LAFC's 4 offseason questions
LAFC need to answer these four offseason questions before heading into 2022
For the first time in franchise history, Los Angeles Football Club enter the offseason without a playoff appearance. An (unusually) early offseason for LAFC comes with more time to scrutinize and self-reflect about all of the missteps of the 2021 campaign.
With an early start to the offseason and the MLS 2022 campaign, because of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, here are the four offseason questions that need answering before the start of next season.
Who’s future hangs in the balance?
The most important and obvious question? The futures of LAFC’s pillars of success — head coach Bob Bradley and Carlos Vela. There is no need to overemphasize how important LAFC’s future success rides on what happens with Bradley and Vela.
There’s going to be zero speculation on their futures in the piece, but all of the other unanswered questions are predicated on what happens with these two central pieces. It should go without saying that the identity of LAFC drastically changes without both returning to the club in the next season.
Who’s still injured?
There’s no doubt that one of the many reasons why LAFC failed to make the playoffs was because of the injuries that plagued the roster. But undoubtedly the biggest unknown regarding injuries is to LAFC center-back Eddie Segura. The 24-year-old Colombian international underwent successful season-ending anterior cruciate ligament surgery in August.
LAFC immediately felt Segura’s absence and will most likely feel it at the start of the 2022 campaign too. There’s been no update so far about how Segura has progressed but recoveries could last up to nine months.
On a much smaller scale, LAFC midfielder Eduard Atuesta missed the final six games of the regular season with a shoulder injury in an already depleted midfield. Atuesta, another important cog in LAFC’s success, is most likely going to be ready to start the season in February 2022 — barring anything catastrophic — and will be needed if LAFC wants to make its playoff hiatus a one-time thing.
In 2021, Atuesta recorded two goals and seven assists in 24 appearances.
What’s “El Rayito’s” ceiling?
Ever since LAFC signed winger Brian Rodriguez in 2019, the reputation and the reviews were always about how talented the Uruguayan international is, but the consistent performances have lacked. Yet after a loan to La Liga2 side UD Almería earlier this year, Rodriguez returned playing some of his better soccer in an LAFC jersey.
In early October, MLS named Rodriguez to its 22 under 22 list — for the best MLS players under the age of 22. Rodriguez ranked four in this year’s list and is probably the most purely talented of the bunch.
The reason 2021 was different for Rodriguez is that not only did he tally an MLS career-high of four goals and two assists, but because even when he didn’t find himself on the stat sheet, he was undoubtedly the most dangerous player on the pitch in 1v1 situations. He is an elite dribbler ranking in the 98th percentile in successful dribbles at 4.24 per 90 minutes and 93rd percentile in dribbles attempted at five per 90 minutes compared to other forwards, according to FBREF.
And when the 21-year-old winger/ forward did find the score sheet, he’d produce obra de arte or work of art for my non-Spanish speakers. An example? See Galaxy game on Aug. 28.
However, the biggest question that remains for Rodriguez is can he put it all together for an entire season in 2022? Only time will tell. He made his biggest jump in 2021, but the true measure of Rodriguez’s growth will be consistency over 34 weeks.
How important is fixing historically poor defending?
Pretty important.
Historically, the defensive third has been an issue off-and-on for the past four seasons. In some form or another LAFC’s inability to prevent or mitigate counters were the root of most of its defensive problems, but because LAFC dominated much of the ball, the instances were mostly far and few between.
In 2021, injuries to the backline coupled with inexperienced personnel resulted in some poor defending. LAFC’s biggest issue defensively showed itself in three ways: lackluster transition defending, naivety on defending crosses or set pieces and casual turnovers playing out of the back.
For what it’s worth, the casual turnovers playing out the back became less frequent down the stretch amid LAFC’s unbeaten stretch in September and October. The first two, however, never went away and in fact, reared their ugly head in the final match against Colorado.
Outside of the future of Bradley and Vela, improving defensively — whether it comes in the form of new personnel or improvement from the current roster — should be LAFC’s No.1 priority. Because if LAFC hopes to return to its 2019 form, a title-contending franchise, it's going to take solid play in the defensive third.