After a tough come-from-behind loss to the L.A. Galaxy on Saturday, LAFC is shifting its focus to another challenging match on the road. This week, the team will travel to Atlanta for a matchup against a recent expansion team that quickly gained traction in Major League Soccer.
Atlanta United FC knows a bit about establishing itself quickly, clinching a playoff berth last year in its first MLS season and setting a league record for match attendance with an announced 72,035 fans at this year’s home opener. For LAFC, it will be vital to regroup quickly in order to prepare for the club’s longest road trip yet. For team captain Laurent Ciman, the beginning of this week is a vital time to take control of his team’s energy and move away from the Galaxy game.
“The importance of my role is to make sure that we forget as fast as we can,” Ciman said. “We have to stay realistic to everything that happened. We played 60 very good minutes that we were in control. And then there were 30 minutes where we have to go back, review and make sure those minutes don’t happen again. It’s part of a growth as a team. My role as captain is to make sure that everybody understands that.”
Beside an incredible performance by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, there was plenty to take away from Saturday’s game. The biggest learning curve in the eyes of head coach Bob Bradley is his team’s ability to control the ball. LAFC has proved itself deadly on the attack — especially in a 5-1 scorcher on the road at Real Salt Lake — but the team often cheats on defense to achieve this pace on offense, sacrificing offensive control in order to catch defenses off guard and score on counterattacks.
This week, Bradley is working to emphasize passes through the midfield, hoping to rein in his young team and teach the players how to pace a game for a full 90 minutes.
“We’ve still got to find a way to control teams a little bit better,” Bradley said. “We’re a dangerous team. I think our opponents recognize that. But you can’t be in a rush to go to goal every time. There’s times in a game where stringing eight, 10, 12 passes together and having some control becomes very important, and that’s an area where we need to improve.”
This will be vital against Atlanta, which set a solid tone with a 3-1 start to the season. The Five Stripes started out with a brutal 4-0 loss to the Houston Dynamo, but they rallied back to defeat D.C. United 3-1 in its home opener and then Vancouver 4-1 six days later at home. The team is fresh off a 1-0 win over Minnesota United on Saturday, despite a red card to Leandro González Pírez leaving them with ten players in the 38th minute.
The Atlanta attack is well balanced, with five different players scoring the first eight goals of the season. To lock down Atlanta on offense, LAFC will need to watch Josef Martinez, who notched a hat trick in the Vancouver game and another goal in his team’s home-opener against D.C. United.
“Atlanta is a team with great attacking players,” Bradley said. “I think early in our season, we have also shown that we’ve got some guys capable of doing some special things. In those ways, there’s some similarities. I think we’re also trying over time to make sure we’re a complete team. I haven’t seen enough of that over 90 minutes.”
Vela recognition, Univision partnership and practice facility unveiling
Carlos Vela picks up second straight MLS Team of the Week honor
Hot off scoring a brace in the 4-3 loss to the Galaxy, Vela earned one of the Starting XI spots in the latest MLS Team of the Week. Vela scored two goals in 20 minutes, notching his first with a curling strike in the fifth minute, then dancing through the defense to slot a second in the 25th minute. This is his second week being honored on the Team of the Week starting lineup.
Congrats, @11carlosV 👏
His second straight MLS Team of the Week.
📰 https://t.co/GBH1S7sqE9 pic.twitter.com/WetM3tM9YQ
— LAFC (@LAFC) April 2, 2018
Team officially moves into new training facility
The club will make the move to its new practice facility on the campus of Cal State Los Angeles on Wednesday, marking the official opening of the $30 million facility. The team will then host its first practice in its new digs that afternoon. The performance facility will also serve as host for the club’s front office, coaching staff and LAFC Academy after Wednesday.
LAFC announces expanded partnership with Univision
Univision Los Angeles became the official Spanish-Language TV partner for the club on Monday. The station will locally broadcast 18 of this season’s games on UniMás KFTR 46. The first Spanish-language game produced by Univision will air April 13 during the team’s matchup on the road against Vancouver. Play-by-play and color commentary will be provided by the Univision Deportes team. The club will continue to broadcast all matches on YouTube TV.