Notes From Training | Playoffs Round One - Game 3

Last week at this time, LAFC was preparing to fly to Vancouver for Game 2 of its Round One Best-of-3 Series against the Whitecaps. The training sessions ahead of the Black & Gold’s 3-0 defeat at BC Place last Sunday weren’t poor, but the team’s demeanor this week, with the series knotted 1-1 and the single-match tiebreaker scheduled for Friday at BMO Stadium, has been different.

“I see more intensity, I see more focus,” head coach Steve Cherundolo told the media after Wednesday’s practice. “I see some in some ways impatience, which I think are all great signs. I think you'll see a very focused LAFC who's going to do everything in their power to win this game Friday night.”

The club’s record in knockout matches is impressive. Since LAFC first took the field in 2018, it has played seven do-or-die matches at home in its six appearances in the MLS Cup Playoffs. LAFC has gone 5-2 in those matches, and hasn’t lost an MLS Cup knockout match in LA in five years.

Defender Sergi Palencia likened Friday’s Game 3 to the setup LAFC encountered in 2022, when there were no Best-of-3 Series.

“The playoffs when these guys won the MLS Cup, they were like this. One game at home, do or die, win or go home. And that's it. We are [approaching] the game like this, not like, ‘Oh, we lost 3-0, we lost our confidence.’ No. It was one game. For sure we are disappointed. We saw video. We saw the tape. We will learn about our mistakes. I think they were pretty clear … We have to trust our players, our staff, everything, our fans, and we will put all the work in to win on Friday.”

“The players are very aware of the situation,” Cherundolo said. “We have a very ambitious team and if you have ambitions to win something or go as far as you can in a tournament and play to your potential, then you show up for those moments. This team has always responded in those moments, and I fully expect that on Friday.”

“This will be like a final,” said forward Denis Bouanga, who has scored eight goals in his 10 career playoff appearances with LAFC. “We won the first round, they won the second, this will be a final. The good thing is we're going to play at home. After that, we can have eight to 10 days off until the next round. So we're preparing as if this is a final.”

CHESS MATCH

Top-seeded LAFC dictated the terms of Game 1 in this series— a 2-1 victory at home in LA. The eighth-seeded Whitecaps didn’t sulk, they adapted. Specifically they altered the way they marked LAFC winger-turned-wingback Cristian Olivera. “The basic adjustment that was made was they defended the width a little better than they did in Game 1,” Cherundolo said, “and that was enough to throw us off a little bit. It's impossible to cover every single space in the field, so you prioritize certain spaces. They prioritized that defensively and it paid off for them.”

“Now is our time to adjust,” said Palencia. “I think the main thing that we have to adjust is the intensity. The fact that we play at home, the confidence – this is about who wants it more and I think we have to want it more.”

Two of Vancouver’s three goals in Game 2 were own goals that caromed off an LAFC defender’s foot. They counted nonetheless, but they also call for a certain perspective, Cherundolo said. “We have to look at all mistakes and try to improve at all times. And there were a lot of good things that went on in Vancouver, which we also showed the guys. If you look at the xG [expected goals] and the margins, it wasn't, in my eyes, a 3-0 game. We had chances to score. Didn't have our best day in the final third. But between the boxes there was a lot of the same going on in Game 1.”

HOME STAND

Whether it’s the Black & Gold’s home record in MLS knockout matches, mentioned above, or its 2-0-1 mark against Vancouver at BMO Stadium this year; or its 19W-2L-5D mark at home in all competitions in 2024, the evidence provides support for the team’s confidence headed into Game 3.

When Friday’s 7:30 p.m. kickoff comes, the most important numbers may be 22,000 and 3,252—the capacity of a sold-out BMO Stadium, and the number of supporters crammed into its notorious North End, where the 3252 Supporters Union reigns.

“We will be ready at home,” Palencia said. “We don’t have to travel. We don't have to adjust to any time difference or anything. We are at home. We are with our weather. So no excuses. We are ready for it.”

BOUANGA ON GIROUD

Bouanga was asked on Wednesday about his fellow French forward, Olivier Giroud, who has had to find other ways to impact games in light of a few near-misses near the goal mouth. “It's normal for an attacker to be frustrated when he doesn't score,” Bouanga said in French. “Olivier is all over the field. He helps a lot by his presence, by his fight on the field, he frees up the wingers a lot. I'm sure the goal is going to come.”

Bouanga added that Giroud’s teammates can do a better job of supporting him with higher-quality service into his preferred scoring spots. “We saw it in Columbus,” Bouanga said, referencing Giroud’s equalizing header in the Leagues Cup Final. “Our connection speaking French is something else I can provide, as well as sending long balls to him, since he's playing well with his head.

“He is doing a very good job. The goals will come by themselves.”

MURI MAKES IT BACK

Cherundolo said he was encouraged by the return of defender Jesús Murillo, who came on as a substitute in Game 2 after suffering a leg injury in that same Leagues Cup Final, back in August. “We know what he can do,” Cherundolo said. “He's obviously been one of our top defenders over the past couple of years, mentality-wise and [he] comes up with big plays and has been very good in big games. If we can continue to give him minutes and get some match fitness back, we'll be very happy with that.”

VELA UPDATE

LAFC’s all-time leading scorer, Carlos Vela, “is still playing catch up fitness-wise” following his return to the roster in September, Cherundolo said. “It’s very difficult to get yourself at a level where the rest of the team is right now. I think our players are 47, 48 games deep, and that's just nearly impossible to recreate in training … [Vela] used those days [while the team was in Vancouver last weekend] to catch up on fitness.”

DOLO & VANNI

Those who have seen the 11 matches LAFC and Vancouver have played against one another since the start of 2023—no two MLS teams have clashed more often in that span—can tell that Cherundolo and ‘Caps coach Vanni Sartini enjoy one another’s company.

“I have a ton of respect for all the coaches in this league,” Cherundolo said. “It’s probably something I underestimated before I started coaching in this league, how difficult it can be.

“Yeah, our conversations are entertaining,” he said of Sartini, the passionate Italian who usually shares a laugh with Cherundolo before and after their clubs meet on the field. “I like the guy.”

LAFC hosts the Vancouver Whitecaps on Friday, Nov. 8, for Game 3 of their Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs Round One Best-of-3 Series. The match will kick off at 7:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, 710 AM ESPN LA, the ESPN LA app, and 980 AM La Mera Mera (Spanish).