Controlled possession vs. lethal counter-attacks: The tactics fuelling success of 2025 Whitecaps, LAFC
No matter your level of intrigue, the MLS Cup Playoffs Western Conference Semi-final matchup between the Vancouver Whitecaps and LAFC has something for everyone.
For those who like to watch stars in action, you can enjoy a matchup between Thomas Müller and Heung-Min Son, which promises to be quite the battle.
If you like less heralded but talented performers, however, both teams also have a litany of players that were among the best in MLS this year, such as Sebastian Berhalter, Tristan Blackmon and Denis Bouanga (who were all in MLS’s Best XI), just to name a few.
Heck, if you’re a fan of the CanMNT getting ready for a home World Cup, this game also has something for you - Jayden Nelson and Ali Ahmed will be taking on Mathieu Choinière in a battle of Canadian teammates, which will be fun to watch play out.
Along with the intrigue of a sold-out Whitecaps crowd and the fact that these two teams know each other very well, there is truly no shortage of storylines to watch.
5 Incredible Stats that define Whitecaps FC and LAFC 🏔️⚡️
— X - Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) November 19, 2025
The 'Caps have had their best season in MLS, so how do they compare to the LAFC team that they will face in the Western Conference Semifinal on November 22 at BC Place?
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For example, one key aspect for the tacticos is that these two teams play quite differently from each other, which is always fun to see unfold.
Despite being the two best teams in MLS in terms of metrics such as actual and expected goal differential, these two teams play two very contrasting styles, and that could lead to an interesting battle on the pitch.
Because of that, while the attention might be focused on the stars of both teams, it’ll be fascinating to see how the two head coaches, Jesper Sørensen of the Whitecaps and Steve Cherundolo of LAFC, tackle this matchup.
Given that both teams were able to put together some of the best-ever seasons on record in terms of advanced analytics such as expected goal difference (the 2025 Whitecaps have the fifth-best season on record, and LAFC seventh) and goals added (the 2025 ‘Caps are the fourth-best team on record, and LAFC seventh), it shows that both teams have been able to be quite efficient despite their different styles of play. (Data via American Soccer Analysis - tracking began in 2013).
On one side, there are the Whitecaps, who employ a strong possession-based system, one that creates destabilizing overloads all over the pitch. In particular, a big buzzword of theirs is ‘control’ - they look to control the game on the ball, and they use their ability to possess the ball to both generate offence and protect their net. 
As for LAFC, though, while they’ve typically been more of a possession-heavy group in the past, they’ve morphed into a side comfortable sitting deeper on the pitch before springing forward in the attack. Thanks to the arrival of Son, LAFC shifted into a formation where they sit back and absorb pressure before launching the ball forward to Son and Bouanga in transition.
Because of that, this matchup won’t be a battle for the ball - it’s expected that the Whitecaps will dominate possession - but instead a game where each team will jostle to create the sort of chances they each thrive off of.
“It's a very interesting matchup, because sometimes they seem not to even want the ball or fight for possession,” Whitecaps attacking midfielder Thomas Müller said this week. “So the game will not be a fight for possession.”
For example, the Whitecaps will look to get the ball wide before flooding the box with numbers, as they were second in all of MLS completed crosses into the box with 90 and third in average shot distance with 16.1 yards (FBRef).
Sabbi starts it. Sabbi finishes it. 😱
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) June 30, 2025
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In particular, Müller (nine goals in all competitions), striker Brian White (22 goals all comps), winger Emmanuel Sabbi (eight goals), and midfielder Sebastian Berhalter (eight goals) were all players who benefited significantly from this approach - and all of them are expected to start in this match. And that’s without mentioning wingers like Ali Ahmed (12 assists all comps) and Jayden Nelson (11 assists), who have done a great job teeing up a lot of those dangerous crosses that Müller, White, Sabbi, Berhalter et al liked to get on the end of.
Thomas Müller hat trick! 🎩
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 14, 2025
It's 7-0 Vancouver. pic.twitter.com/8C8GYfXuqw
Along with an affinity for set-pieces, which has led to an impressive 13 assists for Berhalter, those will be the two main ways the Whitecaps look to do damage against LAFC (and make no mistake, with how much they hold onto the ball, the Whitecaps generate a lot of dead-ball opportunities for themselves). 
