COLUMBUS — Los Angeles FC might have made it to three finals this season, but the failure to win any of them will ultimately haunt them heading into a crucial offseason for the club.
Steve Cherundolo’s squad suffered a first MLS Cup defeat on Saturday night at Lower.com Field, losing 2-1 to the Columbus Crew in the final match of the 2023 season. LAFC conceded a pair of first-half goals in quick succession before truly never recovering in an eventual loss to the Crew.
It was an untraditional performance by the 2022 MLS Cup winners, and one that came in the most crucial match of the campaign.
“I didn’t think we had enough good performances from our guys tonight and you cannot expect to win a final after playing as poor of a first half that we did tonight,” Cherundolo said postmatch. “Did Columbus deserve to win? Yes they did, they played a fantastic match, but do I think they are better than us overall? No I don’t. We can try and analyze what went wrong tonight and learn from it.”
LAFC were put under ample pressure by the Crew from the opening whistle, conceding 62% of the match possession and allowing 531 passes throughout the 90+ minutes. They struggled to create chances in the final third, outside of Denis Bouanga’s rebound finish in the 74th minute.
Columbus dictated the tempo of the match often and eventually grinded out the final minutes en route to the third MLS Cup in franchise history. LAFC though looked to be a shear image of their normal selves, lacking the cutting edge in the final third and failing to truly test Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte in the majority of the match.
“Our guys gave it a go at the end and tried to get back into it, which we did but just not enough,” Cherundolo said. “I didn’t think we created enough chances offensively or our quality with the ball was really good unlike it was over the past 6-8 weeks prior to tonight. That is what makes it hard to accept, but we will try and learn from it as we head into a needed break.
“I didn’t think Columbus did anything different than they normally do, I just think our pressure on the ball wasn’t good and we didn’t protect the middle as much as wanted,” he added. “A combination of those things didn’t help us and although we didn’t concede many shots on goal, it was tough for us to recover from the goals.”
LAFC now enters the offseason with major questions needing answering involving their roster. Captain and star forward Carlos Vela and veteran defender Giorgio Chiellini are in the final month of their respective contracts, while several others could also be on the move if not signed this winter.
John Thorrington and Cherundolo will have plenty of decisions to make if LAFC wants to keep the core of their team together for 2024. A break for Cherundolo and his squad is certainly needed after 53 matches played across all competitions, but the veteran head coach knows the early importance of building a plan for next year.
“If John lets me I’ll be gone for a couple of weeks,” Cherundolo said jokingly. “I’m not sure that is going to happen though. We are very close, both on and off the field and I am sure that he is going to call me Monday.”
This website aggregates and curates news articles, blog posts, and other content from a variety of external sources. While we aim to link back to the original source, this site does not own or claim ownership of any articles, posts, or other content indexed on this site. The views, opinions, and factual statements expressed in each piece of aggregated content belong solely to its respective author and publisher. We make no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or completeness of aggregated content. Visitors are advised to verify facts and claims through the original source before reuse or redistribution.
