Foreign Exchange: Three questions with Southern California News Group's Josh Gross
Ahead of Austin FC playing at LAFC tonight, we checked in with one of the most in-the-know LAFC writers about a team in transition.
Yesterday, we took a look back at what we're calling Austin FC's weirdest rivalry. Today, we'll look at the present with one of the people most in the know about LAFC — Southern California News Group correspondent Josh Gross.
In March, we checked in with him about a defense that hadn't given up a goal in its first four games and the head coaching transition from Steve Cherundolo to Marc dos Santos. As it turns out, here in October, we've got another head coaching change to talk about, as well as a team that October fans might have gone back in time to warn March fans about.
Because it's on the West Coast, even though we're getting this up after normal work hours, we're still a few hours from the 9:30ish pm CT kickoff. Expect an At the Whistle close to midnight and whatever salient bits we get from the post-match press conference in the morning.
To the questions!
The season hasn't quite gone as expected, and Marc dos Santos was recently dismissed as head coach. What specifically has gone awry (by LAFC standards) this season?
Lots of people would argue that elevating Dos Santos from assistant to head coach was the wrong step to begin with. But there's plenty of context and a collection of factors that made him LAFC's first in-season firing.
I suspect it comes down to too much inconsistency, too many ups and downs. LAFC opened the year shutting out opponents in their first six MLS games en route to 11 unbeaten in all competitions. Then they got knocked off their tracks and limped into the World Cup break.nInjuries – particularly the circumstances around Stephen Eustáquio getting hurt in March and a subsequent setback that prompted him to return to Portugal for a month – and Concacaf Champions Cup fatigue caught up to them.
Then LAFC came out of the break looking great only to recede into a struggling style that produced fewer scoring chances than has historically been true for LAFC. Outbound summer transfers departed, including a big miss on U22 signing Amin Boudri, while inbound transfers were slow to help – either through lack of chances or a crippling visa process. Ironically, LAFC has a full roster to work with now that Dos Santos is gone. The deposed coach often talked about what he did not have at his disposal.
What changes will interim head coach Xavi Tamarit bring the remainder of the season? (And does he have a chance to lose the interim tag, or should we just expect Wilfried Nancy to be the next head coach?)
After one game, it's tough to say what Tamarit will do. This is his first gig as a head coach after many years assisting. He comes off as more of a professor than a coach, and has a couple of books to point to about Tactical Periodization that hammer home that point.
He has placed a priority on clarity and making the simple things work well. He'd like more possession based play and a higher press, but those things take time to implement and unfortunately for him, time is not an ally for LAFC right now.
Nancy seems like an obvious target considering LAFC's technical director, Neil McGuinness, was hired away from Columbus in the spring of 2024. If Nancy wants the job, I think the vast majority of LAFC supporters would be excited to see him in that position. Regardless, a housecleaning of the coaching staff is likely coming and a name manager should take the reins heading into 2027.
Let's say LAFC finishes in the No. 5 to No. 7 part of the table; how far do you think they'll go in the playoffs, and why?
The quality is there and they want to compete. From what I could tell, the team did not quit on Dos Santos. They've embraced Tamarit so far. But that kind of seeding would suggest that Tamarit's plans to turn the team around and establish a new identity for the postseason did not take.
Under Dos Santos, LAFC was poor on the road (3-6-6). The team can defend with the best of them and Hugo Lloris has been fantastic in goal this year, yet the lack of scoring (10 goals in the last 11 games) is highly problematic for their MLS Cup playoff chances.
Other than Vancouver, I don't see a reliably dangerous team in the Western Conference. LAFC is capable of exploiting that, but it would take a big shift over the next five games starting with Austin to convince me that LAFC has a deep playoff run in them.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. For more coverage, check out Emergency Podcast! (an Austin FC Podcast) wherever you get your podcasts, and join us on Instagram to get updates on all our stories and podcast releases.
Once again, Denis Bouanga proved too much for Austin FC, as his brace led LAFC to a 3-1 win. It's another two late goals let in to transform a draw to a loss.
