As we head towards the end of 2023, lets take a look at LAFC's 2023 Season Recap/Review. For the 2023 season, LAFC went into their 6th MLS season as defending champions and played in 4 different tournaments. By many, they were favorites to win at least 1 tournament and even repeat the MLS Cup. But in the end, they did not win a single tournament and did not win the MLS Cup. They did finish as a runner-up in the MLS Cup final though, which is still very impressive. Was this season a failure? No, but it was a bit disappointing because they did were not a champion of anything this year. Unlike last year, they did not finish the best in the league this year. They finished the MLS regular season with a record of 14 wins - 10 losses - 10 ties, resulting in 52 points, finishing the year in 3rd place in the Western Conference (8th best in the MLS). They went 10-4-3 at home and 4-6-7 on the road. They scored 54 goals, and allowed 39 goals. LAFC qualified for the MLS playoffs but lost in the MLS Cup Finals to the Columbus Crew. In the 2023 Leagues Cup (an international club soccer tournament between Major League Soccer (MLS) and Liga MX), LAFC made it all the way to the quarterfinals before being knocked out by Liga MX team, C.F. Monterrey and blew a 2:0 lead. In the 2023 U.S. Open Cup, they made it to the Round of 16 but were knocked out of the tournament by rivals, LA Galaxy. To be fair, they did not play any of their main players in this tournament. In the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League, LAFC made it all the way to the Finals but lost to Liga MX team, Club Leon. In the 2023 Campeones Cup (champion from MLS vs champion from Liga MX), they lost to UANL. So LAFC had 5 chances to win something and won nothing. LAFC's payroll for the year was $17,483,012, which ranked them 10th in the league. A team who had the MLS Golden Boot winner Denis Bouanga, former Golden Boot winner Carlos Vela, and loads of talent finished the 2023 season with nothing to their name. Let's take a 2023 season review on the LAFC.
Steve Cherundolo was the Head Coach for LAFC for the 2nd straight season. Earlier this month, LAFC have signed head coach Steve Cherundolo to a multi-year contract extension. Well deserved as he's brought a lot of success for LAFC. Assistant coaches Ante Razov, Marc dos Santos and Oka Nikolov have also signed contract extensions.
LAFC started the year on a great start not losing an MLS match until 2 months into the season. At that point, it seemed like they were going to be the best in the league but things died down a bit mid-season, probably because of the 4 other tournaments they were in. The heavy workload could be a reason why they didn't win anything but still not a good reason.
LAFC 2023 roster review:
The LAFC rolled with 25 different players playing this season for them.
GOALKEEPERS -
The goalkeeping was pretty solid this year mainly split between John McCarthy and Maxime Crépeau, and even Eldin Jakupović who made a few appearances. They allowed 39 goals which was tied for 5th best in the MLS this season. Not bad. In the U.S Open Cup, they allowed 2 goals. In the Leagues Cup, they allowed 4 goals. In the CONCACAF Champions League, they allowed 6 goals. And in the Campeones Cup, they allowed 0 goals. So who were the Keepers?
2022 MLS Cup MVP, John McCarthy, started the season as goalkeeper and played the majority of the games in that position. Normally, it would have been Maxime Crépeau, but Crépeau was recovering from a broken leg suffered in the last years MLS Cup. John McCarthy did a great job as back-up to start the season. In the MLS, he played 25 games and had 8 clean sheets (tied for 6th best), 67 saves (tied for 19th best), 68.4 save percentage, and 31 goals allowed. In the 4 tournaments, he played in them all except the U.S. Open Cup. That equaled to 12 games in tournaments with 10 goals allowed. A lot of these stats are average but he did a good job with minimal mistakes. Things started to get worse for him when Crépeau was close to return and when Crépeau did return, he never played again this season. John McCarthy went into the off-season as a free agent and just recently signed with LA Galaxy.
Maxime Crépeau spent the majority of the season rehabbing from a broken leg. He came back late in the season playing 7 MLS regular season games and 5 MLS playoffs games. He also played in the Campeones Cup but was subbed out last minute to have John McCarthy play in the penalty shootout. In the 12 MLS games, he had 5 clean sheets, 31 saves, 73.8 save percentage, and 11 goals allowed. With the low amount of games played, it's tough to rank him amongst other keepers but these are still great stats and he amazing in many of the games he played. His contract is now expired but LAFC should bring him back as he has been great for LAFC.
