Cherundolo's LAFC cannot win in Texas

On Saturday, Twitter broke down with the man in charge making unexpected changes. The organization has been in a downturn recently but despite pressure mounting to turn the slump around, they just keep taking losses.

Sorry, did I say Twitter? I meant LAFC.

Following the 2-0 loss in Frisco on Saturday night, the Black and Gold have lost seven of their last ten matches in all competitions. LAFC started the season by accruing 25 points in their first 12 matches — good enough to get to the top of the Western Conference with a game in hand after matchday 14. Since then, the reigning MLS Cup champions have added only six points over the last seven matches.

Cherundolo’s Texas Curse

In that seven-game span, Texas teams have handed LAFC three of their four losses by a 7-0 aggregate score. When the Black and Gold are forced to travel to the Lone Star State. results get even worse. Under Steve Cherundolo, LAFC has taken zero points from five matches in Texas, losing by an aggregate score of 14-4. Former manager Bob Bradley had an impressive 4-1-3 record in Texas during his four seasons in charge of LAFC.

“[We] just didn’t defend a throw-in and that’s big,” Cherundolo offered as a reason for the loss. “I can’t recall any other chance other than the goal late from Dallas. That’s it and unfortunately, that was enough to beat us tonight.”

However, on the other end of the pitch, LAFC struggled as well, creating only three shots on target from 60% possession. Though their 1.1xG was superior to the home side’s 0.9xG, both are meager sums indicating the sluggish game flow. Temperatures approaching 90 degrees in Frisco ahead of kickoff may explain the lethargic performance — though there's been generally poor form Cherundolo’s LAFC across the miles and miles of Texas.

“I don’t think there’s excuses,” Ryan Hollingshead said of the squad’s poor Texas form. “You can talk about the heat and the humidity and all those things but I don’t think that’s right.” 

As a former FC Dallas player for nearly a decade, Hollingshead knows the effect heat can have on players and would be honest if he saw it. So is there any other explanation? Kellyn Acosta, joining LAFC at the beginning of the 2022 season with Hollinghsead, has also dealt with the Black and Gold's Texas struggles while being a former FC Dallas player. He thinks credit should be given to opponents.

“Over the years that we’ve been here, teams have played us extremely well,” Acosta pointed out. “Dallas is a well-coached team that was able to capitalize on their chances. Last year, we had some struggles as well here in Austin and Houston as well earlier in the year.”

Whatever the reason may be, LAFC will have one more chance to win in Texas during the regular season when they visit Austin for the penultimate match of the season on Oct. 7. Cherundolo may have that date circled with the goal of breaking his Texas curse.

Reliant on Bouanga

It is no coincidence that the poor run of form for LAFC coincided with the poor run of form for Dénis Bouanga. On May 21, LAFC sat top of the Western Conference while preparing for a U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 clash with rivals LA Galaxy, with a massive Concacaf Champions League final looming. The team was flying.

Why? Bouanga.

Up until that point, LAFC had played 19 matches in all competitions. Bouanga participated in 18 of them, scoring 19 goals and assisting another five. During the recent 10-game drought, however, Bouanga has played seven of the matches, only scoring twice.

“We just didn’t create enough and weren’t clinical in the couple chances we did create to do something.” Hollingshead correctly analyzed after Saturday’s loss. Bouanga had the most opportunities on the night, racking up six shots and two on target through 0.64 xG. Bogusz created the best chance of the game from a free kick which forced a reaction save from Maarten Paes. It was Bogusz’s only shot on target from five attempts, accounting for 0.04 of his 0.33 xG on the night.

The match showcased the current LAFC predicament. Bouanga can try to carry the team but it will not work in the long run. Carlos Vela has only scored three league goals from open play all season (with another three coming from the penalty spot) while Bogusz, Stipe Biuk, and Mahala Opoku each have two league goals, with none having more than two assists. Neither the co-star nor the supporting cast has sufficiently helped Bouanga in 2023. With the secondary MLS transfer window opening on Wednesday, it might be time for the LAFC front office to use its open designated player spot find Bouanga that much-needed support.

Another quick turnaround

Finally, LAFC got some positive injury news on Saturday. From Acosta returning from injury to an update on goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau, all injury updates included improvement.

“They’re in the early stages of their recovery and coming back into finding their match fitness,” Cherundolo shared regarding Tillman and Acosta. “Those are very important players so it’s great to have them back at least for a half tonight but it's unfortunately the reality that we’re in right now that we can only use guys for half of games and can’t plan for 90 minutes — and it’s a little bit of a sticky situation so hopefully they remain healthy. That’s our plan and we will do everything in our power regarding loading in training and games to enable them to have a steady comeback so they can get back to their old selves.”

José Cifuentes was a late scratch after not being listed on the injury report, but again, Cherundolo assured Cifuentes was absent due to “loading purposes” rather than any injury concern. With that confirmation, LAFC will be heading into Tuesday’s El Trafico at the Rose Bowl with a full complement of midfielders for the first time since the CCL final.

As if the injury updates needed a cherry on top, Cherundolo shared that Crépeau — who broke his leg in last season's MLS Cup — is “getting better” without going into further detail.

This is good news for LAFC fans who just watched a fatigued team lose in Dallas. The midweek rest was expected to help LAFC in terms of fitness, and it has in terms of injuries, but the team's low energy levels were obvious in Frisco. 

“Extremely fatigued, it was our 29th game of the season,” Cherundolo said of his team. “I think everybody can understand what that means at this stage already on the first of July. It’s a lot of games. I’m not sure any other club has had that many games in the history of MLS up until July 1st so a lot of games. Fatigue has set in which is normal.”