Named an MLS All-Star the past three seasons, Denis Bouanga watched from home as the 2026 league showcase took place in Charlotte this week.
“The MLS All-Star Game is fun, and for my family to fly too is nice also,” Bouanga said Thursday. “But it’s OK.”
The only MLS player to accomplish three consecutive 20-goal seasons was off his typical pace when games paused for the World Cup at the end of May.
Without the consistent support of a fullback to get up the field and help beat double- and triple-team defending, Bouanga scored six goals and dished out five assists through 14 games.
Decent numbers for most forwards, but not Bouanga.
A telltale sign of Bouanga’s struggles could be seen in his shot stats, which were down considerably, along with how hard he had to work to get inside the box for clear chances.
If Bouanga was behind the curve before the World Cup, in the aftermath he quickly put himself back in the conversation for the Golden Boot and a fourth straight 20-goal campaign.
A similar change in discussion happened around Son Heung-min, whom Bouanga watched represent LAFC as MLS All-Star captain and MVP after scoring twice in a 4-3 victory over their Liga MX peers on Wednesday.
“It’s good for him,” Bouanga said. “It’s good for the MLS. But for me only recovery, [time] with my family, and some training with the guys.”
In spite of the extra travel and missing out on a full week to prepare for a showdown on Saturday in Canada against the Vancouver Whitecaps, LAFC head coach Marc Dos Santos said there was “a lot of value” in what the 33-year-old South Korean accomplished as an All-Star.
“When he came back from the World Cup there was a lot of talk about us getting a Sonny that mentally was not in a good place,” Dos Santos said. “But I always said from Day 1, when he came back inside our bubble here, I never felt him with a little bit lack of focus or confidence. I’m happy that he answered right away in our first game. He answered in the three games we played. We tried to manage him knowing that he was going to the All-Star Game and coming back for the Vancouver game. We’re happy for him for sure.”
Scoring in each of LAFC’s three wins since returning to action, along with an MLS-leading 10th assist, Son and his running mates headed into the All-Star break on a heater at 10-5-3 overall, catching the Whitecaps (10-3-3) and San Jose Earthquakes (10-4-3) atop the MLS Western Conference standings with 33 points.
That burst unlocked Bouanga, who piled on four goals plus an assist with the support and space that came with Son’s emergence as well as Ukrainian fullback Yevhen Cheberko’s insertion into the starting lineup.
Missing out on joining Son in Charlotte, Bouanga focused this week on what he could during hot training days at the performance center at Cal State L.A.
“This is my mentality,” he said. “If I’m not there, I stay here for work and continue to beat someone.”
Opening a highly-congested August schedule: Vancouver.
The last time these teams met, the Whitecaps ended the Son & Bouanga Show in the 2025 Western Conference semifinals.
Eager to return home to BC Place, which will feature a synthetic turf field instead of the grass installed there for World Cup matches, Vancouver endured seven consecutive MLS away days since the start of May – collecting eight of 21 possible points, one fewer than LAFC has since July 17.
Like the Black & Gold, which added U22 defender Artem Smoliakov to the list of young players leaving the team following a yearlong loan to FC Kharkiv, the Whitecaps have been busy in the secondary transfer window.
Star midfielder and U.S. international Sebastian Berhalter departed this week for Middlesbrough in the English Championship.
“It is a loss for them,” Dos Santos said of Berhalter’s absence on Saturday. “But at the same time when I watch them play collectively, their collective is more important than any individuals, I think.”
LAFC AT VANCOUVER
When: Saturday, 4:30 p.m.
Where: BC Place, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
TV/Radio: Apple TV/710 AM, 980 AM, 1230 AM