Eldin Jakupović served as the LAFC's 3rd string keeper but was back-up to McCarthy when Crépeau was out. Jakupović played 4 games total for LAFC, 2 in MLS and 2 in US Open Cup. In his 2 MLS games, he had 1 clean sheet and allowed only 1 goal with 6 saves. Pretty good. In the U.S. Open Cup, he allowed 4 goals. Jakupović was solid in MLS and okay in the tournament but LAFC has declined his contract option and he is a free agent.
DEFENDERS -
The defending was a huge part of LAFC's success. They helped Keepers concede the 4th fewest goals and were 4th in clean sheets with 11. Not only did they do their job in defending, but they were top in interceptions and tackles and even had some guys score some goals. They weren't the best but they were for sure doing their job and not much more you can ask for. Let's see who were the defenders.
First up is Denil Maldonado who played primarily as a Centre-Back for LAFC. He played 21 MLS games, starting 19, and in that time he scored 1 goal and had 1 assist with a accurate pass percentage of 85.5%. Maldonado also plays for the Honduras national team. He also only played 3 of 8 Champions League games and 1 of 3 Leagues Cup games. Maldonado has been a solid Centre-Back but not the go-to guy as he only played so many games due to Jesus Murillo being injured. It is still good to have him for depth but unfortunately LAFC declined his contract option.
Jesús Murillo was another Centre-Back for LAFC. Murillo only played 19 MLS games, starting 14 due to missing a lot of games from a leg injury. He also played every game in the MLS Cup playoffs and even scored a goal. Murillo also played 7 of 8 Champions League games and 2 of 3 Leagues Cup gams. He is a great all-around player and a great defender. LAFC see this and have exercised his contract option and he will be back next year as the starting Centre-Back.
Mamadou Fall spent the last few years on loan but made a few appearances for LAFC before being loaned to Barcelona B. Fall is another Centre-Back but with no room for him, he has been loaned to Europe a few times. He made 1 MLS appearance, and came off the bench for 2 games in Leagues Cup. Fall did not make much of an impact. He is still with LAFC but will spend next year on loan with Barcelona B.
Diego Palacios served as the primary Left-Back for LAFC this year. Like last year, Palacios has been great for LAFC. He was an All-Star last year and plays for the Ecuador national team. He played 29 MLS games, starting 28, had 2 assists, an accurate pass percentage of 85.4%, 1420 passes completed (25th in MLS), had 55 interceptions (4th most in MLS), and 89 tackles (2nd most in MLS). Palacios continues to be a gem for LAFC. He also played every game in MLS Cup playoffs having 1 assist, played in Campeones Cup, played 2 of 3 Leagues Cup games with 1 assist, and played every game of Champions League. Unfortunately, he is a free agent this offseason.
Giorgio Chiellini was another fantastic Centre-Back for LAFC but unfortunately has announced his retirement and will not be back. At 39 years old, Chiellini was killing it. He played 20 MLS games, starting 17 with 1 goal and 2 assist and an accurate pass percentage of 83.3% and played every MLS Cup Playoffs game. Chiellini also played in 3 of 8 Champions League games, played all games in Leagues Cup, and played in Campeones Cup. Although Chiellini did not have the stats to show it, he certainly was a nice Centre-Back and will be missed.
Ryan Hollingshead completed his 2nd season with LAFC and had a great one. He was selected for the first time in his career as an MLS All-Star. Hollingshead was the primary Right-Back for LAFC but also played Centre-Back and Left-Back which made him versatile in the defense. He played 32 MLS games, starting 25, scoring 4 goals, 1 assist, 73 tackles (5th in MLS), 43 interceptions (25th in MLS), and an accurate pass percentage of 81.2%. He also played all 5 MLS Cup games scoring 3 goals, insane. Not only that, he played all Leagues Cup games scoring 1 goal. He played 7 of 8 Champions League games and had 2 assists. Hollingshead also played in Campeones Cup. Hollingshead scored 8 goals total this year as a defender for LAFC, pretty impressive. He has been a great defender and will be back next year.
