Film study and physical recovery were the main focuses for LAFC at the LAFC Performance Center on Friday, where the Black & Gold prepared for Sunday’s matchup against the Columbus Crew in the Leagues Cup Final, before flying to Ohio Friday evening.
Because the Crew handed LAFC its two most unsettling defeats of the last eight months—a 2-1 result in the MLS Cup Final last December and a 5-1 result in July—the prevailing narrative this week has been about LAFC’s search for “payback.” LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo sees this championship match differently.
“I don't think we have to prove anything to anyone,” Cherundolo said. “I really don't think that. I also understand feelings of an athlete, when you get beat you want a chance to beat that team or to beat the person or group that beat you. And that's perfectly normal and that's OK and that's good. It's better than being scared. Having another crack against Columbus is awesome. They're a fantastic team.”
Defender Ryan Hollingshead agreed with his head coach, with a twist. “Since I've been here, we’ve said we're the best team in the league,” Hollingshead said. “I’ve felt that. And I think the guys in this club have felt that we're the best team in the league. But against them we haven't shown it. So for me, I wanna prove – and I think the guys wanna prove – that when titles are on the line we show up and play and win those titles.”
Moments after LAFC advanced to Sunday’s Final by defeating Colorado on Wednesday night, LAFC forward Denis Bouanga said: “It’s not going to be like last year’s game [the MLS Cup Final]. There’s a feeling of revenge, and we’re going to be eager to win this game.”
Defender Jesús Murillo added: “We have to engrave it in our head that finals need to be won. It does not matter how we play. We need to win. We will work for that objective. We prepared to be in a final and we achieved it. Now it's most important to come back home with the trophy.”
NEW FORMATION
After LAFC fell at home to the Crew on July 13—the club’s only home defeat in 2024 across 20 games at BMO Stadium in all competitions—the Black & Gold stuck with its usual 4-3-3 formation, with four defenders, in the next game, a 1-1 draw with Real Salt Lake.
The following game, due in part to an injury to midfielder Timmy Tillman, LAFC shifted to a 3-4-3 setup, with three center backs instead of two, and with the two outside backs moving up to play winger roles. LAFC won that regular-season contest in Seattle, 3-0. LAFC stayed with that alignment in its Leagues Cup opener against Tijuana on July 26 (another 3-0 win), then shifted back to a 4-3-3 against Vancouver, when it started a young goalkeeper, Abraham Romero (since traded to Columbus), in place of a resting Hugo Lloris. LAFC pulled out a 2-2 draw against Vancouver after falling behind early, 2-0.
In its four games since that draw— all Leagues Cup knockout matches— the Black & Gold have exclusively been a 3-4-3 team, with center backs Murillo and Aaron Long set up outside of Maxime Chanot. The result has been four wins, and a combined scoreline of 13-1.
“It will be different with our line of five that we have been playing now,” defender Sergi Palencia said of Sunday’s matchup against Columbus. “They play really well against teams that play a back four. They know how to exploit the liabilities of those opponents.”
LAFC’s malleable new structure has freed fullbacks Palencia, Hollingshead, and Omar Campos to make attacking runs forward, then drop into a back-five setup when defending in their own half.
Said Cherundolo, “The guys are doing an excellent job right now of adapting and tweaking a little bit according to what the opponent does, because [opponents] are always changing, trying to break lines, trying to find windows, and that's what's coming our way Sunday. Columbus does a great job of rotating players in and out of position, spinning triangles, and finding pockets and trying to disorganize defenses. It's gonna take our very best, but I'm very pleased with the way we've been defending.”
“No matter what we do tactically,” added Hollingshead, “we have to come ready to play in a final. You can put so much tactics on the board and you can put so many ideas in your head, but once that whistle blows it's about just grit and competition and being ready to give everything. So we'll be ready and prepared on the tactical side, but we also need to be ready for a battle.”
ROLLING DEEP
Hollingshead spoke at length on Friday about the strength of LAFC’s bench, and Cherundolo’s ability to summon seasoned trophy-winners like Eddie Segura, or teenage attacking phenoms like David Martínez, if and when the game calls for it.
Heading into Sunday’s Final, the club’s depth has been bolstered by the return of Tillman, and by high-profile reinforcements like striker Olivier Giroud (whose 45 minutes in the Semifinal against Colorado marked his longest shift in black and gold) and midfielder Lewis O’Brien, who scored his first goal for his new club Wednesday night.
“In 2022, the year we won [MLS Cup],” Hollingshead said, “our bench was deep as well, with some big-time players stepping in and scoring goals for us off the bench. This club is so good at building up rosters. When we started this season, we had very little depth. We were really searching for who's gonna come in and help provide a spark off the bench, and they've kind of slowly but surely added guys and brought guys in and made moves that have helped us tremendously.
“And now you get to a point here when we're at the end of August, about to go to a final, about to go into the final push of the season, the depth that we have — it's just crazy. It's relentless from our club. It's relentless from our staff to continue to build out a roster even when the starting lineup is high quality. It's just not good enough. We're just always trying to bring in the next guy, and it’s part of why the DNA here is so special … We've got the ability to bring these guys off the bench that are absolute game changers and starters on any other team in this league. To be able to do that in this league, it's a cheat code. So we'll look to do that again on Sunday for sure.”
ODDS & ENDS
LAFC leads all clubs in goals scored in Leagues Cup 2024, with 18; Columbus is second with 11.
Under Cherundolo, LAFC has reached five finals in two-and-a-half seasons. LAFC advanced to the finals of Concacaf Champions Cup in 2023, the MLS Cup Final in 2022 and 2023, Campeones Cup in 2023, and now the Leagues Cup Final in 2024.
Bouanga has 12 goals all-time in Leagues Cup, more goals than any other player. Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi is in second place on the all-time Leagues Cup scoring list, with 10 goals. Bouanga's 18 goal contributions in Leagues Cup are also number-one over the course of the two-year-old tournament.
LAFC faces the Columbus Crew in the Leagues Cup Final on Sunday, Aug. 25, at Lower.com Field. The match kicks off at 4:15 p.m. PT and will be broadcast live on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, Univision, 710 AM ESPN LA, and 980 AM La Mera Mera.
