MLS Season Preview: Vancouver Whitecaps

With the MLS season set to begin on Friday, theScore runs down everything you need to know about each team heading into the league's 20th campaign. Here, we take a look at the Vancouver Whitecaps.

The Vancouver Whitecaps rode their underdog status all the way into the playoffs last season, snatching the fifth seed in the Western Conference despite struggling mightily to find the net throughout the year - their 42 goals were the least of any team to qualify for the post-season.

Head coach Carl Robinson didn't make any signings that jumped off the page in the manner of fellow Canadian club Toronto FC, which has led some to overlook the Whitecaps once again heading into 2015. Their steady, methodical system of bringing young talent through the ranks and building from within can have that effect.

That's just fine with the second-year bench boss.

"I don't mind being written off. We were written off last year when at the start of the year I took the team and we'd lost Camilo," Robinson told the Canadian Press. "I agree with (doubters) in a certain respect because we didn't score enough goals, but I managed to drag the group into the playoffs, which is a fantastic achievement for that young group of players. Football's about proving people wrong.

"That's the beauty of the game."

Defender Steven Beitashour echoed those comments.

Will life be beautiful for the Whitecaps once again in 2015?

2014 season: 5th in Western Conference

Playoffs: Lost in Western Conference knockout round (FC Dallas)

Head coach: Carl Robinson

Stadium: BC Place

Season Opener: Saturday, March 7: Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Toronto FC (BC Place) - 6 PM EST

Key Arrivals

Octavio Rivero (O’Higgins FC), Diego Rodriguez (lJuventud de las Piedras - loan), Pa-Modou Kah (free transfer), Deybi Flores (Motagua - loan)

Key Departures

Sebastian Fernandez (option declined), Johnny Leveron (option declined), Mehdi Ballouchy (New York City FC), Omar Salgado (New York City FC)

Player to Watch: Pedro Morales

Few teams rely on one player to conduct the attack as much as the Whitecaps do with their Chilean captain.

(Courtesy: Michael McColl, MLSSoccer.com)

When you have a player like Morales pulling the strings, it's not a half-bad plan. The 29-year-old was directly involved in over half of the team's 42 goals last season, scoring 10 himself and creating 13 others.

But even Robinson will tell you that a balanced attack is vital if the team is to build on last season's playoff appearance, and the continued growth of speedster Kekuta Manneh along with the signing of Octavio Rivero - of whom big things are expected up front - should help ease the burden on Morales.

Keep an eye on: Russell Teibert (and his man-bun)

Projected Starting XI

(4-2-3-1) David Ousted; Jordan Harvey, Kendall Waston, Pa-Modou Kah, Steven Beitashour; Matias Laba, Russell Teibert; Kekuta Manneh, Pedro Morales, Mauro Rosales; Octavio Rivero

Season in a Sentence

Forever the dark horse of the Western Conference, the Whitecaps will need to find consistent attacking contributors to alleviate the burden on Pedro Morales and establish themselves as a team that can not only make the post-season consistently, but make some noise once they get there.