Picault (11) celebrates his second goal against the Houston Dynamo during the second half of an MLS soccer match, in Vancouver, on Saturday, July 20, 2024. Photo by DARRYL DYCK THE CANADIAN PRESS /THE CANADIAN PRESS

As a team, the Caps came in 10th best in both goals for and against per 90 minutes, but the need for another player to help deflect defensive attention away from Guard and White remains their biggest need.

The MLS has made it easier for teams to add higher-calibre players, especially younger talents, by tweaking their roster rules this week. They can add either three Designated Players and three U-22 initiative players without the previous age restrictions, or sign two DPs and four U22 players, getting up to an additional $2M in General Allocation Money.

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“I’m optimistic that we will have players in. There will also will be players out,” said Schuster. “And at the end, we want to be better set up for the last 10 games in MLS.”

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