After finding their fifth win in a row last weekend in Salt Lake City, LAFC headed home for a quick two-game homestand in four days. First up on Saturday night was their first ever meeting with Charlotte FC who were sitting near the bottom of the eastern conference following three losses in their previous four matches. Surprisingly, Charlotte FC Head Coach Christian Lattanzio decided to bench his captain and designated player Christian Fuchs against one of the most potent attacks in the league. LAFC was without Giorgio Chiellini and Gareth Bale due to load management, but both designated players, Carlos Vela and Brian Rodríguez started in a solid lineup regardless.
Game Summary
Charlotte FC started on the front foot by dominating possession and pushing LAFC back into a defensive position. Harrison Afful was blocked five minutes in before Yordy Reyna forced a diving save out of Maxime Crépeau after fifteen minutes. LAFC then began to find their feet about a minute later when Carlos Vela found a streaking Brian Rodríguez who nearly scored a wonder goal. His final touch was once again lacking however as he got the best of LAFC’s chances while the Black and Gold dominated the following fifteen minutes. The home side produced nine shots in that time but only two ended up on target. Chance creation was no issue. It was the final product that left a lot to be desired in the first forty-five.
At halftime, LAFC Head Coach Steve Cherundolo asked his team to sharpen up, telling them that once the first goal came, it would unlock Charlotte FC’s deep block and open the floodgates. That is exactly what we saw as the Black and Gold resolved their lack of finishing quality in the second forty-five. Under four minutes into the half, Diego Palacios found himself in space about 40-yards from goal following a corner and picked out a world-class pass over the top for Jesús Murillo who had floated in behind, untracked after the corner by the Charlotte FC defenders. Murillo made no mistake, heading the inch-perfect pass across the goal, into the back of the net to break the deadlock. Palacios nearly recorded two assists in as many minutes as he found a cut-back for Brian Rodríguez but again the final product for Rayito was missing. José Cifuentes had no such problem ten minutes later as he doubled the Black and Gold lead, volleying Carlos Vela’s tipped corner into an empty net after Kristijan Kahlina, the Charlotte FC goalkeeper, attempted to get a hand on the cross. Cifuentes reacted calmly, without celebration before Murillo tackled him with excitement, sparking a dogpile of black and gold jerseys. Cifuentes’ calmness struck again in the 73rd minute when Mahala Opoku won the ball for him in the center circle. He immediately picked up his head and played a dink-pass, nearly identical to Palacios for the opener, just over the head of jumping Charlotte FC center-back Jan Sobociński for Carlos Vela running in behind. Instead of Murillo from close range with his head, Vela from further out took it down with the outside of his left boot, and passed it into the net for a 3-0 LAFC lead. Vela was immediately taken off the pitch for Franco Escobar as the result was secured, which forced LAFC to shift. Hollingshead switched responsibility from a defensive fullback to a hybrid midfielder. Defensively he became a wing-back in a back five, while in possession he moved into midfield rotating with Latif Blessing at the 8. It was a fascinating wrinkle from Steve Cherundolo to implement despite being up 3-0. There is no place for complacency. The coaching staff is always searching for new tactical approaches. It worked immediately as two minutes after being subbed on (and only three minutes after Vela scored), Escobar found an assist by bombing forward down the right side, overlapping Hollinsghead. Opoku began the counter by winning the ball at midfield and led Blessing into space. Surely he was playing the ball to Hollingshead at the top of the box but it was Ryan’s awareness to dummy the pass, leaving it for the overlapping run of Escobar, that opened up the space for Franco to put it on a platter in the six-yard box for Chicho Arango to record his 10th goal in his last 11 games. Chicho Arango has been the definition of “in form” for a couple of months now. Maxime Crépeau made a big save in the 87th minute to ensure his clean sheet before LAFC found the fifth in stoppage time thanks to an own goal. It started with Crépeau who hit it long to Opoku who was inexplicably unchallenged for his flick-on header in the center circle. He put it over the Charlotte FC back line once again to send Latif Blessing sprinting at Kahlina 1v1. Blessing’s shot was straight at the Charlotte FC goalkeeper, but the rebound pinballed off center-back Anton Walkes and into the net as he slid after it. The Supporters’ Shield leaders secured a franchise record sixth win on the bounce in style, scoring five in the league for the first time this season.