Sergi Palencia was another defender who played multiple defensive positions and even played midfielder in some games. Palencia completed his first year coming from Spain. He played 20 MLS games, starting 14 and could have played more but missed several games due to leg injury. In those games, he had 2 assists and an accurate pass percentage of 80.7%. Palencia played 6 of 8 Champions League, every Leagues Cup game, played in Campeones Cup, and came off the bench in every MLS Cup playoffs game. Palencia has been nice for LAFC and could play a lot more games next year with his European experience.
Aaron Long completed his first season with LAFC this year as a Centre-Back. Long also plays for the USA national team. Long played 21 MLS games, starting 17, with 1 assist and an accurate pass percentage of 87%. He missed several games due to his time with the US national team. However, he did play 7 of 8 Champions League games, started every Leagues Cup game, played in Campeones Cup, and started 1 MLS Cup playoff game and came off the bench for 3. Long will be back next year and could be Chiellini's replacement.
Lastly, Julian Gaines made his MLS debut this year playing Right-Back. He played 2 MLS games, starting 1. With those 2 games he was solid with an accurate pass percentage of 94.7% but of course it was only 2 games. He also played 1 game in the US Open Cup. LAFC, however, declined his contract option.
MIDFIELDERS -
The midfield was solid but in my opinion, could have been better. Nonetheless, it was still one of the best midfields in the league. Here's who it consisted of -
First off, Erik Dueñas started the year playing for LAFC at just 18 years old. He played 18 MLS games, starting 8 with 1 assist and an accurate pass percentage of 86.5%. He came off the bench of 4 of 8 Champions League games, 2 of 3 Leagues Cup games, and started 2 US Open Cup games. While he doesn't have much stats to show, he played decently and the fact that he played so many games at 18-19 years old, shows something and he has a ton of potential. Dueñas will be back next season and can have a much bigger role.
Ilie Sánchez was the primary defensive midfielder for LAFC completing his 2nd season with them. Sánchez has been one of the most reliable players for LAFC playing almost every game at a solid level. He played just about every game for LAFC other than in the US Open Cup. Sánchez was an All-Star last year, too. He played all 34 MLS games, starting 31 with 1 goal, 3 assists, completed 1392 passes (30th in MLS), and an accurate pass percentage of 86.7%. Pretty solid. Sánchez also had 1 assist in Leagues Cup and 2 assists in Champions League. He will be back next year.
Timothy Tillman completed his first year for LAFC coming from Germany. Tillman played center-midfield for LAFC and could have played almost every MLS game if it wasn't due to injury. He played 25 MLS games, starting 20, with 4 goals, 1 assist, and an accurate pass percentage of 87.8%. Not bad. Tillman played every game in Champions League and had 1 goal and 1 assist. He played just 1 minute in Leagues Cup, came off the bench in Campeones Cup, and started all 5 MLS Cup games and had 1 assist. Tillman has been nice in the midfield and will be back next year.
Daniel Crisostomo is a defensive/center midfielder who spent the last few years bouncing around the MLS and MLS Next Pro. This year, he played 6 MLS games, starting 3 with an accurate pass percentage of 89%. Crisostomo played 1 game off the bench for Champions League, and started both US Open Cup games, having 1 assist. LAFC declined his contract option.
Mateusz Bogusz completed his first year with LAFC and was pretty solid. Bogusz played several positions for LAFC ranging from Attacking Midfield to Centre Forward. He played 28 MLS games, starting 20 with 3 goals and 4 assists and an accurate pass percentage of 84.4%. Bogusz also played 4 Champions League games and had 1 assist. He also played in all Leagues Cup games scoring 1 goal with 2 assists. Moreover, he played in the US Open Cup, Campeones Cup, and every MLS Cup playoffs game registering 1 assist. Bogusz has been a solid versatile attacker and will be back next year. His contract is expired and he will be a free agent.
