CHESTER — Kai Wagner was plenty happy this week to discuss Thomas Muller as the German soccer legend he is. When it comes to stopping Muller on Saturday night, though, the Union defender’s focus is squarely on his team, not what problems Muller and his Whitecaps teammates may present.

In a pivotal clash near the top of the Supporters’ Shield standings for the second matchday in a row, the Union have a daunting roadtrip, this time to the Pacific Northwest to take on Vancouver. It pits the team leading the Shield race with a dark horse contender fourth on points per game with two games in hand.

There’s a little added excitement for Wagner, who grew up in Germany. While he was a fan of Schalke growing up, the native of Baden-Wurttemberg recognizes the stature of Muller, who spent a quarter century with Bayern Munich, winning 13 Bundesliga and two Champions League titles.

Thomas Muller warms up before Bayern Munich’s Club World Cup quarterfinal against PSG in Atlanta on July 5. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Muller won the World Cup in 2014 for Germany, part of 131 caps and 45 international goals. He is the 19th player in MLS history to have won a World Cup and then played in the league. Only he and Bastian Schweinsteiger, formerly of the Chicago Fire, have done so as members of that German squad.

“I’m really excited about that,” Wagner said. “First of all, I want to win the game, and the rest will take care of itself. I think we Germans have a really good understanding, in the league with each other. We always talk. I’m excited to see him, talk a little bit to him. Never met him before, so I think it’s big for me, too.”

The Union have plenty of German connections, constructed as they are by Ernst Tanner. Coach Bradley Carnell’s last season in the Bundesliga as a defender for Karlsruhe was Muller’s first, 2008-09. Carnell played in the first meeting between the teams that season; Muller was on the bench in the second.

“It’s an exciting challenge coming up against a really good player like Thomas Muller,” Carnell said Wednesday. “He’s a world star for all these guys. And we want to forget the name on the back of the jersey and focus just on our crest.”

The effort to stop Muller, who has a goal in two MLS games (one start), is down to what the Union do well. They’re in first place in the table for a reason. At 57 points (17-6-6), the Union are one point up on San Diego and five ahead of Cincinnati, which the Union beat 1-0 on Aug. 30, with five games to play for each. Vancouver (14-6-7, 49 points) is fourth in the league in ppg with two games in hand. Behind the Union and San Diego on ppg is Inter Miami (13-5-7, 46 points) with three games in hand.

Muller’s decades of floating between the lines and finding dangerous areas of the pitch is legendary. It emphasizes the kind of connectedness that the Union do so well, leading to an MLS-low 26 goals allowed this season.

“I don’t like to talk about the other teams, how we handle them,” Wagner said. “I think we have to look for ourselves, just play our style, and I think nobody in the league’s likes to play against us in this moment. I think just aggressive, unity all over the pitch, win every duel.”

The game comes at a tricky time. Both teams are coming off the international break, with the Union’s players in town as of Wednesday. The Union have a cup semifinal looming Tuesday in Nashville, two wins away from lifting the U.S. Open Cup.

The Union left Philadelphia Thursday, and will travel Sunday from Vancouver to Nashville to do their pregame training in market. Nashville doesn’t have an easy week either, traveling to Cincinnati on Saturday, then heading to fifth-place Orlando City next weekend. The Union come home next Saturday to dead-and-buried New England.

For Wagner, the emphasis is on the first game only. And it’s to win that game.

“I just prepare for the first game. I hope everybody’s doing that,” Wagner said. “Nobody’s looking ahead (to) Nashville. It’s three big points in the league now, because we also know that other teams play against each other … It’s a big test for us to just show the mentality, but nobody thinks about a semifinal on Tuesday. We have to go out there, win this game, and then after the game, we can get ready for Nashville. But now it’s all focus on the first game.”

The Union have been excellent away from home this year: At 7-5-2, their 23 road points fourth in MLS. Vancouver is hard to beat at home with an 8-2-3 mark, though they dropped some points early in the season as a byproduct of their run to the CONCACAF Champions Cup final.

A big part of that challenge is mental. The Union are relatively healthy, with Andre Blake returning to training this week and the internationals reporting no issues after their trips (though the Union did recall CJ Olney from his loan to USL this week to bolster numbers). Olwethu Makhanya is suspended for the next two league games, which at least means the Union will have fresh legs on Tuesday.

But the Union aren’t going to Vancouver just trying to eke out a draw. They feel they can win the game, and they’re at a point where three wins in their last five games just be enough to lock up the Shield.

“It’s all about mentality,” Wagner said. “I think we always step on the field, it doesn’t matter if we play at home or away, and just have the mindset to win the game. I think a lot of teams in this league probably just go there and say, from the beginning, let us get at least a point. We don’t. We have a completely different mindset. I think you see it this year.”

https://www.mcall.com/2025/09/12/for-unions-kai-wagner-defending-thomas-muller-a-dream-challenge/