From LAFC's slump to Orlando's tested credentials, we're back to take a look at the biggest talking points from the MLS weekend that was. Let's get straight into it.
LAFC looked like world-beaters for most of the 2024 campaign up to this point, but the cooling down period since losing the Leagues Cup final in heartbreak fashion has been alarming.
The star-studded side have dropped points in five straight games, losing three of those, and it hasn't been bad lucked that has plagued them. At times they have looked like a sieve in defense, but more the more worrying trend has been the apparent lack of energy.
Before the pause for the Leagues Cup in August, LAFC were bona fide Supporters Shield contenders, and now they are one more bad weekend away from slipping all the way to 7th in the Western Conference. You wouldn't put past this group of players to click back into gear overnight, but you have to be worried if you're an LAFC fan.
Look out MLS, the league's perennial 'plucky underdogs' are back in position to sneak into the playoffs before all is said and done.
The Union have won five of their last seven games in MLS, including a 4-0 thumping of D.C. United on Sunday, and have jumped into 9th after looking all but down out before the Leagues Cup break.
The form of the dynamic attacking trio of Tai Baribo, Mikael Uhre, and Dániel Gazdag has been a sight to behold. Combining that with Jim Curtin's ability to squeeze an extra 10% out of his team in the big games is a potential recipe for success in the dying weeks of the season.
Philly have never been big spenders, but somehow they always seem to find a way to play a part in where MLS Cup may land.
There is a lengthy list of standout attackers in MLS this season, thought Petar Musa has not landed on many of them — that should start to change.
The former Benfica man has been on a tear this season, despite still taking time to bed into the league. Nonetheless, he has 15 goals and two assists in 27 games this season — three goals off breaking the all-time FC Dallas single-season scoring record.
The partnership between Musa and Jesus Ferreira has begun to gel in a way that Dallas decision makers would have hoped for in the winter, and now Alan Velasco is in the mix to help out. While this season may be a bust, if this attacking force can stay together next season, you wouldn't put it past Dallas to sneak into the conversation out west.
The Portland Timbers are nothing if not absolute box office. Phil Neville's side seemingly can't play a boring game, and that has been on full display in their last five games — 24 goals have been scored in those fixtures.
The elite attacking trio of Evander, Jonathan Rodríguez, and Felipe Mora combined with one of the shakier defensive unites in the conference has become a recipe for high-scoring, topsy-turvy affairs whenever Portland is involved.
They showed that once again in Salt Lake City over the weekend, coming from behind on two separate occasions to snatch a point in a scintillating 3-3 draw with Real Salt Lake.
The issue for the Timbers from this point on — entertainment doesn't win you trophies.
Orlando City have been red-hot in recent weeks, winning seven of their last 10 games in MLS. But heading into the weekend's clash with reigning champions Columbus Crew, Orlando's needed to make a statement of intent in the Eastern Conference.
While they ran out 4-3 losers at Lower.com Field, a place where just about nobody earns points, their ability to hang in the match until the final whistle put their growth in the back-half of this season full display.
You won't get a tougher test than playing the Crew on the road, and Orlando can hold their heads high as a result. With relatively winnable fixtures to close out the season, Cincinnati away from home excluded, there is no reason why Óscar Pareja's men can't start the MLS Cup Playoffs with home-field advantage.
LAFC's Struggles
How’s that rollercoaster treating you, LAFC?
Ever since the end of August, it’s been a slew of ups and downs for a club that’s used to a lot more of the former than the latter.
Most recently, they topped Sporting Kansas City in the US Open Cup final. That’s an up! But, uh, just over a month ago, they flopped in the Leagues Cup final against the Columbus Crew, a far more legitimate final opponent to test their merit. In MLS regular season play, LAFC were thoroughly beaten in their own building the Houston Dynamo, lost El Tráfico in epic fashion, and are still without a win since the regular season returned after the Leagues Cup break.
It’s been a weird, bumpier-than-normal stretch for one of the most talented teams in MLS. Let’s not pretend like a one-off win over one of the worst teams in MLS on Wednesday evening changes that back. So, what gives?
