As the Seattle Sounders proved a season ago – by miserably failing to do so – it’s all about staying afloat through this portion of the season for teams competing in the Concacaf Champions League.
Extensive travel and midweek tilts with greater stakes make it difficult to keep posting results each weekend in the league. LAFC, however, is in the midst of a two-week "lull" – playing exclusively on Saturdays before the CCL quarterfinals begin again on April. 5, starting with this Saturday at BMO Stadium against FC Dallas (7:30 p.m. CT, MLS Season Pass).
Even with the international absences LAFC's navigating now, it’s a stretch of matches the defending champs must capitalize on to avoid losing touch as they look to become the first repeat Supporters’ Shield winners in over a decade.
They’ve made it clear they don’t want to sacrifice any competition for the sake of the other, and a hot start to the tune of a three-match unbeaten run has certainly buoyed those efforts.
‘In’-ternational and ‘out’ of the lineup
While the list of international departures for LAFC is down from the heights of last season – going as deep as eight down the stretch – it still includes three vital members of Cherundolo’s lineup. Dénis Bouanga, with Gabon, plus Jose Cifuentes and Diego Palacios, both with Ecuador.
Palacios and Cifuentes were both top five in minutes played for LAFC in the prior campaign, and have at least appeared in all three league matches so far this season. The pair was also first and fourth, respectively, in touches for the 2022 season. They’ve more than cemented themselves as staples in this side, being some of the most involved.
Cifuentes was one of only three players on last year’s squad to reach double digits in goal contributions. He registered the second-most shot-creating actions while Palacios notched the fourth most.
But when it comes to putting the ball in the back of the net, there are fewer players in the league more valubale than Bouanga. The LAFC No. 9 has been scorching hot to start the season with three goal contributions in as many games – counting the CCL tie with Alajuelense, it’s six in five thanks to a leg-one hat trick in Costa Rica.
“It affects the way you can affect the game with your bench,” Cherundolo said of the absences. “That will affect us Saturday, but our starters can get the job done.”
Dallas has similarly dealt with international absences over the last few seasons, but with no players called up for this window, Nico Estévez will have his full squad available for Saturday.
‘Two players short’
The depth issues run deeper than just the international absences for Cherundolo, whose side is absent half of its top 20 in minutes played from a season ago. Those 10 also account for 24 of LAFC’s 66 goals scored in its Supporters’ Shield-winning campaign, with the majority courtesy of Cristian Arango.
“We confirmed that we are one or two players short in relation to last season,” Cherundolo said. “So we are a little thinner. Not by quality, just by sheer numbers.”
The addition of Champions League fixtures and the international window further complicate that. Saturday's match could provide our best look yet at some of the club’s offseason additions, who are sure to see both an increase in minutes and elevated roles.
Tim Tillman has been a bright spot early on, already opening his MLS account and racking up a pair of starts. He’s flashed an ability to progress the ball, as has fellow newcomer Stipe Buik. Despite still acclimating, both are already near the team lead in distance carried with their new club.
Cherundolo said after the 3-2 win over Portland, based on seeing them in training, “the most important thing is getting them on the field,” and Saturday will be a great chance to do just that.
A small sample size, but ...
Coming into Saturday, LAFC is conceding the highest percentage of their xG on set pieces in the league. Of course, just three matches in, any stats like that come with a whole truckload of salt.
“Am I worried? No,” Cherundolo said. “We put in the work on set pieces with and without the ball. It was a stronger point of our team last year. We will get to that this year.”
It’s also worth noting Cherundolo’s side has only conceded twice this season and let in none in the last two league games. Sure, they’re conceding a disproportionate amount of xG on set pieces, but only six teams are conceding fewer overall xG this season. It’s a large portion of a not-so-large problem.
There’s every reason to believe this team will reach that place, but Saturday is not later in the season. It’s an instance in the right now – a right now that exists within the context of the aforementioned small sample size.
LAFC nearly let its season-opener slip away late against Portland in large part due to lackluster set-piece defending. The Timbers got their second, coming inches from a third on multiple occasions, by pouncing on a disorganized LAFC team on corner kicks.
It’s an issue only exacerbated by Palacios’ absence, a center back group still finding its feet with each other and a new regular face between the posts. Cherundolo is right. It’s a small sample size – likely with no bearing on the remaining seven months of the season. But the conditions are ripe for it to rear its ugly head this weekend, and Dallas has the firepower to make them pay.
Remember September?
The last team to beat LAFC was technically Alajuelense, but that 2-1 defeat on March 15 still saw LAFC on to the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League. Prior to that, there’s the 1-0 loss to Nashville on the final day of the 2022 regular season. LAFC, however, had already locked up the Supporters’ Shield the previous weekend. The game, by and large, was meaningless to the eventual champions.
LAFC hasn’t lost a standalone game with legitimate stakes since Sept. 10 of last year – a 2-1 defeat in Dallas. Ryan Hollingshead was sent off just 13 minutes into his return to Toyota Stadium, but it still took two goals in three minutes late in the proceedings from Jesús Ferreira to push FC Dallas over the edge.
Cherundolo was quick to point out the notion this would have any effect on Saturday’s contest was as far-fetched as the stretch I’m making to render the stat true.
“That’s last season,” Cherundolo said. “We had similar conversations about Austin before they came to our place for the Western Conference final.”
His sentiment, of course, is absolutely correct. Any semblance of a possible revenge game for the hosts fell by the wayside with the six and a half months and two trophy lifts since. Yet, it’s still worth noting because that match was, for lack of a better word, really weird.
Despite losing Holingshead in the 13th minute, LAFC still led at the break. They were caught completely off guard on a quick restart that resulted in Ferreira’s first, and he netted a gorgeous free kick for his second.
Ferreira is second in the league on the young season in non-penalty xG. “He’s extremely aware, and he’s an opportunist,” Cherundolo said. Dallas won the last meeting because they created opportunities in dangerous areas, and weird stuff happened. Weird stuff can’t happen without a plethora of the former, and Ferreira is one of the best at both in MLS.
Perpetually knocking at the door and hoping a break or two falls your way isn’t exactly a preferred recipe for success, but it’s about as good as it gets against an LAFC looking every bit the defending champs they are.