For perhaps the first time under manager Carl Robinson, Vancouver has had a fairly distinct tactical identity over the course of the 2017 season. While the formation has evolved given injuries and suspensions, for the most part we have seen some variation of a 4-2-3-1. It has been brutally ugly at times but, nonetheless, has catapulted Vancouver into the top spot in the Western Conference.
The problem is that the squad is about to enter what I’ve come to think of as a Post-Laba Era, both literally and metaphorically. In a more direct sense, the team will be without Matias Laba for many months as he recovers from a torn ACL.