TAKEAWAYS | Work To Be Done
LAFC's slow start continues with another goalless performance in a 2-0 loss at Minnesota.
The Takeaways are a little later than usual today. I wanted to take the time to rewatch the match to give you an in-depth analysis of what went wrong.
This week, I’ve got some clips! (I had to get creative because Apple TV doesn’t allow screen recording.)
So, I hope you’ll forgive this arriving in your inbox a few hours late.
Anyway, let’s not waste any more time and get right into the Takeaways from LAFC’s 2-0 loss in Minnesota:
Go Slow To Go Fast
It’s been over 300 minutes since LAFC has scored. THREE HUNDRED MINUTES! So, you can imagine how fans reacted initially to watching LAFC labor through another scoreless 90 minutes in Minnesota.
“The team is too slow. They don’t know what they’re doing. The players aren’t connecting/don’t fit together. The team is too dependent on Dénis Bouanga scoring.”
It’s fair to attribute any of those statements to LAFC right now. I’ve taken the liberty of coalescing all these fan sentiments into a visual form that I think we can all agree on:
From a more technical standpoint, LAFC looks like a team without ideas. Or maybe more accurately, LAFC lacks a collective idea of how to play with the ball. Last season, LAFC leaned heavily into playing in transition. When thinking about transition, think of it on a spectrum with possession at the opposite end. Transition is the moment in a match, usually after a turnover, when the opponent’s defense isn’t set. A team in offensive transition attacks as the opponent attempts to get back into its defensive posture or shape. On the opposite end is possession. The opponent is set in its ideal shape and the attacking team needs to break down that shape.
Transition and possession situations (coaches will refer to them as “phases”) occur countless times for each team in a match - don’t get caught up in thinking playing one way is better than the other. Great teams are good in both phases because the game is fluid and will switch phases for both teams throughout the 90 minutes. But by the nature of how an opponent’s defense is structured during each phase, there are different solutions teams employ.
A defense scrambling into position during transition is a space and time problem. The attacking team has space to exploit but needs to do so before the defense is set again. Attacking quickly and directly at dangerous areas is going to be the best route to success in transition. You can start to see why LAFC enjoys this phase with a team comprised of quick players that put opponents under pressure with the ball at their feet. That freedom to freestyle depending on the spaces available, suites the likes of Bouanga, Cristian Olivera, Timothy Tillman, and Mateusz Bogusz, all players with pace on and off the ball and excellent dribbling.
Possession is more of a puzzle. Space and time are still a factor but neither is readily available. In its ideal defensive shape, the opponent is looking to cut off access to dangerous areas of the pitch through proximity. In other words, defenders are already occupying areas that attackers want to be in to score. The attacking team has to find a way to move them to create space and time on the ball.
Now, back to the match in Minnesota.
There are no secrets in this league. Teams have access to copious amounts of data and game tape. Every team has a pretty good idea of how the opponent wants to play before a match kicks off. Even in his first match as Minnesota’s head coach, Eric Ramsay would have been very aware of LAFC’s penchant for playing in transition last season and to start this season. Ramsay’s job was to set out a game plan to nullify those strengths, so here is what he did:
This is a snapshot from the 9th minute of the match. But it really could have been a carbon copy of many other images throughout the 90 minutes. With their coach’s instructions still fresh in their minds just after kickoff, it’s clear Minnesota was going to flood the middle third of the pitch and allow LAFC to possess in their half.
Notice the front line of Minnesota in the image. They’re dropping off the LAFC center backs and almost into midfield. There are six Loons players in a block congesting the middle of the pitch. Minnesota was happy to let LAFC’s center backs have time on the ball. Aaron Long and Jesus Murillo aren’t known for their incisive passing and Minnesota wasn’t going to take any chances by stretching itself and opening easy passing lanes into the midfield.
The Minnesota game plan was clear: we’ll let you have the ball. The Loons dared the LAFC center backs to play into their central block, risking a turnover in a dangerous area. Or LAFC could try to exploit the Loon’s high defensive line. But notice the orientation of the defenders in the clip. Each of them has their hips parallel to the touchline, they’re already in a position to sprint towards their goal to any ball over the top. And this simple plan thwarted LAFC throughout much of the night.
That’s where the disappointment lies for me. LAFC lacked ideas and solutions with the ball. There are a couple of ways you can beat a set defense. You can pass quickly to shift them or pick up dangerous positions to receive the ball. Both choices force the opponent to react. They can only cover so much of the pitch at one time. When done with purpose, the opponent has to adjust its shape to cover and that’s when other spaces open up.
And while this problem begins in possession, it’s not necessarily that LAFC can’t do it because the team is built to thrive in transition. Transition-like moments can be created using possession. Here’s an example:
Unlike the photo above, LAFC sits a bit deeper here. They attract Minnesota’s front block forward and to the far side before quickly shifting the ball across the backline to the near side. Ryan Hollingshead positions himself to receive to the outside and beyond Minnesota’s block. When he receives the ball, he’s already between the lines and has the time and space to force the Minnesota backline into retreat to compensate. It’s a “mini-transition” or an “engineered transition” attack from LAFC. In a couple of passes and through smart positioning, LAFC has gone from possession against a set defense to a phase of play they thrive in.