Kellyn Acosta completed his 2nd season with LAFC this year. He also spent some time on the USA national team. Acosta primarily played Central Midfield for LAFC but also played a few games at Defensive Midfield. Acosta played 24 MLS games, starting 18 with accurate pass percentage of 86%. He also played 7 of 8 Champions League games scoring 1 goal, all games for Leagues Cup having 1 assist, played in Campeones Cup, and every game of MLS Cup Playoffs. Acosta is not the same great player he used to be but still was a solid piece to the Midfield.
Filip Krastev completed his first year with LAFC being on loan with them. He also plays for the Bulgaria national team. Krastev played Center/Attacking midfield for LAFC playing 9 MLS games, all off the bench. He did score 1 MLS goal in a blowout win. Krastev also played 2 games off the bench for the Leagues Cup and scored a goal. He even played 1 game in the MLS Cup. Krastev was a nice backup option for LAFC and never really got to prove himself being that he never played more than 30 minutes. He will be back next year and I got a feeling he will get a lot more playing time.
FOWARDS -
The Forwards did not start to take good shape until the 2nd half of the season where there was a nice set of 3 up top - Bouanga, Vela, and Olivera. But things may change next year. Here's who the Forwards were-
First off, Stipe Biuk completed his first year with LAFC. Biuk is only 21 coming from Croatia and playing for the U21 Croatia national team. He was primarily a left/right winger and even made a few appearances as a Forward. Biuk played 30 MLS games, starting 13. He scored 3 goals, had 1 assist and an accurate pass percentage of 76.2%. Biuk played every game in the Champions League, Leagues Cup, Campeones Cup, and 1 game in US Open Cup. He did not playing MLS Cup Playoffs. Biuk has been a solid back-up option and will be back next year.
Mario González joined LAFC mid-season coming from the Belgian League. There was a lot of hype for the Spanish No. 9 but he was a bit disappointing. González played as a Centre-Forward playing 8 MLS games, starting 5. He scored 1 goal and had 1 assist. He played 1 game in Leagues Cup and didn't score anything. González played 3 MLS Cup playoff games and had 1 assist. He played 12 games for LAFC this year and only scored 1 goal, a bit disappointing. González will have a good chance to redeem himself as he will be back for the next season.
LAFC legend and Captain, Carlos Vela, completed his 6th season with LAFC this year. Vela, 34, has not been the same since he first joined but still has been impressive. Vela played Centre-Forward and Right-Winger and plated every MLS game this year, starting 23. He scored 9 goals and had 12 assists (7th in MLS). He played every game in the Champions League scoring 3 goals and had 2 assists. He played 1 game in Leagues Cup scoring 2 goals and and had 1 assist. He also played in Campeones Cup. Vela was not as great in the MLS Cup Playoffs only registering an assist but still played well. Unfortunately, Vela's contract is now expired and there are a lot of speculation that he will not be back.
Cristian Olivera joined LAFC late in the season from Uruguay. Olivera, 21, has also made a few appearances for the Uruguay national team. Olivera played primarily as a right-winger for LAFC playing 10 MLS games, starting 7. He had 2 goals in those games. Olivera also started in the Campeones Cup and started every game in the MLS Cup playoffs. While Olivera did not play too many games, he was pretty solid and has a ton of potential. He will be back next year I can't wait to see him.
LAFC academy player, Nathan Ordaz, completed his 2nd season with LAFC. Ordaz played as the back-up Centre-Forward and bounced around the MLS and MLS Next Pro. He played 17 MLS games, starting 2. He registered 1 assist. Ordaz best performance was in the Leagues Cup where he played every game and scored 2 goals. He played every game in the US Open Cup and 2 games in the playoffs. Ordaz is only 19 and has a lot of potential, he will be back next year.
Yekeson Subah made 1 MLS appearance and 2 US Open Cup appearances as a Centre- Forward. Subah, 19, also has a lot to learn and potential.
Last but not least- our MVP, MLS Golden Boot Winner, MLS Best XI, and MLS All-Star Denis Bouanga. Bouanga had a breakout year this year after joining late last season. He played 31 MLS games, starting 28. He scored a league leading 20 goals, and registered 7 assists. But thats not all. He played all 8 games in the Champions League scoring 7 goals with 4 assists. He played all 3 games in Leagues Cup scoring 6 goals with 3 assists. He played in Campeones Cup as well. Lastly, Bouanga played all 5 MLS Cup Playoff games scoring 5 goals. What a year Bouanga had! He didn't win MLS MVP but he was definetly the team MVP and he will be back next year!