Let’s dive into what’s been going wrong for LAFC – and how to fix them.
Defensive Woes
It’s extremely telling that when I started to outline this section, half a dozen moments that illustrate LAFC’s defensive issues immediately jumped to mind, and that’s before my brain even climbed back far enough to hit their 5-1 loss to the Crew at BMO in July.
Sure, teams have defensive issues. You don’t need to look any further than the LAFC’s cross-town rivals to be confident of that fact. But not every team in MLS builds their tactical approach around their defending like LAFC.
Since Steve Cherundolo took over for Bob Bradley on the sidelines ahead of the 2022 season, the former U.S. international has systematically transformed this team into one that prioritizes compact defending and transition attacking over more expansive possession. In four seasons under Bradley, LAFC averaged 53.4% possession. In three seasons under Cherundolo, they’re averaging 49.9%. When LAFC hop into the lead, they’re happy to play without the ball. They’ll press in some moments. They’ll sit deeper in others. But they’re content to give you possession, force you to make a mistake, and then hit quickly in transition.
The big issue with that tactical progression over the last couple of months is this: they’re making defensive mistakes, rather than forcing them from the opposing attack.
Over their last eight regular season games, LAFC have allowed more xG per match than all but eight teams, according to American Soccer Analysis. Losing your best center back — Jesús Murillo — to injury in August doesn’t help, but the defensive issues run deeper than just one absent body.
Solution: A Focus on Fundamentals
Defending set pieces. Dealing with a broken press. Tracking late-arriving runners in the box. Those aren’t macro tactical issues for LAFC as much as they're momentary lapses in focus. The more time Cherundolo spends drilling his players on those sorts of scramble moments, and the more accountability the players are willing to take, the better.
The Giroud Dilemma
For every 100 touches of the ball that LAFC take, Olivier Giroud only gets three of them. There’s something wrong with that picture, isn’t there?
According to ASA, Giroud ranks just 37th among strikers with at least 300 regular season minutes in touch share. LAFC feed him less than Toronto FC feed Prince Owusu. LAFC feed him less than Austin FC feed Diego Rubio. LAFC feed him less than St. Louis feed Simon Becher. That, folks, looks like an issue to me.
Now, to be fair to LAFC, Giroud has never been a touch monster. Looking back at his final six seasons in Europe, the Frenchman never ranked above the 62nd percentile in his league — either the Premier League or Serie A — among strikers in touches per 90 minutes, according to FBref. As analyst Arman Kafai pointed out for Backheeled, Giroud was never going to compete with LAFC’s other attackers for long-range shots: only eight of his 77 shots came from outside the box last season, based on data from FotMob.
But now that he’s a bigger fish in a new pond, Giroud needs to be on the ball more. Because when he is, he does stuff like this:
His hold-up play is nearly flawless, to the point where it almost closed the gap between LAFC and the Crew in Leagues Cup. Giroud has to be on the ball more.
Solution: Feed the Beast
Unlocking Giroud’s full impact in the attack won’t require a seismic tactical shift from Cherundolo. Sure, the World Cup winner would be an asset in a possession-focused team, given his soft touches, vision, and passing range. But LAFC can activate Giroud in their existing transition-heavy attacking setup, too. Being more purposeful with their first ball out of the back and inching their midfielders closer to Giroud to give him teammates to combine with would go a long way.
The Schedule Factor
While there are clear, concrete on-field issues that LAFC need to address before they hit the postseason, it would be foolish not to acknowledge their brutal schedule in recent weeks.
Thanks to their runs to the Leagues Cup and US Open Cup finals, there’s been no shortage of soccer for LAFC since the start of August. They had three straight double-game weeks to close out last month and are in the midst of an identical set of three double-game weeks right now. They’ve played 12 games across all competitions since the beginning of August. The only other team to play that many games? The Columbus Crew, who have dropped a few points themselves in recent regular season games.
Schedule congestion is an excuse, there’s no doubt about that. But it’s a valid one. With rotation required to keep players fresh, less time in training relative to almost every other team in the league, the physical drain of frequent travel, and the mental drain of putting emotional energy into two finals, I’m not surprised LAFC’s performances have dipped.
