Marc Dos Santos went against his natural inclination in Toluca, Mexico.
Reflecting on the Los Angeles Football Club’s 4-0 (5-2 aggregate) CONCACAF Champions Cup exit on Wednesday at Deportivo Toluca FC, Dos Santos credited “a very good opponent, but I regret that I didn’t take more risks as a coach.”
“It doesn’t mean we would have won,” he noted.
Prior to his first season leading LAFC, Dos Santos said his coaching style is more aggressive than pragmatic. (Think the second half of last year’s Western Conference semifinal at Vancouver compared to the first.) However, that did not manifest in the return leg versus Toluca.
Staking out a 2-1 edge at BMO Stadium, LAFC didn’t require a perfect performance to reach the final. But giving away possession (64%-36%) and missing passes (74% accuracy to Toluca’s 90%), especially in dangerous areas, was not nearly good enough.
Neither was being outshot 31 to 5 (14 to 1, on target).
Unable to hold it down inside the hemisphere’s most challenging soccer environment, Dos Santos’ players could not connect through the midfield or the attack, suffering until eventual breakdowns cascaded at nearly 9,000 feet of altitude.
The coach’s regret extended to pragmatism, like not starting David Martínez in the attack alongside Denis Bouanga and Son Heung-min. The day before the game in Toluca, the coaching staff told Martínez they wanted him to make a difference from the bench.
That wasn’t unusual.
Martínez had four Champions Cup starts and made another four appearances as a substitute.
Figuring LAFC would have to defend for its life over the first 45 minutes, Dos Santos held back the 20-year-old Venezuelan, who scored four times in CONCACAF, notably the Round of 16 stoppage-time winner at Alajuelense in Costa Rica and a brace against Cruz Azul.
Joining Bouanga and Son instead was Timothy Tillman, whose miss off a rebound in the 8th minute loomed large. LAFC’s best chance of the game didn’t even register as the team’s lone shot on target. Had it been an early goal could have changed the complexion at Estadio Nemesio Diez.
LAFC won’t get to prepare for a May 30 final against Tigres UANL, but the impact of a deep run could linger.
As an assistant for Steve Cherundolo in 2023, Dos Santos saw a dip in the team following a two-leg final defeat to Mexico’s Club León. LAFC struggled to regroup, winning three of the next 11 league games.
LAFC recovered well last year after bowing out of CONCACAF to Lionel Messi and Inter Miami in the quarterfinal. Going unbeaten in 10 (5-0-5) after the fact included a final-like effort against Club América to qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup.
“I wasn’t here in 2023,” center back Nkosi Tafari said. “I don’t know about the dip. But I know I’m definitely here to make sure we don’t dip. That’s all that I can speak on. Full steam ahead on that situation.”
Since kicking off in Honduras in February, a cycle of minimal training, maximum recovery has been the norm under Dos Santos.
This continues through next week.
On Sunday, LAFC’s 20th match in all competitions features eighth-place Houston Dynamo (5-5-0, 15 points), which lost 2-0 at home to LAFC on the 28th of February. The first of three games in seven days will begin without Bouanga, who is suspended for one match due to yellow card accumulation.
Third in the Western Conference coming into the weekend, LAFC (6-2-3, 21 points) visits St. Louis on Wednesday and Nashville next Saturday before hosting Seattle on the 24th, leading into the FIFA World Cup break.
“We learn, we turn the page and know where we want to go as a team,” Dos Santos said, “Hopefully we will start showing that again (on Sunday).”
Houston at LAFC
When: 6 p.m. Sunday
Where: BMO Stadium
TV: Apple TV