Probably the simplest way to summarize 2019 for the Vancouver Whitecaps is to say that they overachieved and still finished last in the Western Conference. Now, when I say they overachieved, clearly that doesn’t mean a ton, given how things ended up. But, it gives you a sense of how bad 2019 actually was for Vancouver. The Whitecaps outperformed expected goals, expected goals against, and expected points, but finished last in the West and ahead of only FC Cincinnati in the MLS standings.

Now, there wasn’t much to build on going into 2019 and Marc dos Santos brought in a ton of new players in his first year in charge, so as frustrating as 2019 likely was for the Whitecaps and their supporters, it probably wasn’t a shock.

One thing the Whitecaps did excel at in 2019 was limiting the quality of chances they allowed. Sitting back in a fairly low defensive block, the Whitecaps did a decent job of forcing opponents to take shots from low xG spots. They were actually one of the best teams in MLS in terms of expected goals per shot conceded. But, and you had to know there was a but coming there, they gave up over 100 shots more than anyone else. It doesn’t matter if you’re forcing teams to take low percentage shots if you give up that many shots because at some point you’re going to give up goals, and Vancouver did. A lot. If Vancouver can figure out a way to continue to limit shot quality but cut down on the number of shots they concede, that could be an area of significant improvement in 2020.