Solution: Patience is Key
Expect to see an uptick in form from LAFC during the last couple of weeks of the season when their schedule resumes normalcy. They can still rise up the Western Conference standings to snag second place ahead of the playoffs, they’ll have time to continue integrating Giroud, and they’ll finally get some precious rest before Decision Day arrives.
The issues above need some specific attention, but some general improvement is on the way once this team can catch its collective breath.
A Midweek Look at the Rest of the League
A full midweek Major League Soccer schedule started in Atlanta, where United drew 2-2 with Inter Miami. David Ruiz put Miami up in the 29th with Saba Lobjanidze equalizing for Atlanta in the 56th. Leonardo Campana returned Miami’s lead in the 59th, but Alexey Miranchuk equalized for United in the 84th minute.
New England drew 2-2 at home with Montreal after taking the lead from a Bobby Wood goal in the 24th. Esmir Bajraktaveric made it 2-0 Revs in the 35th. Montreal responded with goals from Tom Pearce in the 53rd and Nathan Saliba in the 68th minute.
Philadelphia beat NYCFC 5-1 at Yankee Stadium. Tai Baribo opened the scoring for the Union in the 15th, Mikkel Uhre doubled the lead in the 25th, and Daniel Gazdag made it 3-0 in the 31st. Adrian Martinez scored five minutes into first-half stoppage time. The Union extended their lead with goals from Jakob Glesnes in the 74th and Jesus Bueno in the 85th minute.
Columbus won 2-0 at Toronto, going ahead from a Cucho Hernandez goal in the 51st. Marcelo Herrera finished off the scoring in the 70th minute.
Orlando shutout Charlotte 2-0 at home. Facundo Torres put City up in the 52nd and Duncan McGuire doubled the lead in the 89th minute.
Houston drew 1-1 at home with Vancouver, taking the lead from an Ezequiel Ponce goal seven minutes into stoppage time. Vancouver’s Brian White equalized in the 73rd minute.
FC Cincinnati won 2-1 at Minnesota. Yuya Kubo put Cincinnati up in the 33rd and Luca Orellano made it 2-0 a minute into stoppage time. United’s Kelvin Yeboah converted a penalty in the 54th minute.
Nashville shutout Chicago 1-0 at home with Sam Surridge scoring in the 19th minute.
Sporting Kansas City beat Colorado 4-1 at home, taking a 2-0 lead with goals from Alan Pulido in the 8th and 49th. Erik Thommy added a goal for Sporting in the 69th. Colorado’s Michael Edwards pulled a goal back in the 75th, but Thommy scored again in the 82nd minute.
Real Salt Lake beat FC Dallas 3-2 at home. Bryan Vera converted an RSL penalty in the 11th and Anderson Julio scored in the 24th. Jesus Ferreria pulled a goal back for Dallas a minute into stoppage time. Julio scored again in the 62nd. Dallas’s Alan Velasco converted a penalty in the 88th minute.
LAFC drew 1-1 at home with Austin. After falling behind to a Jader Obrian goal two minutes into first-half stoppage time, David Martinez equalized for LAFC in the 62nd.
Portland beat the LA Galaxy 4-2 at Providence Park, going ahead from a Jonathan Rodriguez goal in the 17th. Evander doubled the Timbers’ lead in the 39th. The Galaxy’s Gabriel Pec pulled a goal back three minutes into stoppage time, but Evander scored again in the 51st. The Galaxy pulled within a goal when Joseph Paintsil scored in the 58th, but Felipe Mora finished the Portland scoring in the 80th minute.
Seattle drew 2-2 at home with San Jose after falling behind in the 15th minute to an Amahl Pellegrino goal. Jordan Morris equalized for the Sounders in the 21st and scored again in the 39th. San Jose’s Paul Marie equalized in the 89th minute.
The Takeaway
The MLS weekend was a rollercoaster ride of emotions with LAFC's struggles continuing, the Portland Timbers keeping their high-scoring ways, and Orlando City making a significant statement in the East. It's a race to the finish line, with many teams still battling for playoff positions. The final weeks of the season promise to be thrilling as teams fight for every point.
