Vancouver Whitecaps hire Marc Dos Santos as new head coach

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.

• 'Never an easy decision': Vancouver Whitecaps fire head coach Carl Robinson

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.

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.

• Davies set to depart Whitecaps but faces battle to crack elite Bayern lineup

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