The Vancouver Whitecaps offence is back on track and it’s being led by the dynamic duo of Ryan Gauld and Brian White. Vancouver is unbeaten in their last four games across all competitions and the two top scoring threats on the team have played a huge role in their run of form.
Gauld and White have each scored 10 goals across all competitions this season. After a quiet stretch in the month of June, White has been on fire with six goals in the last four games.
In fact, a whopping 19 of the last 20 Whitecaps MLS goals have featured a goal or assist from Gauld or White.
Whitecaps coach Vanni Sartini has a theory about all the success both players are having.
“The coach,” Sartini joked in a conversation with Daily Hive earlier this week. “He’s very good to put them in the right positions.”
Ok, but seriously.
“The key is the fact that the entire team is playing very well. They allow them to be in a position to really hurt the opposition. The other half of the key is the fact that they are very good players. They help the team play well. Also it doesn’t hurt that they have a very strong relationship and a strong bond outside the field.”
With Brian White becoming the club's all-time leading scorer, @WhitecapsFC is one of four MLS clubs to actively feature both their all-time leading goal scorer (White, 40) and all-time leading assister (Ryan Gauld, 34), joining FC Cincinnati, St. Louis CITY SC, and Nashville SC. pic.twitter.com/RsuvTWN3fZ
— MLS Communications (@MLS_PR) July 4, 2024
Sartini has added a new wrinkle to the Whitecaps attack this season that has helped both players separate themselves to find more open space and that has created more scoring chances.
“We’re playing more offensive with more players up top,” Sartini explained. “Ryan has more freedom to move horizontally on the pitch. He’s with less constraints and it helps them to find their space, especially Ryan Gauld. That is possible only when the entire team is playing well and everyone is doing their job off the ball. That has been the case.”
That strong bond off the pitch between the duo includes taking time out to travel to Mexico and Whistler for a mini holiday during the Whitecaps international break last month.
It’s clear that both players enjoy spending time with each other away from the pitch and that in turn has helped create further chemistry when it comes to generating team offence.
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Was it friendship at first sight, how did Brian and Ryan hit it off?
“He was at one of our dinner tables earlier on,” White said in an exclusive interview with Daily Hive earlier this week. “Me and Jake (Nerwinski) were making a lot more of the jokes, but obviously Gauldy is involved. The first time we met, we kind of had a good connection. We get along really well on and off the field. The first minute, the friendship automatically clicked.”
There is never a dull moment between the two and that includes plenty of dry dad jokes.
The camaraderie between the two has been on display during White’s current three game MLS goal-scoring streak.
A hat-trick against St. Louis City earned White Player of the Matchday honours.
With three goals against St. Louis CITY SC, @WhitecapsFC forward Brian White became the first Vancouver player to record multiple hat tricks in MLS play. His hat trick was the fifth in the club’s MLS history and the first since White's trifecta on Oct 2, 2021. pic.twitter.com/BGYyWHlTrh
— MLS Communications (@MLS_PR) June 30, 2024
It hasn’t always been smooth scoring for White this season. A two month stretch without scoring an MLS goal can take a toll on a player’s mental health.
“Sometimes it’s tough not to get down when things aren’t going your way and if you don’t see the ball hit the back of the net,” White said. “I do a lot of work off the field to keep the right mentality, to keep the right belief in myself and knowing that I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again and knowing that when I get my chance I can score goals.”
White’s goals are often accompanied by an assist from Gauld. The Whitecaps captain has continued to dish out dimes and leads the team with seven MLS assists this season.
Three of Gauld’s assists came in the Whitecaps 3-1 win over Minnesota United on July 3.
With his trio of assists tonight, Ryan Gauld becomes the first Whitecaps FC player to record three assists in the same match since Inbeom Hwang did against LA Galaxy on September 29, 2019.#MINvVAN | #VWFC pic.twitter.com/Yob8VrShQZ
— Whitecaps FC Communications (@VWFC_PR) July 4, 2024
The positive success that both players are showing comes from years of training together, putting in the time to better themselves on the pitch, and a little bit of luck.
“I think it’s being in the right place at the right time for both of us,” Gauld said. “The bounces are going our way when it wasn’t just a few weeks ago. We both went through spells earlier this year where we couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net, but thankfully we’re past that.”
The 9-7-5 Whitecaps are back on the road this week when they take on St. Louis City tonight. Vancouver will return to BC Place for a pair of games next week when they host Sporting Kansas City on July 17, and the Houston Dynamo on July 20.
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