There are several ways to measure Vancouver Whitecaps FC ’s advancement since Axel Schuster arrived from German giants Schalke 04 to take up sporting director duties in November of 2019.

One can mark VWFC’s painstaking progress in simple statistical terms. The club that finished dead last in the Western Conference and 23rd of 24 in the overall MLS table a few weeks before Schuster’s hiring with an 8W-16L-10D record has now qualified for the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs four of the last five seasons, winning four consecutive Canadian Championships along the way.

Then there’s the aesthetic improvement from the cautious, attritional style that marked Marc Dos Santos’ tenure to the counterattacking verve of Vanni Sartini’s time as head coach, and now their irresistibly assertive possession play

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