Neel Shelat looks at the tactics and recruitment decisions of Los Angeles FC, MLS’ emergent power club and 2022 double winners
Los Angeles FC have been the most successful Major League Soccer club in recent years. In 2022, they achieved the rare feat of the double, winning both the Supporters’ Shield at the end of the regular season and the MLS Cup in the playoffs. Although they could not add any silverware to their cabinet in the following year, the fact that they reached the finals of both the MLS playoffs and CONCACAF Champions Cup is nothing to be sneered at. This year, they won another trophy in the US Open Cup and got to the final of the Leagues Cup besides finishing at the top of the Western Conference standings, though they suffered a dramatic extra time defeat in the conference semi-final.
As their record shows, LAFC have been able to consistently compete at a very high level in a league where various factors make that quite difficult. In fact, just four other teams have reached back-to-back finals in the league’s history, namely DC United, the LA Galaxy, the New England Revolution and the Seattle Sounders. Fortunes have fluctuated especially dramatically of late, as 2023 Cup winners the Columbus Crew had not even qualified for the playoffs the year before and newly-crowned Supports’ Shield holders Inter Miami bounced back from a 27th-place finish in 2023.
Surely, then, LAFC are doing something quite well that warrants closer inspection.
Unique Challenges in MLS
Before delving into the details of LAFC’s tactics, it is worth briefly acknowledging the unique context of Major League Soccer. Much of these factors match what we highlighted in the case of the National Women’s Soccer League in a piece looking at its new tactical meta, but there are some differences as well.
Most notably, MLS is much bigger than the NWSL or indeed any other league in terms of the number of teams competing in it. With San Diego FC set to become its 30th club next year, MLS will reinforce its position as the top-flight league with the most contestants in the world ahead of Argentina’s 28-team Liga Profesional.
Consequently, there are a couple of challenges teams have to contend with. Fixture congestion can be a bit of an issue as all teams have to play 34 regular season games plus up to seven playoff matches under the current format. 41 games on their own are not quite so bad, but add to that the US Open Cup, CONCACAF Champions League and Leagues Cup besides some other miscellaneous fixtures like the Campeones Cup, and the top teams can find themselves having to play over 50 games a year.
Of course, top European and South American teams also have to deal with similar numbers of fixtures, but the difference for MLS clubs is the fact that roster rules make it difficult for them to have the same level of depth as their counterparts in other continents. These rules are predominantly aimed at promoting competitiveness, as they use measures such as salary caps and player quotas to bar teams from buying their way to success. This is one of the main things that makes sustaining a high level of success difficult in MLS since the margins are always very tight.
At the same time, the league’s size means there is a good deal of tactical diversity in it too. While the general tactical meta of MLS is pretty transition-based (due to things like the roster rules and the playoff format, as detailed in the aforementioned NWSL piece), there are all sorts of outliers right from the meticulously possession-oriented Columbus Crew to Minnesota United’s staunch low block. The ideal approaches against these two sides, for example, are quite different, suggesting that there could be a good deal of value in tactical flexibility.
LAFC’s Balanced Tactical Flexibility
Indeed, tactical flexibility can be chalked up as one of the key factors behind LAFC’s recent success. They have even taken things up a notch this season, but critically, they have done so while striking the right balance between being flexible in terms of formations and approaches while managing to maintain a consistent identity of their own.
Ever since Steve Cherundolo became LAFC’s head coach in 2022, he has focused on developing a transition-based approach largely in line with the league’s tactical meta. In fact, he seemed to prioritise that over the relatively recently added elements of tactical flexibility, as his Coach ID radar suggests.
So, even as they have started to mix things up more in terms of their formations and approaches to matches, LAFC have remained one of the more transition-based teams in MLS in the last two seasons.
If we were to briefly summarise LAFC’s tactical evolution under Cherundolo, it would be thus: in 2022, they started off with a slightly more possession-oriented approach, averaging close to 52% possession in the league and almost exclusively lining up in a 4-3-3 formation or one of its variants. They started to add elements of counterattacking play in 2023 as their possession average dropped below 50% and they threw in the odd back three on occasion, but they skewed far more in that direction in 2024. This year, they averaged 46.8% possession in the league, placing as low as 23rd in that metric.
As this description suggests, LAFC’s formation says a lot about their intended approach. Broadly speaking, they have developed two systems:
Possession-Based 4-3-3
LAFC’s possession-based 4-3-3 is a pretty straightforward system to understand because it matches most typical trends we see with this formation, especially in possession.
Like most teams, LAFC move into a 2-3-2-3 structure in possession with deep and usually wide full backs, a positionally disciplined number six, relatively freer number eights who are tasked with connecting play centrally, and a quite high and horizontally spread front three in which the wingers look to stretch the opposition’s back line in all ways possible. The positioning of the two number eights – who are generally relatively close to each other in the central areas – is a telltale sign of the kind of opposition LAFC expect. If they tend to start deeper closer to the number six, that means Cherundolo’s side are prepared to play through any pressure with the eights’ support as they move around and constantly offer passing options to the back five. If they push on high into a front five of sorts, that means LAFC expect to come up against a lower block which is why they commit more numbers forward while the back five can take care of progression on their own.
One tweak worth noting this season is that LAFC often started without a recognised striker up front, instead using a false nine. As a result, the wingers were tasked with posing even more of a threat in behind and regularly made such inward runs when they saw an opportunity to breach the opposition back line. That should explain their average on-ball positions map around the midway point of the season.
