VANCOUVER, B.C. – The Vancouver Whitecaps are leading the way in Major League Soccer at the start of the new season, and not just by topping both the Western Conference and Supporters' Shield standings.
Both as a team and individually, the Whitecaps sit atop a number of offensive stat categories after their first seven games. It's been an impressive start, but there are two categories that Vancouver aren't too happy to be leading and those are in fouls conceded (107) and yellow cards (22).
All merited? The 'Caps believe the answer is no and it's been frustrating for them.
Head coach Carl Robinson describes some of the decisions as being "very, very soft", but equally frustrating has been the number of cheap cards that the team has been picking up. As the Whitecaps get set to face Real Salt Lake on Saturday (9.30pm ET; TSN1 in Canada, MLS Live in US), they know it needs to stop, but without changing their style of play too much in the process.
"We can't get too caught up on the yellow cards," goalkeeper David Ousted told media at training. "Definitely we need to look at it and not get a lot of the stupid ones, kicking the ball away and such stuff. A lot of them have been unfortunate that we've gotten them. I see a lot of them could be averted and not given to our guys but we still need to go down there and battle.
"We can't think about the yellow cards. We need to go into every tackle and try and win it because if you go down there with the mind that you can't go into tackles, you won't beat them."
Robinson has said on numerous occasions that he doesn't want to take the aggression out of his players' games, and in particular that of his center back pairing of Pa Modou Kah and Kendall Waston, who have racked up seven cautions between them to start the season.
Waston is now just one card away from a suspension. It's not fazing the big Costa Rican and like Ousted he feels the team haven't helped themselves at times.
"It's not a pressure for me, but obviously I don't want to lose any games," Waston said of nearing a suspension for yellow card accumulation. "What I notice is most of the yellow cards are what I call nonsense yellow cards. Most of it is not tackles, it's our fault. Complaining to the referees or throwing the ball, so we've got to quit those things.
While the Whitecaps may hope to clean up their act a little, they head into an environment this weekend that seems to bring the feistiness out of both teams.
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When Vancouver and RSL last met at Rio Tinto in July, the game saw seven bookings and a lot of chippy conduct, and Robinson knows his side have to keep their heads if they are to get anything out of the match.
"We have to be calm in that environment on Saturday because they've got very physical players," Robinson told reporters. "Center backs, midfield players who are tough. So have we. But usually the calmer team prevails.
"I'll speak to the group about keeping a fresh mind, an open mind, and keeping disciplined because that's what the successful teams are able to do. I don't think we've been ill-disciplined. We've picked up stupid yellow cards, unfortunate yellow cards for one reason or another but that'll even out."