Austin FC has faced LAFC 16 times in its history, and it's about to be 17 on Wednesday night. We call up some memories to explain why this series is, in a word, weird.
Both Davy Arnaud and Brad Stuver indicated that it wasn't a good night for Verde and the transformed stadium energy was noticeable, while acknowledging Nashville SC was a formidable opponent.
Against the backdrop of a stadium atmosphere different than anything Verde have experienced before, the team let in three second-half goals to see its eight-match unbeaten streak come to an end.
Yesterday, we took a look back at what we're calling Austin FC's weirdest rivalry. Today, we'll look at the present with one of the people most in the know about LAFC — Southern California News Group correspondent Josh Gross.
In March, we checked in with him about a defense that hadn't given up a goal in its first four games and the head coaching transition from Steve Cherundolo to Marc dos Santos. As it turns out, here in October, we've got another head coaching change to talk about, as well as a team that October fans might have gone back in time to warn March fans about.
Because it's on the West Coast, even though we're getting this up after normal work hours, we're still a few hours from the 9:30ish pm CT kickoff. Expect an At the Whistle close to midnight and whatever salient bits we get from the post-match press conference in the morning.
To the questions!
The season hasn't quite gone as expected, and Marc dos Santos was recently dismissed as head coach. What specifically has gone awry (by LAFC standards) this season?
Lots of people would argue that elevating Dos Santos from assistant to head coach was the wrong step to begin with. But there's plenty of context and a collection of factors that made him LAFC's first in-season firing.
I suspect it comes down to too much inconsistency, too many ups and downs. LAFC opened the year shutting out opponents in their first six MLS games en route to 11 unbeaten in all competitions. Then they got knocked off their tracks and limped into the World Cup break.nInjuries – particularly the circumstances around Stephen Eustáquio getting hurt in March and a subsequent setback that prompted him to return to Portugal for a month – and Concacaf Champions Cup fatigue caught up to them.
Then LAFC came out of the break looking great only to recede into a struggling style that produced fewer scoring chances than has historically been true for LAFC. Outbound summer transfers departed, including a big miss on U22 signing Amin Boudri, while inbound transfers were slow to help – either through lack of chances or a crippling visa process. Ironically, LAFC has a full roster to work with now that Dos Santos is gone. The deposed coach often talked about what he did not have at his disposal.
What changes will interim head coach Xavi Tamarit bring the remainder of the season? (And does he have a chance to lose the interim tag, or should we just expect Wilfried Nancy to be the next head coach?)
After one game, it's tough to say what Tamarit will do. This is his first gig as a head coach after many years assisting. He comes off as more of a professor than a coach, and has a couple of books to point to about Tactical Periodization that hammer home that point.
He has placed a priority on clarity and making the simple things work well. He'd like more possession based play and a higher press, but those things take time to implement and unfortunately for him, time is not an ally for LAFC right now.
Nancy seems like an obvious target considering LAFC's technical director, Neil McGuinness, was hired away from Columbus in the spring of 2024. If Nancy wants the job, I think the vast majority of LAFC supporters would be excited to see him in that position. Regardless, a housecleaning of the coaching staff is likely coming and a name manager should take the reins heading into 2027.
Let's say LAFC finishes in the No. 5 to No. 7 part of the table; how far do you think they'll go in the playoffs, and why?
The quality is there and they want to compete. From what I could tell, the team did not quit on Dos Santos. They've embraced Tamarit so far. But that kind of seeding would suggest that Tamarit's plans to turn the team around and establish a new identity for the postseason did not take.
Under Dos Santos, LAFC was poor on the road (3-6-6). The team can defend with the best of them and Hugo Lloris has been fantastic in goal this year, yet the lack of scoring (10 goals in the last 11 games) is highly problematic for their MLS Cup playoff chances.
Other than Vancouver, I don't see a reliably dangerous team in the Western Conference. LAFC is capable of exploiting that, but it would take a big shift over the next five games starting with Austin to convince me that LAFC has a deep playoff run in them.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. For more coverage, check out Emergency Podcast! (an Austin FC Podcast) wherever you get your podcasts, and join us on Instagram to get updates on all our stories and podcast releases.
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