Looking Good
This team is beginning to break records. As mentioned moments ago, the Black and Gold set a franchise record against Charlotte FC on Saturday night with six consecutive wins, and with DC United (bottom of the east) and San Jose Earthquakes (second-bottom in the west) as their next two opponents, it seems quite likely that streak extends to eight. Win-streaks are special in every sport and league in the world, but to put into perspective how rare these types of streaks are in MLS, if LAFC are able to extend the streak to eight games it would constitute the 6th longest winning streak in MLS history by any team. (For anyone curious LA Galaxy hold the #1 and #2 spots in this category with win streaks of 15 games in ‘97-98 and 12 games in ‘96 respectively). This is the first indication of just how good this 2022 LAFC team is. The second indication is the points tally. LAFC now have the second most points (54) through 24 matches of an MLS season ever, only behind their own record of 55 points at this stage in 2019. Of course, Chiellini and Bale are still yet to be fully integrated into the starting XI whie brand new DP Dennis Bouanga hasn’t even arrived. The potential for this squad is higher than any in MLS history. There is no reason to put limits on what they can accomplish. Just sit back and enjoy.
The other main component of enjoyment against Charlotte FC on Saturday night, besides the five goals, was the fact that all five goals were scored by a different player. This fluidity and ability from all over the pitch is what leads to an MLS-leading 15 different goalscorers on the season. Though Hollinsghead didn’t score against Charlotte, his game and overall ability as a player is a perfect example of this philosophy. As discussed in the game summary he started the game as a right-sided fullback in a back four but once Escobar came on for Vela his position shifted dramatically. This ability to have a player who has been focused on defensive responsibility for 75 minutes, and doing it well I might add, to easily switch tactical ideas to a position that isn’t easily defined while involving himself in a goal (even if he may not be on the scoresheet) is why some argue it’s unfair to compare Steve Cherundolo to other MLS coaches. The weapons he has at his disposal are more dangerous than the opponent. Even if another MLS coach wanted to try this, they might not have the option. I would argue that not many MLS coaches would even come up with these ideas. Regardless, it is only possible due to the high football IQ of Ryan Hollingshead which Cherundolo alluded to postgame when I asked him about the shift, adding that Hollingshead “can play in the middle, he can play up top, he can play anywhere really!” and that created havoc doing so against Charlotte.
Areas for Improvement
Attacking set pieces need to be finished off. In the first half hour against Charlotte, LAFC had three free headers directly from set pieces that they were unable to finish. Obviously, it didn’t end up mattering, but as is often the case in this section, it’s an area that will become of increased importance when it matters, in the playoffs. LAFC are a transition team which not only creates a lot of exciting goals but it means that in the short period of time following the successful defense of a set piece, whether it is LAFC defending or attacking, LAFC are in a better shape. However, this shouldn’t be misconstrued as LAFC being successful directly from set pieces. For example, the first goal of the night against Charlotte was a result of Charlotte being out of shape following the clearance of a corner and Palacios identified the space Murillo was drifting into unmarked. Defending the corner however, was no issue for Charlotte. They cleared the initial corner easily. This is where I believe LAFC needs to improve. According to fbref, LAFC are near the upper end of MLS when it comes to shot-creating actions (SCA) from dead balls (corners, free kicks, throw-ins, kickoffs, and goal kicks), creating nearly 50 of these chances this season but have only converted two. Most teams are at least double that on fewer chances. Meanwhile, over 50 goals are coming from about 360 open-play SCA. These are complicated statistics, but the upshot is that LAFC are much more effective from open play, which makes sense considering they are a transition team, but they’re also one of the worst at converting set pieces chances. It will never be a strength of LAFC since the team’s aerial duel win rate is still below 50%, but scoring directly from attacking set pieces should certainly be a focus moving forward.
Player Ratings
Crépeau: 8
Palacios: 8.5
Segura: 7.5
Murillo: 8.5
Hollingshead: 8.5
Sánchez: 7.5
Cifuentes: 9.5 (MOTM)
Rodríguez: 7.5
Arango: 8
Vela: 8.5
Opoku: 8
Blessing: 7.5
Mendez: 6.5
Escobar: 8
Fall: 6.5
Acosta : 8