Here's the Whitecaps 2025 shot map - as seen here, they generate a lot of shots in dangerous areas right around the box, hence their high number of great and good shots. A big reason for that, however, is their crossing ability, as seen earlier (American Soccer Analysis)
As for LAFC, though, their goal will be to get the ball to Son and Bouanga, and why not - Bouanga has 32 goals and 11 assists across 45 appearances in all competitions, while Son has 10 goals and four assists in 12 appearances (plus, Bouanga has 13 goals and four assists in those 12 games he’s played alongside Son, just to get an idea of how much he’s enjoyed having a new running mate).
Interestingly, though, instead of dominating games on the ball, as LAFC have typically done in past seasons, and even did for large stretches of the year before Son’s arrival (they finished top 10 in MLS for possession with an average of 52.1% per game), they’ve started to trend towards playing more in transition in the last few months.
Because of that, they’ve only won the possession battle five times in the past 14 games since Son has arrived, and that’s despite only playing one team that’s still currently alive in the playoffs over that span (San Diego, who they had 42% possession against in a 2-1 loss).
By doing that, they’ve become more solid defensively, as they’re able to put more players behind the ball, without sacrificing as much in the attack, all thanks to a formation change.
After using a 4-3-3 for most of the season, they’ve shifted to a back three since Son’s arrival, usually using a 3-4-3 or a 3-5-2 depending on the opponent. In either case, the goal is simple - leave Bouanga and Son up top, either on their own or with a third attacker, and the rest of the team defends in their place before looking to feed them the ball, supporting them whenever possible.
Yet, that’s why the unique skillsets of Bouanga and Son are quite important to consider. Not only are they both elite scorers, but they’re excellent dribblers who thrive when there’s extra space to run into on the pitch, and they don’t need the support other attackers typically need to create chances for themselves. 
Here are the carry charts for both Heung-Min Son and Denis Bouanga, showing how lethal both are on the dribble, with Son preferring to dribble from central channels and Bouanga from the left wing (American Soccer Analysis)
Therefore, when LAFC sit back and spring on the counter, that leaves more space for Bouanga and Son to run into in transition, and that’s proven to be a pretty lethal combination, as the numbers have shown.
🇰🇷 SON HEUNG-MIN GOALS ARE INEVITABLE! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/iOxg8vnIdN
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 28, 2025
Plus, surprisingly, both have proven quite adept at playing off each other, too, which wasn’t expected to be the case, as Bouanga loves to play on the left wing, a spot that Son has famously occupied for most of his career.
Instead of getting in each other’s way, however, Son has shifted towards becoming more of a striker, but one that has a very different role than a typical #9. 
Here's Son's shot map, showing his ability to generate shots in central areas. Interestingly, though, his shot selection isn't as great as expected, but that just shows how good of a finisher he's been - he can get away with a lot of 'average' and 'poor' shots in comparison to most (American Soccer Analysis)
A big reason for that, though, is Son’s playmaking ability, as he’s very good at setting up teammates for dangerous chances, something he’s done quite a lot for Bouanga, which is what makes this partnership work.
Denis Bouanga becomes the first ever MLS player to record three-straight 20 goal seasons. 👏
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 22, 2025
HISTORY. pic.twitter.com/xPuO1FyfBc
Already without Son, Bouanga was an elite finisher, one who just needs a half chance to score goals, but with the arrival of his new teammate, he gets more space to get off the sort of shots he needs to score, and that’s where Son’s playmaking is so important, as he does a great job of drawing in defenders before feeding passes to Bouanga. 
By comparison, here's Bouanga's shot maps - interestingly, he does a great job of generating high-quality shots. He's good at scoring 'average' and 'poor' shots, but his goalscoring success has come from his ability to generate a lot of 'great' shots - as seen by his 60% conversion rate on those attempts (American Soccer Analysis)
With his ability to dribble, score and pass, defenders have struggled to figure out the best way to defend Son, as he can hurt teams who mark him tightly, or sit too far off him.
“It's no secret that their biggest threat is the two up top, Bouanga and Son, so trying to keep a lid on them is a big part of the game,” Whitecaps captain Ryan Gauld said of Bouanga and Son this week. “So a bit will go into what we can do to minimize their threat. It’s really hard to keep good players down for 90 minutes, so it’s about being switched on and taking care of that side of the game, while also doing what we're good at doing when we have the ball, trying to raise the intensity of the game, play at a good pace, to keep the ball away from them.”
