TAKEAWAYS | It's A Long Way Down...
LAFC slump to a third straight defeat with a toothless performance in Portland.
Let’s play a game.
I’m going to show you a picture without context. I want you to tell me what happened next.
For those of you who sat through last night’s disappointing 2-0 loss in Portland, you’ll have some clues. But just pretend for a moment that you don’t know anything. You’re just looking at a picture of a situation. What do you think happened?
If we polled a hundred people, we’d probably get many of them saying a goal was scored. There’s a runway between Ilie Sánchez, Mario González, and the Timbers goal. At the very least, a vast majority is guessing Sánchez played González in on goal and he took a shot. It might have been a good save or a bad miss. But at least a shot occurred.
Wrong!
Nothing came of this play. The ball was played too far ahead of González’s path and it rolled harmlessly to Portland goalkeeper David Bingham.
And that one play sums up LAFC at this moment. A moment that finds them in the midst of a three-game losing streak, tenuously grasping onto the third spot in the West, and helplessly looking on as the top spot in the conference disappears over the horizon.
Here are the Takeaways from LAFC’s 2-0 loss in Portland:
Toothless Possession
Did you know MLS plays through international breaks? They do. Why? No one knows for certain.
But they do. And that left LAFC without its best player (no matter how you felt about his performance against Miami) Dénis Bouanga and a slew of other attacking options.
As a result, LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo had a problem to solve. Lacking his best threat behind the opponent’s backline, his team was clearly tasked with being patient and using possession to create chances.
It was in stark contrast to the “All Gas, No Brakes” side we saw against Miami – and not just because they didn’t create any big chances.
Whether it worked or not, this was the hand Cherundolo had to play. Had the Black & Gold attempted to run in transition every chance they got, they would have been better served banging their heads against a wall for 90 minutes. With that personnel on the pitch, it just wasn’t going to work.
Unfortunately, the possession strategy didn’t accomplish much other than a victory in one statistical column. The Black & Gold didn’t create a single big chance by my estimation. And Portland looked quite comfortable in the knowledge they could keep LAFC in front of them.
LAFC lacked conviction and confidence in its play aside from a couple of times Mateusz Bogusz braved a tight space to receive, turn, and run at the Portland defense (Vela tried a run off the back shoulder of the defense too but that was about it.).
The match was the epitome of how watching boring possession can drive you mad. Because LAFC wasn’t good. They also weren’t bad in the sense they had the ball for a majority of the game. But they did nothing with it. And while they made just a few mistakes, every mistake seemed to result in a goal for Portland.
That’s what happens when a team is low on confidence. I don’t know what the solution is. Maybe it's as simple as Bouanga returning refreshed and him dragging the rest of the team by his coattails. Or they need some serious soul-searching in that locker room.
Either way, while this “mid” brand of football is probably enough to get LAFC in the playoffs, they definitely aren’t going too far playing this way.
Another Miss
You don’t need me to tell you a Bouanga-sized hole in LAFC’s lineup is a problem. But another player was sorely missed as well.
Sure, he’s the highest-scoring defender in the last couple of seasons in MLS, but normally, you wouldn’t think that match was crying out for (no offense!) Ryan Hollingshead.
To reach that conclusion, you have to think of what Hollingshead provides LAFC further away from the opponent’s goal. His understanding with Carlos Vela of when to be wide and when to be tucked inside is an underrated part of LAFC’s possession and buildup structure.
Unlike Sergi Palencia, who is an excellent 1v1 defender and can hold his own getting forward down the touchline, Hollingshead is comfortable stepping into midfield to receive passes to unbalance and draw in opponents. And if LAFC was going to have a lot of the ball, they probably would have liked to have a player that asks questions of the opponent and frees Vela to pick his spots.
Without Hollingshead, LAFC attackers were forced to drop deep to help progress the ball in possession. And that was fine when they could receive and turn in a tight space but then who is ahead of the ball to make the run behind? Now you’re starting to get the picture of how important Hollingshead is to LAFC going forward.
Get Involved
The one player I would have liked to see drop off more to get involved in possession was Mario González.
Too often, it was Bogusz and Vela coming inside and deep from the wing to help LAFC progress the ball in possession. While they’re better playmakers, Portland seemed all too happy to let them try to navigate through a crowded midfield while its back four remained connected. And LAFC’s possession remained always in front of the Timbers, with little threat in the windows and holes behind the backline.
González needed to ask more questions of Portland’s center backs. He’s strong enough to hold up play, engage defenders, and let his teammates run off of him. But while he seemed willing to do that when LAFC needed an outlet deep in its own half, he was less involved once LAFC set up possession in the attacking third.
It could be that he was told to hold a high line to allow Bogusz and Vela to drop into the holes created. Or the spaces were too tight. Or the connections weren’t there the way they are when Bouanga is on the pitch – González has played just four times in the league and three of those starts were with Bouanga.
It’s something I talked about when he didn’t score but still had a role to play in the game. Ultimately, we’ll judge González on the goals he scores when all is said in done. But the great strikers also affect games when they aren’t scoring. He was simply a non-factor/no-show for this one.
One Game At A Time
The West is gone. Don’t even think about it.
Now, LAFC has to fight just to hold on to what it’s got.
After Miami, I was adamant that LAFC has the talent to repeat. And I still believe that on their day, there isn’t an MLS team (barring a Messi miracle) that can keep up with them.
Sadly, predicting when LAFC day will be is becoming a fool’s errand.
While it wouldn’t surprise you if they put it together one match and blew the doors off a team (fingers crossed it’s the next match), you wouldn’t bet on them to do it consistently or away from home. So, to even have a sliver of hope heading into the playoffs, LAFC needs to secure a top 4 spot in the West.
That’s the goal now. And it’s a long way from the heights LAFC nearly reached in the CCL final just a few months ago. This three-game losing streak is either the moment they bounce back or that eerie silence as you realize you’ve been falling so long you need to catch your breath before screaming again as you plunge deeper into the chasm of MLS mediocrity.
It’s a long way down…
Things I thought I’d never type:
My son’s FC Dallas team scored more and allowed fewer goals this weekend than we have over our last two games.
And now I’m going to go shower.
This game was so bereft of ideas and effort by LAFC that Diego Palacios couldn’t even be bothered to work himself into a yellow card.