TAKEAWAYS | When A Draw Feels Like A Win?

LAFC earn a last-gasp point thanks to Dénis Bouanga's 95th-minute equalizer.

For the first time in 2024, LAFC finished consecutive matches with a similar result.

Two draws. A point apiece. Two very different feelings.

Saturday night was a draw that felt like a win. Ten minutes in, LAFC were down a goal. The Black & Gold didn’t take a shot from open play until the 57th minute. They didn’t deserve anything from the match. Yet, somehow, they came back from a deficit twice to snatch a point with a 95th-minute equalizer.

The same 2-2 result wasn’t celebrated just a week ago in Portland. Again, LAFC wiped out a deficit on two occasions in the match. But playing with a man advantage for nearly the entire second half left a sour taste in our mouths.

Perception is everything.

Here are the Takeaways from LAFC’s 2-2 draw with the New York Red Bulls:

Inverting The Pyramid

The start of the match was a disaster for LAFC. The Red Bulls controlled the ball and the tempo from the opening kickoff despite being the away side. LAFC were left to chase Red Bull shadows and little else.

In the span of three minutes, it went from bad to worse. The Red Bulls ripped open LAFC with a blistering counterattack. Aaron Long saved a goal but couldn’t save himself - the momentum of his last-ditch slide slammed into the base of the goalpost. LAFC was down a starting center back, and then down a goal. Long was still hobbling off the field when his replacement Eddie Segura headed the resulting corner kick into his own net in the eighth minute.

In the lead, the Red Bulls were content with possession. They didn’t create much in the form of shots on goal, but they didn’t need to as they turned up the pressure on LAFC with a suffocating counterpress.  

If Steve Cherundolo had not tweaked his team’s shape around the 30th minute, this match might have been over before halftime.

The problem stemmed from the positioning of Timothy Tillman and Mateusz Bogusz ahead of Ilie Sánchez in midfield. From the snapshot above, you see Tillman and Bogusz tasked with pressing Frankie Amaya and Daniel Edelman in the middle of the Red Bulls’ 4-2-4 shape. 

But already a goal up, Amaya and Edelman had little desire to take any chances on the ball. They were decoys in a sense, happy to assist the Red Bull backline in outnumbering LAFC’s front three, and with Tillman and Bogusz pressing forward on the midfield pair, it left Ilie with a huge area to cover alone in front of the LAFC backline. 

That became a bigger problem when the wide players in the Red Bulls’s front line of four came inside. Even if it wasn’t easy to play into the feet of those players between the lines, the Red Bulls dictated the match by sending targeted balls over the top from deep areas and converging with a numerical superiority in the middle to win second balls.  

Behind a goal and starved of the ball, Cherundolo provided his team a solution to break the Red Bulls’ hold on the match by inverting his midfield three - an adjustment he’s implemented to change games in the past. 

The results were immediate.

Instead of two midfielders doing little in front of a loan anchor, Tillman dropped back to partner Ilie in the middle with Bogusz staying in an advanced position. The change gave Bogusz the freedom to pick his moments and angles to get forward. 

LAFC’s press became less predictable. The Red Bulls’ backline had less time on the ball. The accuracy of their passes over the top declined. While behind Bogusz, Tillman and Ilie worked in tandem to cover space and win loose balls. 

Cherundolo’s tactical change shifted the momentum. LAFC possessed more of the ball and dictated more of the match.  And not a moment too soon.

A True No. 9

Since the start of the season, the front three of Dénis Bouanga, Mateusz Bogusz, and Cristina Olivera have been the standard. It took nine matches and Eduard Atuesta’s yellow card accumulation to force a change. The results? A work in progress.

Kei Kamara, the third leading scorer in MLS history, stepped into the central role of the front three against the Red Bulls, replacing Bogusz. Kamara is the prototypical, “true” No. 9. He engages the opponent's center backs high up the pitch, he can play with his back to goal, and he’s an aerial threat. It’s a stark contrast to Bogusz’s “false 9” role and it showed.

“Kei is still getting used to our system. It’s always nice to get a start and settle down. I think he showed what he can bring us. It’s a presence in the box, it’s a target on set pieces, and he did hold the ball up for us a few times where we could move our lines forward,” Cherundolo said after the match. “But it’s going to take time for everyone to get used to. That profile of player, we haven’t had here. These things take time. 

“It’s night and day between him and Mati as far as how they play and what the team is looking for. We were sure that wouldn’t be at 100 percent yet, but we were quite pleased with Kei. Obviously, we’ll keep trying to perfect that.”

The trio of Kamara, Bougana, and Olivera were on the pitch together for 70 minutes. The trio didn’t register a single shot from open play between them during that time - although Bouanga did earn and convert a penalty in the 69th minute. Making room for the fact it was their first start together, I still have concerns about how the pieces fit.

In Bouanga and Olivera, LAFC has two direct players that, in theory, can run off Kamara. It’s “in theory” because when you look at LAFC’s passes into the final third against NYRB (courtesy of @mlsstat on X), very few are being played centrally to Kamara. In the eight matches prior, Bogusz was in that role dropping deep to receive. Kamara positions himself higher up the pitch, and finding the angles and windows to vary those passes takes more than 70 minutes. 

However, a worrying theme this season has been the lack of end product from Bouanga and Olivera on the ball. Both are individualist and high usage - ie the play usually ends with them via a shot or turnover. They thrive in taking on defenders and running into space to finish. What they don’t do is link up with teammates. 

If Bouanga and Olivera are going to play off Kamara - and Giroud in the summer - they’ll need to recognize the moments to release the ball. Here’s a great example against Red Bull:

Bouanga craves that space in behind the opponent’s back line. His first… second, third, and maybe fourth instinct is always to dribble. But with two players engaging him, it’s not always the best option. He can still get behind the defense though. Bouanga just has to play this ball earlier to Ryan Hollingshead. 

Timing is everything. Bouanga is no stranger to double teams. But he still hasn’t added when to release the ball to his game. When you have a false 9 like Bogusz playing you through from deep areas, you know you’re going to have to go on your own. Kamara provides a different solution. Bouanga has to recognize there will be a presence in the box to work with going forward. Olivera will have to do the same on the other side.

Calming Presence At The Back

While it might take time to learn to play with Kei Kamara, another newcomer to LAFC’s lineup had a seamless transition.

Maxime Chanot partnered Aaron Long in the LAFC backline for the first time this season. And while game state played a factor, it wasn’t a coincidence that LAFC had its biggest possession advantage of the season.*

*- the only match LAFC had more possession by percentage was against a 10-man Portland team.

Chanot was a calming presence all match for LAFC. After the final whistle, it wasn’t a surprise that many players made a beeline to thank the French center back for his efforts on Saturday night.

LAFC looked a different team building from the back with Chanot. The center back displayed a calmness and economy of touches when moving the ball. His ability to play forward while under pressure, allowed Tillman and Ilie the freedom to step up into the next phase, keeping LAFC team connected across the pitch.

It wasn’t only Chanot’s comfort on the ball. After playing a pass, Chanot gesticulated in the direction of the next pass on numerous occasions. He was both a safety valve for teammates and a director. It’s no wonder LAFC fans were comparing Chanot’s calm distribution to Giorgio Chiellini after the match.