Because of that, it’ll now be interesting to see how the Whitecaps try to contain the pair. All year long, they’ve defended the same, playing a high line defensively thanks to the presence of their speedy defenders and an elite sweeper goalkeeper in Yohei Takaoka, and it’s not expected that they change that. 
As seen here, the Whitecaps have a high line, one that was ranked third-highest in MLS. Expect them to stick with that defensive line in this game (American Soccer Analysis)
At the same time, they’ll have to be very wary of LAFC’s transition threat, so keep an eye out for defensive midfielder, Andrés Cubas, who could have some extra work to do when his team loses the ball, especially if the Whitecaps continue to push their full-backs high up the pitch, which might force Cubas to drop back a bit deeper than usual.
Speaking of their full backs, which are expected to be Édier Ocampo and Tate Johnson, they could also deploy Mathías Laborda at full back instead of at centre back, which would give them a bit more cover in transition to ensure Cubas doesn’t drop so deep, so there are also personnel changes the Whitecaps could consider.
On the other hand, however, the Whitecaps could be happy to stick with an aggressive approach without tweaking their system, and stick to their philosophy that a good offence is the best defence.
“You can say that after Son has come in, it's a little bit more of an efficient team, they’re maybe not as ball-dominant as they were before, but they have a style that fits them very well,” Whitecaps head coach Jesper Sørensen said this week. “And of course, they’ve got players with unique qualities in this league - but we also have players with special qualities for this league, as well, and we have our style of play. We would like to get up and play high up the pitch, and they would like to counter us, so we'll have to be focusing on the balance of the game, and we've done that throughout the season, so it will be a theme again for us.”
Here's the Whitecaps rolling xG for and against this season - as seen here, they've been pretty elite in both categories, other than a blip in the summer where they had a lot of injuries. Interestingly, their numbers have remained pretty consistent before and after Müller's arrival (American Soccer Analysis)
After all, as mentioned above, LAFC hasn’t exactly played a team like the Whitecaps since Son has arrived, which has allowed them to get away with playing the way they have, which has allowed Bouanga and Son to cheat a bit defensively in exchange for more offence.
Against the Whitecaps, who play with such intensity and attack with so many numbers, defending shorthanded could be a much riskier proposition.
Yet, that’s the trade-off LAFC will have to also consider - do they drop Bouanga and Son a bit deeper to help more defensively, even if it hurts their ability to push forward the other way; or do they leave their defenders and midfielders to try and deal with the Whitecaps threat on their own?
What this shows, though, is where this game will be won and lost. As seen by the numbers, both teams are elite offensive and defensive teams, so it’s not as if this is expected to be a sloppy mistake fest.
Because of that, it’ll instead be decided by the team that can create the chances to win the game, whether that’s Vancouver breaking down LAFC’s low block in possession and on set-pieces, or LAFC hurting Vancouver in transition.
If Vancouver succeeds in their game plan, they’ll pin back Bouanga and Son defensively before overwhelming LAFC’s defence with their stream of bodies into the box, while LAFC will look to stretch the game out, forcing the Whitecaps attackers to spread out from each other instead of creating the overloads they thrive on.
“I think they are also sometimes very happy to sit back and wait for these transition moments, so it could be a game that we are feeling quite comfortable because we’ll have possession, and we’ll have to control, but all of a sudden, they can create chances,” Müller explained. “It’s going to be a game where the front lines (are key) - can we score our chances, or will they score theirs, that will decide the game. What I think is a big plus for us is that since Son has come in, they haven’t played a team with our level of intensity, and I'm not sure if they can deal with it.”
Here's LAFC's rolling xG for and against - they've been a strong team all season long, but their attack has been on a pretty big uptick since Son's arrival, as expected (American Soccer Analysis)
Of course, that’s not to say either team can’t win even if the other team succeeds at implementing their game plan, as they’ve both got the individual talent to adapt and adjust on the fly, but it’ll certainly make their jobs a lot harder.
Yet, that’s the beauty of this matchup - it truly will be decided by the finest of margins, with these two sides being two of the best in MLS this season. Ideally, this matchup would’ve come a little later in the playoffs, but the bracket had other plans, so look for both teams to make the most of this game and the tactical intricacies that it offers.
“You want to play into your own strengths, and you also want to keep your opponents from playing into their best strengths,” Sørensen said. “So that's something that we might see if we can avoid, but on the other hand, we also have good players for if the game opens up and spaces become bigger for us to run in and play in, so it’s going to be a balance.”
All graphics via American Soccer Analysis.
