LOS ANGELES – League newcomers LAFC have had about as smooth a run-up to expansion as imaginable. They’ve sparked a passionate fan base in a tricky market. They’ve got a downtown stadium nearly complete. They’ve built a roster full of international talent and they’ve landed one of the most respected coaches in the US game.
It would be incorrect to say the real work is now beginning, but the expansion side is certainly entering a new phase on Sunday with their first-ever league match, identity already in place.
“From the beginning LAFC set out to be a club that connected with the heart of LA, that understood the diversity of the city, that made sure that we could be a team that people could look at and feel part of, and be proud of,” manager Bob Bradley said after training Wednesday at UCLA. “I think everyone that’s been part of LAFC from the beginning has done an incredible job of building momentum.”
That mounting pace is something players have attributed to the familial effort at the club, something that began before the roster even had any names and has accelerated as personnel has been added.
Today, we Make History. pic.twitter.com/be2iT7W1OO
— LAFC (@LAFC) March 4, 2018
“The thing that I’ve noticed the most is that it’s a real family atmosphere from the top to the bottom, from the players to the staff to the front office, to the ownership,” said veteran midfielder Benny Feilhaber. “I think that’s been as good as it can get.”
They even announced Wednesday that they’ve already sold out season ticket memberships, a robust 17,500.
But that’s all been off the field.
LAFC’s inaugural MLS season awaits at CenturyLink Field this Sunday against the Seattle Sounders (5 pm ET; ESPN, ESPN Deportes in US | MLS LIVE on DAZN in Canada) where it will be the club’s velocity on the field that's under the microscope.
Joao Moutinho was selected No. 1 overall in the 2018 SuperDraft | Andy Mead
“We do the hard running in the final third of the field and try to get there quickly,” left back Joao Moutinho said when asked to explain the club’s identity on the pitch. “When we lose the ball, we get pressure on our opponents and try to get the ball back as soon as possible.”
Quickness has been one marker that’s stuck out during LAFC’s preseason. Fast passing, speedy movement and rapid transitions on the offensive end saw the expansion side create 56 shots across the four exhibition matches, 29 of them on goal (their combined opponents produced only 33 shots with 17 on goal).
“In football there is all kinds of speed,” Bradley said when asked if quickness has been something he’s focused on in training. “There’s the speed of thought, the speed of reaction, and there is pure speed in terms of getting by people, so we want to have all those.”
Bradley emphasized that the most important thing for his team to cultivate is an ability to adjust to whatever shape a match will take, a comprehensive identity the manager’s veteran leader in the midfield, Feilhaber, identified as well.
“It is evident Bob wants a team that plays from the back to the front,” Feilhaber said. “We’re going to play good football, possess, be good on the attack, and defend as a unit.”
Creating a team like that, however, will take more than speed and shots on goal.
“That includes intelligence,” Bradley added. “That doesn’t mean that you just start running around, running forward, and leaving the team wide open.”
For the emphasis on speed, LAFC’s vulnerabilities have been also exposed during their four preseason matches, where they scored eight and conceded seven goals. The team’s only shutout came thanks to some goalkeeping heroics on the part of Tyler Miller last weekend against the USL’s Sacramento Republic FC. Even without injured forward Jordan Morris, one expects a team of Seattle’s caliber to capitalize on those kinds of chances.
“We’re definitely a team that wants to keep possession of the ball, find spaces, and move intelligently,” rookie Moutinho said, echoing his manager’s focus on the mental side of the game.
It was Moutinho, selected as the first pick in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft, who gave LAFC their first victory last Sunday, after he received the ball from Carlos Vela and surged forward to slot the game winner into the far post in the 60th minute at Papa Murphy’s Park in Sacramento.
“I definitely feel like we are on a good moment to start the season,” the defender said, visibly excited, like many of the traveling LAFC contingent, for the club’s trip to Seattle.
Moutinho spoke to the cohesion of the current group of LAFC players, which for their opener won’t yet include their latest signing, Colombian midfielder Eduard Atuesta, as he waits for paperwork to clear. The third Designated Player slot remains vacant going into the season, keeping the club’s roster — like Banc of California Stadium — a work in progress.
LAFC training | Courtesy of LAFC
“We’re still a product that’s being built,” Feilhaber said, standing beside his rookie teammate and tempering his eagerness. “We’re not complete, we all know that we’re not complete. We’re still improving, we’re adding players, changing day by day, week by week.”
Bradley, who has been quick to caution reporters who read too much into exhibition results throughout preseason, agreed.
“You have to have this idea and it’s got to be worked on every day. Preseason games help with that picture, and then obviously what really needs to happen is that you get into real matches. The picture changes slightly when you bring in new players. There are still players to arrive, so that will maybe, in small ways, impact what the team is all about but the big picture of how we want to play, I don’t think will change.”
It’s not easy for Bradley — or anyone at LAFC — to boil down what, exactly, that big picture on-field product will be in a definitive sense.
“You have a vision of a club that’s a real people’s club that connects with the heart and soul of the city,” Bradley said. “That part is rolling but you can’t do that to create momentum and then all of the sudden you start playing and let that get away from you.”
Bradley’s adjusts his hat. The black cap is dusty, featuring a gold ring formed by the dirt and sweat accumulated during the weeks of preseason. He rejects any advantage LAFC has, given Seattle’s CONCACAF Champions League contest Thursday night, reiterates their credentials as two-time defending Western Conference Champions, and explains that the time to talk about identity is over for now.
“When all is said and done, it’s the first game of the season. Both teams are going to put eleven on the field. The ref is going to blow the whistle and it’s going to be a chance to show, for the first time, everybody a little of what LAFC wants to be.”
