Every Friday, Sportsnet.ca will chat with Sportsnet soccer commentator Paul Dolan—a former Canadian national team goalkeeper—about the big stories and issues in Major League Soccer.

Another late goal conceded by Toronto FC in a 2-1 loss to Real Salt Lake. TFC was missing five starters in that game, including three of their four starting defenders this season. Was the Reds’ depth exposed in Salt Lake? Or do you think any MLS team would have struggled missing so many players?

I think we found out a lot about TFC’s depth in that match, but what we found is that the team has more strength in reserve than perhaps in any prior season. Despite some ups and downs over previous campaigns Ashtone Morgan was excellent for Toronto, particularly in the first half where his aggressive play produced several TFC corners and a number of dangerous crosses in behind the Salt Lake defence. Clement Simonin, forced into action as fourth-choice centre-back, showed great composure on the ball and good instincts defensively and Nick Hagglund was strong in the air on both sides of the ball, and wrongly had a goal called back after heading home a fantastic Sebastian Giovinco corner kick.

Bright Dike and Jackson both came off the bench and combined very well on the goal, showing that TFC does have bench players that can positively affect a game. There is no question Toronto doesn’t want to have to play too many games against strong opposition such as Real Salt Lake with so many starters missing again. But Greg Vanney will be very pleased that in a difficult game like the one last weekend that the team’s depth proved it could play with among the best in Major League Soccer.

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It’s three wins in a row for Vancouver, but one major criticism of the Whitecaps is that their play on the wings hasn’t been very good. Is this fair? What can Vancouver do to improve their wing play?

It’s difficult to be too critical considering the record the Whitecaps have so far but they were admittedly poor in their last home win against Portland and their chances created from wide areas have been limited, especially since Mauro Rosales got injured in the second game. Aside from bringing in an out-and-out winger to add to the team, which is rumoured to be in the works (possibly Cristian Techera from Uruguay), the Whitecaps could look to move certain players into different positions throughout the game, namely Pedro Morales who, similar to Javier Morales vs TFC last weekend, is an excellent crosser of the ball, and can get himself into wider positions to escape the congested marking of central midfield.

Sam Adekugbe has shown a willingness and the ability to get forward to create chances from a full-back position, but Steven Beitashour hasn’t yet shown that after such promise coming to Vancouver as the leading assist earner from defence in his two prior seasons in San Jose. For whatever reason, goals from crosses have consistently been lacking since day one in MLS for Vancouver. But with Octavio Rivero’s ability in the air, service from the wings might be an area the ‘Caps look to shore up going forward to help balance their attack and free space up underneath and inside for their other attack-minded players.

Patrice Bernier isn’t starting for the Montreal Impact and his playing time has been limited. However, he remains team captain. Is this the right move? Should coch Frank Klopas take the captaincy off of Bernier and give it to someone else?

That’s an extremely difficult question to answer without being inside the team’s camp on a day-to-day basis. It could be argued that Bernier’s influence might be mitigated by not being on the field as much as in previous years. But anyone who knows him also knows that his experience and the leadership he shows with his teammates would make that move a difficult one for Klopas to make. Similar to what we saw in Toronto, at some point the move to make a permanent starter the full-time captain is likely to happen but that won’t change the positive leadership role Bernier (or Steven Caldwell at TFC) would have within the club.

For the third week in a row David Ousted came up big for Vancouver last weekend, and it’s not a stretch to suggest the Whitecaps wouldn’t be on three wins without the Dane. Where does he rank among the best goalkeepers in MLS? What are his strengths as a ‘keeper?

David Ousted is winning the Whitecaps points this season and that is his single-handed biggest strength as a ‘keeper. One of the most difficult things for any goalkeeper to do is to make the important save when not having been called into action much prior to that moment. That’s been the case for Ousted this year—he has made big saves in critical moments in all three of the Whitecaps’ wins so far. His physical presence has been dominant in a very Peter Schmeichel-like way. Like his Danish idol, Ousted is quick to close the angle in one-on-one situations and makes himself as big as possible without any fear.

He has organized the entire team in front of him very well on set pieces in particular and has been dominant in collecting crosses and looking to play forward quickly on the counter. All round, his play has settled and improved from his first several weeks in Vancouver to the point where it’s not an exaggeration to say he is among the top three ‘keepers in MLS at this moment.

A lot of teams were missing players last weekend due to international call-ups-Orlando City didn’t even have a full bench for their game against Montreal. Is it time for MLS to take international days off? Or does its spring-to-fall schedule make that virtually impossible?

I don’t think the winter schedule European teams play that many feel would alleviate this issue should be copied by MLS. It just doesn’t seem feasible in any manner when you look at the weather issues we’ve had in North America recently, regardless if that is how it has been done for many years across the pond. However, I do believe something has to be done to at least limit the number of games that the top players in MLS are missing because the league doesn’t recognize FIFA dates to any real degree. I wonder if heavily reducing the MLS schedule on FIFA dates would at least minimize the number of players away while still allowing a ‘game of the week’ or some continuity in the schedule I know the league is so afraid of disrupting.

Obviously the players on those teams still playing would be affected but it might be evened up across the 3-4 FIFA breaks in the season where no one team is at an unfair disadvantage while still giving fans MLS games to watch on every weekend throughout the year. I haven’t heard any reason why the bye weeks the teams get can’t line up more favourably with the FIFA breaks to at least minimize the damage that is prominent right now.

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