{"id":280232,"date":"2025-11-13T11:05:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T11:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/280232\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T11:05:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T11:05:12","slug":"muller-vs-son-who-has-the-edge-in-vancouver-vs-lafc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/280232\/","title":{"rendered":"M\u00fcller vs. Son: Who has the edge in Vancouver vs. LAFC?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even before German legend Thomas M\u00fcller<\/a> showed up in Vancouver, the \u2018Caps were in the midst of a historic season. But now with the all-time great attacking midfielder in the fold? Jesper S\u00f8rensen\u2019s team has hit another level.<\/p>\n

As for LAFC, a solid structure behind Denis Bouanga<\/a> was enough to stay in the Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs hunt. But with Tottenham icon Son Heung-Min<\/a> joining on a league-record transfer? Steve Cherundolo\u2019s attack has hit another level.<\/p>\n

Which star has had the bigger impact since arriving in MLS? And who is the favorite in their upcoming playoff meeting? Let\u2019s dig in.<\/p>\n

Arriving after a storied career with German giants Bayern Munich, M\u00fcller didn\u2019t waste any time showing his typical off-field charm in Vancouver. For one, the attacking midfielder shared a legitimately good goat impression<\/a> in his opening press conference. In that same press conference, he gave insight into how his vision for the Whitecaps aligned with S\u00f8rensen\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe play actively, and that\u2019s what I loved all my career, to play active soccer,” M\u00fcller said. “To have the foot on the gas and to control the game. \u2026 When I talked to Jesper [S\u00f8rensen], I think we were aligned and we think very similar about the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

That alignment has revealed itself on the field.<\/p>\n

In his debut for Vancouver, a substitute appearance against Houston Dynamo FC<\/a> in August, M\u00fcller was active and slotted right in as an attacking midfielder. He pulled off a dummied pass, a clever through ball, and tight combination play, and even had a goal called back for offside. In his following matches (all starts), M\u00fcller is averaging a goal per game. He\u2019s snagged eight goals and three assists across the regular season and postseason.<\/p>\n

Since M\u00fcller\u2019s first start in late August, only Lionel Messi<\/a>, Bouanga, Son and Anders Dreyer<\/a> have posted more total goal contributions.<\/p>\n

With M\u00fcller in the XI, Vancouver have lost just one game \u2013 a Decision Day clash with FC Dallas<\/a> in which the \u2018Caps went down to 10 men\u2026 and still out-created their Texas foes, despite the scoreline. The Whitecaps then got revenge on Dallas, sweeping them in their Round One Best-of-3 Series.<\/p>\n

M\u00fcller has found a perfect home in the half-spaces of S\u00f8rensen\u2019s 3-2-5 attacking structure, replacing the departed Pedro Vite\u2019s creative playmaking and adding elite goal threat in the same breath. Defensively, he hasn\u2019t frayed as a line-leader in Vancouver\u2019s 4-4-2 shape. The Whitecaps\u2019 xG allowed tally has actually improved since M\u00fcller entered the lineup, going from 1.25 per game to 1.10 as per American Soccer Analysis.<\/p>\n

Across his possession saviness and ability to function within S\u00f8rensen\u2019s well-drilled, balanced setup, M\u00fcller has been a slam-dunk signing.<\/p>\n

When you splash a league-record transfer fee reportedly worth up to $26.5 million, you\u2019d sure like that player to hit the ground running. And that\u2019s exactly what the South Korean superstar has done.<\/p>\n

In his LAFC debut, Son drew the crucial equalizing penalty to earn a point at Chicago Fire FC<\/a>. That result began an incredible run of form, one that featured just two losses (one of which came during the October international break without Son and Bouanga present) between Son\u2019s first minutes for the Black & Gold and the present.<\/p>\n

Naturally, the forward\u2019s goal contributions were a major catalyst. In his 11 starts, Son has scored a staggering 10 goals (all but one from open play, mind you) and added four assists. Only Messi and Bouanga boast more goal contributions since Son\u2019s first start. Bouanga\u2019s contributions, of course, have been majorly aided by his new teammate.<\/p>\n

While Cherundolo has tweaked his tactical setup several times since the former Tottenham captain arrived (including for his team\u2019s Round One-clinching win over Austin FC<\/a>), the manager has largely settled on a 3-5-2 attacking look. With Son and Bouanga as strike partners, no team has been scarier in transition. According to American Soccer Analysis, LAFC lead MLS in fast break goals per game (0.69) since Son\u2019s first start. The next closest team? New York City FC<\/a> with 0.46.<\/p>\n

A well-balanced attacker, Son rates high in multiple categories. According to FBref, he sits in the\u2026<\/p>\n

89th percentile among his positional peers in non-penalty xG per 90
\n91st percentile for xA
\n93rd percentile for progressive passes
\n94th percentile for progressive carries
\n96th percentile for successful take-ons<\/p>\n

Crucially, he\u2019s given LAFC more high-pressure and skill in possession, too. Son leads the team in passes into the box, with 1.91 per 90 based on FBref\u2019s data, helping them become a more well-balanced team even with Cherundolo\u2019s clear tilt towards transition play.<\/p>\n

With elite numbers, elite results, and a profile that\u2019s diversified LAFC\u2019s on-field approach, it\u2019s hard to have a bigger impact than Son\u2019s last few months.<\/p>\n

While M\u00fcller is an elite midseason acquisition, it\u2019s hard to look past Son\u2019s slightly more transformative showings. He\u2019s managed more goal contributions in a similar amount of time, hasn\u2019t missed a game due to injury (unlike M\u00fcller), and has helped spark a larger points-per-game improvement than the German.<\/p>\n

Before Son\u2019s first start, LAFC averaged 1.66 ppg. To close out the regular season with him in the lineup, they averaged 2.09. That 0.43 ppg boost surpasses Vancouver\u2019s 0.36 boost with M\u00fcller in the lineup.<\/p>\n

So Son gets the nod here, but by a narrow margin.<\/p>\n

Son may be the slightly more impactful midseason addition, but it\u2019s awfully hard to look past the Vancouver Whitecaps.<\/p>\n

Beyond Vancouver\u2019s home-field advantage, S\u00f8rensen\u2019s team has been the far better-balanced and largely more effective outfit. With the Vancouver coaching staff always keeping an eye on the team\u2019s defensive shape, even when they\u2019re attacking, the ‘Caps are poised to limit LAFC in transition.<\/p>\n

Plus, with plenty of time off to see Ryan Gauld<\/a> and a few other injured pieces work their way back into the fold more fully, Vancouver could be at their strongest when their clash with LAFC comes around.<\/p>\n

With M\u00fcller pulling the strings and a sharp structure around him, the Whitecaps have the advantage heading into the latest \u2013 and most star-studded \u2013 playoff meeting between the two clubs. Their reward will be a Western Conference Final against San Diego FC<\/a> or Minnesota United FC<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Even before German legend Thomas M\u00fcller showed up in Vancouver, the \u2018Caps were in the midst of a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":280233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[49,48,24857,107202,24855,31022,82,14700,16534,127675,78693],"class_list":["post-280232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-los-angeles-football-club","tag-mls-cup-playoffs","tag-sendtonews","tag-son-heung-min","tag-sports","tag-thomas-muller","tag-vancouver-whitecaps-fc","tag-vanvslafc-11-22-2025","tag-voices-joseph-lowery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}