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And Robinson hears it wherever he goes.

“I spoke to someone the other day down in Starbucks, and they said that we were great against L.A. We had more possession, more shots, we had all this play … and we didn’t score. So you can’t win there,” he said Wednesday.

“You go away from home, you have less possession, you have more shots, and you win the game, (but) you can’t win (with fans). Maybe you just can’t win. And I’m OK with that.

“You’ve got to find a way to score goals, whether it’s a counter-attack, whether it’s supplying your wingers and getting balls in the box, or whether it’s making 25, 30, 40 passes to score the perfect goal.

“Modern-day football, you’re always trying to find the next trend … (but) the art of scoring goals comes from crosses. It’s pretty simple the way football is played. Try and score more goals than the opposition.”

The Whitecaps have scored seven goals this season, four of them coming on crosses, two on long balls from the back line, and one off a penalty kick. It’s constantly noted their lack of away possession and shots — at 36.1 per cent and 5.7 per game, both last in MLS — a passing accuracy (73.9 per cent) that ranks 17th out of 23 teams doesn’t foster the most visually pleasing soccer.

But here they are, with the league’s best road record over the past three years, with a chance to take first place in the West this weekend against Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium.

While RSL hasn’t had the start they wanted — just one win in four games — they still pose a challenge for the Caps. Saturday’s meeting comes 363 days after last year’s epic snowstorm game, which ended in a 3-0 win for the home side.