In this system, LAFC have to be a little flexible with their approach. They do like to play forward quickly and transitionally even when building out from the back, but that is only reasonably possible when their opponents are stepping up to press or setting up a relatively high block. Against staunch low blocks, the Black and Gold are capable of patiently probing for gaps by circulating the ball, though they still try to press-bait and transition if possible.
Things get a little more interesting out of possession, as LAFC do not tend to press anywhere near as much as most teams using a possession-based 4-3-3 system around the world. Partly due to the makeup of their squad (which does not have too many attackers who are great out of possession) and also to leverage a more transition-based approach, LAFC generally drop into a 4-1-4-1 mid block. In fact, even when they have to press (generally only when chasing the game), it is the midfielders who spring the traps in a relatively narrower and more flat 4-3-3, while the front three simply block passing lanes. In most cases, they do not mind dropping further back too much either, often switching into a 4-4-2 lower down the field as star attacker Denis Bouanga is given the permission to cheat and pose a counterattacking threat after turnovers. Naturally, then, they almost always look for ways to quickly find him after winning the ball back.
Counterattacking 5-2-2-1
Bouanga’s counterattacking threat is surely is one of the driving factors behind Cherundolo’s inclination to lean even more heavily on counterattacks. The Gabonese forward is not half bad when it comes to taking on full backs and breaking down settled blocks, but he has regularly been simply sensational when given space to attack with and without the ball ever since he moved to MLS in the latter half of 2022.
As the above map suggests and his heatmap further proves, Bouanga likes to start out wide on the left and drive infield, cutting onto his favoured right foot using his high speed dribbling ability in the process.
As one would expect, then, Bouanga loves to chop inside and shoot from all sorts of distances. However, he does quite a good job of getting into the box as well, so much so that he scored 20 MLS goals this season with the highest xG tally in the league to boot.
The former Saint-Étienne forward is quite good at creating chances as well as he tends to make the right decisions in transition more often than not. All things considered, then, he is as close as they come to the archetypical MLS forward and can be a bit of a cheat code when in form.
So, to generate as many counterattacking opportunities for Bouanga as possible, LAFC like to drop into a 5-2-2-1 mid to low block out of possession. The forwards next to the striker are fairly split apart, arguably doing more for their side’s rest attack than the defensive cause. Once again, Bouanga is allowed to cheat to make it a 5-3-2 deeper down the pitch, thus also encouraging the opposition to attack down LAFC’s left (from where Bouanga is easier to find after turnovers). As the wingers do not necessarily track back so much, the back five has to provide a great deal of horizontal coverage while the two central midfielders tend to stay deep and plug any holes that might be opening up. The spread positioning of the front three ensures there almost always is a counterattacking outlet to find after turnovers. Besides Bouanga, the likes of Mateusz Bogusz and Timothy Tillman as well as target striker options such as Olivier Giroud and Kei Kamara help Cherundolo’s side pose a great counterattacking threat
In possession, LAFC are obviously quite happy to go direct from the back if their opposition step up, but they can also be fairly cautious with the ball against lower blocks. Their back line forms something of a U-shape in a 3-4-2-1 build-up structure as the ball-side wing back drops back to offer a wide passing option, while the double pivot moves across to support as well. Again, the forwards are pretty spread out in anticipation of any potential transition-like situations. They drift inside further up the field as the wing backs push forward, creating more of a 3-2-4-1 shape with a spread back three helping progress the ball. For the most part, though, they are much happier to drop back and counter, so their in-possession aspect is largely used as a means to establish greater control when they have built up a comfortable lead and want to see a game out.
Finding the Balance
On the whole, it is safe to say that LAFC have executed these tactics quite well as they had the second-highest xG tally, third-lowest xGA figure and most interceptions in the MLS regular season this year. Finding the right balance is not straightforward at all, though, and will inevitably remain a constant process.
Of course, players and squad makeups should inform tactical decisions. As alluded to previously, the attacking quality in LAFC’s squad – including senior figures like Bouanga as well as some emerging talents – are best platformed with a more transition-based approach. At the same time, the lack of a similar level of on-ball quality in the defensive positions means it would be unwise to forcibly try to control games with possession against fellow big-hitters.
That is one part of the explanation behind LAFC’s drift to an increasingly transition-focused approach this season, but it is impossible to ignore some patterns in their formation choices and the timing of their switch. They used a back four for the first half of the season with just a few exceptions, but started setting out in the 5-2-2-1 a lot more in the aftermath of a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of the Columbus Crew. Perhaps Cherundolo always intended to make such a switch closer to the playoffs, but it is quite likely that he also felt that the back five would provide more defensive solidity. The numbers, for their part, seem to just about back up this idea.
| Using a Back Four Formation | Using a Back Five Formation | |
| Matches | 28 | 18 |
| Possession Average | 49.44% | 43.58% |
| xG/90 | 1.82 | 1.92 |
| xGA/90 | 1.28 | 1.17 |
(LAFC’s stats in 2024 split by starting formation.)
Some caveats are worth noting before reading too much into this data. Chief among them is the lack of game state context, which is particularly relevant here as LAFC have also effectively used mid-game switches as and when needed – most recently in the playoff tie decider against the Vancouver Whitecaps. Those switches are not accounted for here, but they have been critical in making LAFC one of the best MLS teams across each of the game states.
Although they will not win the league this year, LAFC’s recent track record and tactical evolution suggest they should be expected to consistently keep competing for all the top honours in the coming years. Besides finding the right balance between their approaches, their biggest challenge will be adapting to the changes in their squad. Cherundolo’s work so far has shown that he is just the man for the job.
Stats courtesy Transfermarkt, FotMob and Wyscout.
Header image copyright: IMAGO / Imagn Images / Kelvin Kuo
