A tad more efficiency up front when it mattered most, and Los Angeles FC would have been home for Major League Soccer’s Western Conference title game against its archrival — in a space from which it had dispensed the LA Galaxy twice in postseason play already — and again as huge MLS Cup favorites had it prevailed there.
One moment, or two, can determine the outcome of 10 months’ toil, and if the crushing conclusion to LAFC’s 2024 season left a sickly veneer atop all of that, the reality wasn’t anywhere near so dim. That’s the starting point as Steve Cherundolo and Co., begin work toward the new campaign with the same old aim.
The Angelenos fell short of a third successive MLS Cup title appearance but plan to be playing to the end this year, striving for every trophy offered while continuing to evolve into a team that’s OK with keeping possession. They’ll do so while overhauling their midfield group, better incorporating striker Olivier Giroud into their attack, and continuing to rely on a two-system approach within Cherundolo’s “principles.”
“There wasn’t a whole lot we did wrong last year,” Cherundolo told Soccer America after opening preseason camp last week at the club’s Cal State L.A.-based training center. “We’ll continue to try to improve in areas where we were not the best. … But, I mean, a team who played in two finals and finished first in the West in the regular season isn’t going to have a whole lot of areas of improvement, and I think that’s where we find ourselves.”
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