While the play doesn’t come off in the end - HH should have probably played into Ilie Sanchez to open up the field and more options instead of rushing the moment to Bouanga - it’s an example of what LAFC was so good at starting in 2022 and through large parts of 2023. It can be done. Transition-heavy teams can use possession to their strengths.
But LAFC’s approach was lethargic at best. Their passing lacked conviction and tempo. The analogy I used (somewhat poorly) on the Happy Foot, Sad Foot Postgame Reaction was that LAFC rarely attempted to put in the quarter to start the merry-go-round. What I meant was the Black & Gold didn’t seem able to play the first pass or passes that would get the opponent moving, allowing LAFC to get into its rhythm of rotations and combinations to pull Minnesota apart.
Ultimately, that’s the problem for LAFC and the solution Steve Cherundolo needs to find for his players. LAFC thrives in transition. I know it, you know it, everyone in MLS knows it. And that’s ok! What LAFC can’t fall into is an unwillingness to use possession as a tool at times to get into the areas and phases of play that it prefers. They’re trying to skip steps right now and hope that the transition moments that naturally occur in matches will save them. It did throughout huge parts of last season when everything Bouanga touched went into the back of the next. But this season, LAFC has to get back to playing and going through the gears with the ball before going fast. If they continue to go all gas, no brakes they’re likely to continue hitting a wall.
The False 9 Isn’t The Problem
It’s very easy to say a team needs a true 9 after it hasn’t scored in three matches. And if you’re saying that about LAFC right now, you might not be wrong. But what if I told you that a better false 9 might be the answer (at least for now)?
First off, let’s get some things straight. The use of a false 9 isn’t the deficiency some people would have you believe. It’s a solution for teams that, like LAFC, have wide forwards that come inside and are the primary scorers (see: Dénis Bouanga 2023). The role of the false 9 is to drop into midfield to receive the ball, opening space for the wide forwards to arrive in or be played into, preferably by the false 9.
The ideal false 9 profile is a player who is comfortable coming into the midfield, receiving the ball, turning upfield, and using the ball at their feet to create. And of course, when the opportunity arises, they can finish plays themselves with a goal.
Now, that sounds a lot like Mateusz Bogusz. Against Seattle in the opening game of the season, he was a bit of a surprise in the starting 11 as the false 9. But he used all those attributes to lead LAFC to victory on the day. However, he’s been mostly anonymous since that match.
The problem a false 9 faces is that when the team isn’t scoring, everyone wants to replace them with a true 9 that only scores. But where Bogusz really struggled this game was in his ability to set up his teammates.
Down a goal, Bogusz had two instances with the ball at his feet where he could have asked some serious questions of the Minnesota defense:
In both instances, Bogusz drops into the pocket of space between Minnesota’s backline and defense. Both times he has time and space to pick a pass. Both times, he gets it wrong.
Bogusz has to get those passes right. He’s in the right place at the right time and his team needs him in those moments. If he’s just a little sharper, it’s a different game.
Both Things Can Be True
Here are two statements for you:
The LAFC starting 11 is good enough to win games.
This LAFC team lacks depth.
I think both these statements are true. Which is to say, there are a lot of reasons for LAFC’s slow start.
Adding a couple of new players isn’t going to instantly solve anything. And the lack of moves from the front office shouldn’t absolve the players and coaching staff, either. Both the roster and the play on the pitch have left a lot to be desired.
LAFC is just four games into the season. The primary transfer window is open for another month. It’s not time to panic. But it’s reasonable to want to see a reaction. The optimism that permeated this team and its supporters in preseason and after the win against Seattle is gone at this match - even if you rightfully cut LAFC some slack after the snow game.
We’re week to week now. I’m sure I don’t have to tell them something they don’t already know. But it’s time to show us something, LAFC.
Thank you Vince for taking the extra time for this analysis. Much appreciated from someone that’s trying to raise his football IQ
One thing that has been bothering me since the snow game is this team seem to be lacking some Grit? I could be wrong but that last two games haven’t been that inspiring to watch. Maybe it’s the high turnover in the locker room and a few veterans that pushed the team to excellence have left and the team is trying to figure out new leaders. IDK
I do know our starting VI have talent and would be starters on any other team in the MLS. It’s tough to see us come out slow in the beginning of the season when that’s when we are usually the strongest
Keep up the good work - looking forward to your next column
It doesn't matter how you explained it! Or how many positions changes players have, The main issue to me and I been saying since we lost CCL to Leon, Steve Cherundolo is the issue , not the players! Steve is married to one idea and one idea only, he likes certain players and won't give others players a true chance to display their a qualities, biggest example was Filip Krastev, every time he came off the bench did better than Bogusz and Buik or Ordaz or Dueñas and Tillman, but was give very little opportunity to play! Like Vince say, teams can figure out how the rival and adjust to limit their ability , well! it seems that teams have figured out LAFC. but LAFC seems to lack the ability to figure them out!, and it is on Steve Cherundolo to do that!..is going to to be a long season, if the LAFC don't get quality players to bail Steve out, I strongly believe Steve is a very good motivator and very nice person but I am also convinced that he lacks the qualities of a good tactical and analytical coach, and he is too dependable on quality established players and their leadership in the pitch to pull the team thru! time will tell, but at this moment the teams lacks work and is very disorganized, player are making too many mistakes with wrong decisions and terrible passing and that a sign of lack of work and practice and it reflects directly into the coaches lack of work or ideas!