Vancouver Whitecaps hire Marc Dos Santos as new head coach - Action News
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Vancouver Whitecaps hire Marc Dos Santos as new head coach

The Montreal native replaces Carl Robinson, who was fired in September toward the end of a struggling season.

Canadian replaces Carl Robinson, who was fired in September toward the end of a struggling season

Marc Dos Santos celebrates his San Francisco Deltas' victory in the 2017 NASL Championship. (San Francisco Deltas / Twitter)

The Vancouver Whitecaps have hired Canadian Marc Dos Santos as the team's new head coach, a few weeks after Carl Robinson was fired near the end of a slumping season.

The appointment follows weeks of rumours that the Montreal native would be taking over the team.

Montreal Impact head coach Marc Dos Santos celebrates after the Impact beat the Vancouver Whitecaps to win the USL First Division championship final on October 17, 2009. (The Canadian Press / Graham Hughes)

Dos Santos, 41, takes over his first head coaching job in Major League Soccer after serving as an assistant with Los Angeles FC this season and Sporting K.C. in 2015.

In 2017, he led the San Francisco Deltas to the North American Soccer League title.

Before that, Dos Santos worked as a youth coach and technical director in Brazil and later managed the Ottawa Fury of the NASLduring the 2014 and 2015 seasons.

He served as his hometown Montreal Impact's head coach between 2009 and 2011 while the teamcompeted in the United Soccer Leagues First Division.His team defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps in the 2009 championship game by a 6-3 aggregate score.

Vancouver Whitecaps' Brek Shea reacts after his team's 4-0 loss against the Philadelphia Union in June 2018. (Matt Slocum/The Associated Press)

Slumping season

Dos Santostakes over a Whitecaps team that finished out of the playoffs and struggled to meet expectations this season.

The club finished eighth in the west, missing the postseason for the second time in three years. The Whitecapsalso lost theirbest player after Alphonso Davies signed a deal to move to German giants Bayern Munich in January.

Team chemistry emerged as a problem throughout the year, with team captain Kendall Wastonplainly stating he was seeking to leave the Whitecaps at season's end, and veteran Russell Teibertstating there were divides in the locker room.

"There has been a lack of respect for the jersey in this season," Teibert said. "And that can't happen anymore. Going forward into 2019, you have to respect this jersey and this club."

With files from Matthew Blackand The Canadian Press