On Saturday evening, San Jose Earthquakes set a record for most shots in back-to-back matches

NEW MLS RECORD!



The #Quakes74 have outshot their last two opponents by a combined total of 64-11.



No team in @MLS history has ever tallied more than 58 shots in back-to-back games. San Jose set a new league record despite both matches being played on the road pic.twitter.com/1C3lhmMzjK — Jake Pisani (@JPisani28) July 21, 2019

That got me to thinking about some of the other stats from this terrible recent skid. While I did not do any digging into the record books of Major League Soccer, I thought I would share with you some of the statistics from the Vancouver Whitecaps previous four MLS matches.

In their past four matches they have played two away (LAFC and NER) and two at BC Place (SKC and SJE). While their numbers have been slightly better at home, they haven’t really been that much better. Specifically, the SKC match was not that bad while the SJE match was really bad.

Defensively, the Whitecaps have given up 16 goals through 116 total shots (47 on-target). They have also blocked 33 and have an astonishingly high 83 clearances! Finally, they have given up 36 corners; almost ten per match!

Vancouver Statistics in Previous Four MLS Matches - LAFC SKC NER SJE Total - LAFC SKC NER SJE Total Goals For 1 0 0 1 2 Goals Against 6 3 4 3 16 Total Shots 31 20 33 32 116 On-Target Shots 14 10 12 11 47 Blocked Shots 8 3 10 12 33 Clearances 25 10 30 18 83 Corners For 3 5 4 1 13 Corners Against 10 8 7 11 36 Possession 33.0 44.2 47.4 40.6 41.3 Passing Accuracy (Total) 77 79 79 78 78.3 Passing Accuracy (Attacking) 60 65 67 67 65.2 Passing Accuracy (Final Third) 54 61 64 71 63.7

Offensively, of course, things are not any better. They have only been able to score two goals and have 13 corners. The scary thing is, that is better than what they were doing just prior as I believe they went almost three matches WITHOUT a corner.

Vancouver is conceding possession at Robbo-levels, averaging 41.3%, ranging from 33% against LAFC to a surprisingly 47% on the road to NER. Part of the reason for that possession conceding is their poor passing. Overall, they have completed 1,199 of their 1,532 passes, good for 78%. Passing accuracy drops down significantly in the attacking half and final third, where they have completed 444 of 681 (65%) and 191/300 (64%) respectively.

The good news is that these are pretty abysmal numbers that will be hard to maintain long term. Translation, they MUST change. The bad news is that there is no reason to believe that they will change other than ‘they must eventually’.

Vancouver has absolutely no confidence right now, no solutions, and no foreseeable help. While the long-term plan remains in place, and I have confidence in it, the short-term is going to be ugly. The big question right now is whether Vancouver can get past Calgary, a team they SHOULD beat, to advance to the semi-finals of the Canadian Championship.

What numbers stand out to you the most? Will the Caps advance in the Canadian Championship?