‘My job is not done yet’: Vancouver Whitecaps star Thomas Muller eager for playoffs

VANCOUVER — Thomas Muller thought he’d made a good choice when he signed with the Vancouver Whitecaps in August.

Even the German soccer legend didn’t anticipate just how well he’d fit in with the Major League Soccer team.

“The journey is quite sensational for me, with the team, with the ‘Caps, with the players. We are doing really well,” Muller said Wednesday.

The 36-year-old attacking midfielder noted that within minutes of stepping into his first game for Vancouver, he scored a goal — albeit one that was later called offside.

“The feeling was insane. The whole stadium got crazy. I’ve never had fireworks in a stadium. Two minutes of playing here, there were fireworks because of a goal for my side. So what better choice you can do?”

Muller has seven goals and three assists for Vancouver in just seven league games, and has bigger ambitions, too.

“My job is not done yet,” he said. “I’m here to help the ‘Caps win the MLS Cup.”

That journey will begin Sunday when the Whitecaps host FC Dallas to kick off a best-of-three, first-round playoff series.

The ‘Caps finished the regular season second in the Western Conference with a 18-7-9 run, but fell 2-1 to Dallas on Saturday after going down to 10 men due to an early red card.

The win saw Dallas (11-12-11) skirt the wild-card game and finish seventh in the West.

“We’re up against a Dallas team that has performed well over the last past part of the season, and also did the other day,” said Whitecaps head coach Jesper Sorensen.

Expectations are high for the Whitecaps heading into the playoffs after the team finished the regular season with the most goals in the Western Conference (66), the highest goal differential in MLS (+28), and several contenders for postional player of the year honours.

“We have to accept that people will hold us accountable for the results we can create here in the playoffs. But the reason they do it is because of what we have shown throughout the season,” Sorensen said.

“The margin for errors is not big in games like this. But on the other hand, we should not be afraid either to play the way we would like to play. That’s what has brought us here, that’s why there’s expectations for us. And that’s what we have to continue doing.”

More than 25,000 tickets have been sold for Sunday’s game, and the upper bowl will be open at B.C. Place.

Whitecaps midfielder Sebastian Berhalter has seen how excited Vancouver sports fans can get over a playoff run.

“Two years ago, watching the Canucks make that run, I realized how much it can mean to the city,” he said. “Everywhere you went, you’d see Canucks flags, flags on cars. You could feel that sports atmosphere. It was a sports city for almost three weeks.

“And that’s what I feel like hopefully we can have, and we can do on this run. I’d love to see that. … That’s something I’ve dreamt of since I’ve been here. So hopefully we give them something to be excited about.”

Berhalter has been through playoff campaigns with the ‘Caps before.

Last year, he helped Vancouver rout the Portland Timbers in the wild-card game before the squad was ousted from the post-season by Los Angeles FC in a three-game first-round series.

This year feels different, Berhalter said.

“Even just the matchup. Last year, it’s ‘We got LAFC again. This is going to be such a nightmare. We’re just going to give it all we have.’ The mentality’s flipped,” he said. “We’re going in there, we want to dominate. We’re not going to sit back and hopefully we just catch the team on the counter.

“This is a year where guys are confident, guys just feel like we’re feeding off each other. Jesper’s brought that belief into us. And it’s been fun. I think the biggest thing is going for that trophy.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2025.