The sophomore MLS head coach is 1-3 against opponents from Mexico despite having an excellent record within the domestic league. After winning the Supporter’s Shield and MLS Cup in 2022, questions arise about whether Steve Cherundolo can take LAFC all the way.
This post is written in collaboration with the Voices of the Black and Gold, an LAFC podcast
If you were up for all the Leagues Cup action Friday night, you might have caught LAFC suffering a grueling loss in a 3/4 empty Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. With LAFC up 2-1, after both teams converted PKs by going low and to the left, the Los Angeles Football Club would succumb to 2 more goals in the last 10 minutes of play, the dagger by Mexican striker Funes Mori at the 88th minute, after an opportunistic finish off the rebound by goalkeeper John McCarthy. John ended the night with five saves, one less than Monterrey’s GK Esteban Andrada, the Argentine and former Boca Juniors goalkeeper.
LAFC heads to Rose Bowl due to BMO stadium scheduling conflict
The El Buki tour was announced in mid-January with the Latin Recording Academy, Marco Antonio Solís playing at BMO Stadium last night to conclude a 2-day stint in LA. That inevitably sent the Black and Gold to Pasadena to play at the historic Rose Bowl, a decision made after Leagues Cup dates were announced in March of this year. I guess that breaking with Live Nation to put this game back at LAFC’s SS stadium would have been difficult; besides, the Leagues Cup tight calendar and two-day concert stint would have made rescheduling the game nearly impossible.
To the 12,000-plus LAFC supporters witnessing the defeat, the game sent the Black and Gold into an unwanted vacation after the more than abrupt exit from the Leagues Cup. And with that, an early chance at hosting the Finals in Los Angeles, in a potential rematch against Jim Curtin and the Philadelphia Union or a first-ever matchup against Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami friends went out of the window.
More than anything, the loss goes into the team’s 2023 resume as yet another sign of a job not finished, especially given how the team went belly up in the CCL finals after losing consecutive games to Club Leon. And now the Monterrey loss in the Leagues Cup makes it two losses in a row by this coaching staff against a Liga MX team, not to mention the 2020 CCL that ended up with Tigres, another tough loss to a Liga MX team that changed the direction of the new franchise.
LAFC’s 2023 goes off the rails after Riqui Puig’s ‘payaso’ incident at BMO
The two consecutive losses in the CCL to Leon came right after LAFC’s decision to feature an entire B side against a fully loaded LA Galaxy at BMO Stadium. That’s the game the LAFC2 version of the LA Football Club was eliminated in the US Open Cup in front of its loyal fans, who all showed up to see the team get beaten 2 – 0 by an overly excited Riqui Puig who didn’t waste any time putting some psychological pressure on his rival.
“It’s proof the LA Galaxy can own this city”
🗣️ Riqui PuigFor the second year in a row, #LAGalaxy took #LAFC out of the U.S. @opencup.
So what went right for Vanney and co?
✍️ @AlxRuiz15‘s breakdown⤵️https://t.co/xujkhiUR8l pic.twitter.com/wrj2RK7SgP
— The Striker (@TheStrikerNews) May 24, 2023
The incident led veteran Georgio Chiellini to call Riqui a clown while LAFC had much bigger concerns with a Liga MX final looming. The psychological warfare seemed to have worked. Since the US Open Cup elimination, the team has suffered nine grueling losses, including the latest blunder to Monterrey FC and another, which included a 4th of July showdown against the very LA Galaxy, also played at the Rose Bowl. Combined with three ties and only five wins, 4 of which came at home. The sole road winner: a 2 – 1 nail-biter against Sporting Kansas City, currently the 22nd team overall in the Supporter’s Shield dispute.
Is Steve Cherundolo’s tenure with LAFC nearing its end?
And now the sudden elimination vs. Monterrey FC raises questions about whether Steve Cherundolo will be LAFC’s man long-term. When losing to Liga MX, his answer has been consistent, at the very least, to point out MLS rules harm their teams when they go on stage to play against Liga MX teams or any other leagues where the top is “heavy” and parity doesn’t exist, especially to allow for newer franchises to “catch up” to established original 1996 block.
LAFC is no exception to this. The very thing that propelled them to the top in 2018 was this very notion and formula (a team built around 2-3 expensive DPs surrounded by underpaid veterans and unknown scouted talents).
However, that does not explain the two losses to a challenged Houston team during this bad run and the decisions that the Black and Gold faithful has witnessed from the coaching staff during games, especially games where LAFC isn’t the first to put a goal up. Much like on Friday night, when the team was up by 2, LAFC seems to run out of ideas to overcome adversity, while coaches do not seem to be able to influence athletes from that point on any longer.
