Marc Dos Santos isn’t going to alternate starting lineups, dedicating one group of players for MLS matches and another for the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
“I don’t think that’s right,” the Los Angeles Football Club head coach said Tuesday.
Perhaps not, but LAFC needs to do something if it aims to successfully compete in multiple competitions at once and not burn out the roster.
Keeping players fit and his team on track through the densest glut of games in LAFC history is difficult but not impossible. Last season, the Vancouver Whitecaps had the most points in MLS when they reached the Champions Cup final at the end of May. Prior to its past two league contests, a 2-1 loss in Portland followed by a 4-1 setback to San Jose on Sunday at BMO Stadium, that’s the direction LAFC was trending.
Sandwiching last week’s Champions Cup match in Mexico that sent LAFC to the two-leg semifinal against Deportivo Toluca FC, the pair of MLS games were very different, results notwithstanding.
Dos Santos heavily rotated his team in Portland, nearly getting away with that until a late game-winner for the Timbers zapped the good vibes.
Against San Jose, LAFC went with the same first-choice group that shut out Miami at the Coliseum and beat Cruz Azul, 4-1, on aggregate.
Four days after the high-emotion, high-altitude quarterfinal victory in Puebla, however, the same starting XI didn’t have it at sea level.
Returning to training Tuesday following a day off, Dos Santos took responsibility in front of the group.
“I trusted that we were recovered from the Mexico game,” Dos Santos said. “That was very high demand, also mentally. It was a hard game in Mexico. It required a lot physically and mentally from us. I’m not sure we were fully recovered. I’m not sure, and maybe some rotation should have already happened in that game. But now we have to make sure we always have a fresh team.”
After speaking with the players, the coach said they want to move past San Jose and bounce back.
“I think Marc has managed these moments really well,” LAFC forward Jeremy Ebobisse said. “I think he has managed our emotions really well, in particular, knowing when to give us the boost and when to put his arm around us and let us know things are alright.
“We have been through a lot in a short period of time and he’s kept the group at large, not just the guys who are playing most of the minutes, really energized and motivated to contribute. We’re in a place where we can lift off this mini setback and treat it for what it was and then get back to winning ways.”
When LAFC hosts the Colorado Rapids (4-4-0, 12 points) on Wednesday night, Dos Santos, anticipating a physical contest, expects to rely on lively legs and predetermined substitutions around the 60-minute mark.
After the Rapids dropped a nail-biter to Inter Miami on Saturday in front of more than 75,000 fans in Denver, they are eighth in the Western Conference. Playing an intense, pressing, vertical style, Colorado has produced 21 goals, the second most in MLS through eight games.
“We’ll need to be really structured and ready to get out of pressure quickly,” Dos Santos said.
Third in the West, LAFC (5-2-1, 16 points) began with six straight shutouts before conceding half a dozen goals in its last two MLS contests, good for a plus-10 goal differential.
“We were never too high during our fantastic month and a half, when everything looked to be great,” Dos Santos said. “I always said that we could be better and there’s things we could do to become better. And we’re not going to get too low either because of one bad game. It’s important we stay focused on what’s next and we keep growing as a team.”
RAPIDS AT LAFC
When: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: BMO Stadium
TV: Apple TV, 980 AM, 710 AM, 1230 AM