LAFC revealed its roster adjustments earlier this month for the upcoming 2024 MLS season. Currently, the team has contracted 19 players for the upcoming year, having opted to exercise the options for four players and reject options for nine others.
They chose to keep defender Jesús Murillo, midfielders Ilie Sánchez and Erik Dueñas, and goalkeeper Abraham Romero by exercising their contract options. On the other hand, the club has decided not to renew the contracts of midfielders Christian Torres and Danny Crisostomo, as well as defenders Julian Gaines, Tony Leone, Mohamed Traore, Denil Maldonado, Diego Rosales. Additionally, goalkeepers John McCarthy and Eldin Jakupovic will not have their options renewed.
Eldin Jakupovic, Denil Maldonado, and Danny Crisostomo will be part of the MLS Re-Entry Draft Process, while John McCarthy is eligible for free agency. LAFC is currently in negotiations to retain McCarthy, Maldonado, Gaines, Leone, and Rosales, along with free agents Carlos Vela, Diego Palacios, Kellyn Acosta, and Max Crépeau.
The 20 players confirmed under contract for the 2024 season are as follows:
Goalkeepers: Abraham Romero, Hugo Lloris (pending to be official)
Defenders: Mamadou Fall [Loan], Ryan Hollingshead, Aaron Long, Jesús Murillo, Sergi Palencia, Eddie Segura
Midfielders: Mateusz Bogusz, Érik Dueñas, Filip Krastev, Francisco Ginella [Loan], Ilie Sánchez, Timothy Tillman
Forwards: Stipe Biuk, Dénis Bouanga, Mario Gonzalez, Cristian Olivera, Nathan Ordaz, Bajung Darboe
So as you can see, the current roster needs some work. They just recently signed goalkeeper, Hugo Lloris, and they have another guy who has never seen MLS action and is 25 years old. So they are going to need to find another goalkeeper as either a starter or backup depending how LAFC use Lloris. Bringing back Crépeau would be a good idea but of course that depends on him. There were also rumours today that LAFC are looking to sign French Legend and current Tottenham Hotspur player, Hugo Lloris. That is not a bad idea but he is 37. As for the defenders, right now what they have is not bad to start but they definitely need some more depth. The midfield is not too bad either but it would be nice to sign a big name who can create a lot of playmaking. And for Forwards, it will be nice to add some depth and even a strong no. 9 with a lot of experience. So to reiterate, yes the current roster needs work and expect some moves in the off-season. They really should try to being back Diego Palacios, Crépeau, Carlos Vela as they have been great for LAFC. But if not, they will need to look for their replacements. LAFC Co-President & General Manager, John Thorrington, will be busy this offseason. He's already signed GK Hugo Lloris but there will be more. The MLS SuperDraft also took place earlier this month and LAFC drafted GK Jackson Lee and D Kenny Nielsen. They probably won't play next season but those are some nice prospects. LAFC announced earlier this month that Director of Football Operations Marco Antonio Garcés will depart the Club to join Spain’s Celta Vigo of La Liga as its new Sporting Director so they'll need a replacement there.
There really isn't much work to do this off-season as LAFC had a good season. They will have to add to the current roster obviously but it doesn't need to much revamp. Maybe the only thing is to learn from mistakes and why they did not win any trophies this year. Other than that, there is not much you can do. Perhaps their biggest failure, other than not winning the MLS Cup, was that they did not qualify for one of the biggest tournaments next year, the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup.
LAFC All-Stars:
Ryan Hollingshead - 1st appearance
Denis Bouanga - 1st appearance
Records broken this season:
The largest standalone attendance for a single match—82,110 spectators— was set on July 4, 2023, at the Rose Bowl the LA Galaxy and LAFC.
So that's pretty much it for the LAFC season review, I'll be posting any LAFC news this season. Follow me and my instagram @sports_news_la for any Galaxy news and scores!
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