We are loyal to the club and support the good and the bad. However, the loyalty isn’t blind, and we know there are some frustrating moments with the coaching, reminiscent of the protest in 2022.
3252 Member
More than ever, substitutions appear based on stamina more than tactics. Against the Rayados, they were at the very least mistimed, with an attacker coming in for another when the team was up but under pressure and the incomprehensible decision to sub Jesus Murillo, a center back, into the game while taking Mateus Bogusz, an offensive midfielder out, despite having a tallied goal, with minutes to go.
John Thorrington watches LAFC blow a 2 goal lead.
Is there a ceiling to MLS, and how far can teams get in continental play?
This is where Steve Cherundolo’s crying voice goes loudest; however, successfully repeating that Liga MX will be at a constant advantage until salary rules are, at the very least, matched with Mexico’s league. It seems to hold true considering that neither loss was considered a razor-thin defeat: the Leon defeats showed a team unable to produce offensively after 180 minutes, and this recent one may have shown that while young prospects like Bogusz and Biuk can be the future of this club, they won’t be the ones that will take the 2023 LAFC to redemption. If this is to happen, it will still be Carlos Vela and Denis Bouanga carrying the team; without them, the team seems to suffer immeasurably.
And while the class of 2022 head coaches is still mostly around, the 2021 and below names are few are far between, with several in the hot seat:
- 2022 – Lattanzio, Estevez, Cushing, Noonan, Rooney, Cherundolo remain; 7 vacated roles
- 2021 – Vanney, Sartini, Wolff, Mastroeni, and Pineda remain; 10 vacated roles
- 2020 – 12 coaches appointed; all vacated
- 2019 – Fraser and Arena remain; 16 vacated roles
- 2018 – Savarese remains; nine vacated roles
- 2017 and earlier – Heath, Schemtzer, Curtis, Vermes
Most at this point would agree, though, it would be true redemption to accomplish anything in 2023: with the Supporter’s Shield far out of reach and with the team eliminated out of 3 successive cups, Cherundolo and assistants Ante Razov and Marc dos Santos should be under heavy scrutiny from John Thorrington and right-hand man Marco Garces. The two could be seen in the empty stands above the benches in the Rose Bowl, witnesses to what most couldn’t see coming: a 2-goal 90-minute comeback in roughly 30 minutes of play.
Cherundolo points out concerns with officiating
The Penalty kick that started Monterrey’s unlikely comeback came after a VAR awarded a spot kick shot, converted in the 68th minute by Sergio Canales, the Spaniard, recently signed from La Liga to the already star-studded roster of Funes Mori and Jordi Cordizo, a player who came off the bench to completely destabilize the Black and Gold midfield and secure the win for the Rayados for 3 – 2.
So, as the whistle was blown, all eyes were on the officiating. And while it could have been seen as a factor, it cannot be pointed out as `the` reason why LAFC didn’t go through. “Officiating was a disaster tonight,” and “I wish my players wouldn’t react to the officiating so much.” — said an unphased-looking Steve Cherundolo in his post-game interview. Unfrazzled, Steve had the look of someone who looked like he was there to explain what all of us should have already known: his team isn’t built to compete at the top level of the continent and is far from being the best roster MLS has ever seen. We should be congratulating the Rayados for the continued effort to fight back against a lesser opponent, is what I got from that interview.
And it was. When the ball was rolling, the opponent had it 72% of the time (Sofascore) with goalkeeper John McCarthy having to deal with eight shots on goal. That will tire any defense and tax, no matter the midfield player. This, coupled with the organization conflicts around the venue’s selection should have put everyone on warning this wasn’t going to be easy especially against one of the most complete rosters in Latin America.
And with the repeated pattern of losses against what is believed to be superior teams to MLS Cress, there isn’t enough here to make the loss to the Rayados the officiating’s fault. That results from poor planning, which stripped the team of a much-needed home field and, to an extent, coaching, selling his team short in the locker room even before the ball started rolling.
A member of the 3252, the group of ultras who supports the Club by singing the entire 90 minutes of the there, said it well: “There’s a sense of frustration and disappointment with the 3 cup tournaments we’ve been knocked out, and how Dolo has managed all of it. We are loyal to the club and support the good and the bad. However, the loyalty isn’t blind, and we know there are some frustrating moments with the coaching, reminiscent of the protest in 2022.”
What’s to be seen is whether LAFC has enough in the tank to capture a CCL berth. Anything short of it could inevitably signal Thorrington that another change is needed beyond 2023.