Swanson: LAFC’s grit is the secret to its success

LOS ANGELES – All that glitters isn’t gold; and all that’s gold doesn’t glitter, not automatically.

It’s that bit, the grit, that’s the secret there at BMO Stadium, the loud and mighty fortress where LAFC has become Major League Soccer’s gold standard-bearer. The league’s first billion dollar franchise. Its reigning Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup winner.

And, if it can overcome a 2-1 aggregate deficit Sunday in the Leg 2 against Mexico’s Club León, the first MLS team to hit for the triple: Owners of the Cup, the Shield and a CONCACAF Champions League crown all at the same time.

All that is why the Black & Gold are being talked about, in Season 6, as maybe the greatest team in the 28 years of MLS history.

Pan out further, and LAFC ought to be the envy of every professional sports organization that’s ever dreamt of building a sustainable championship contender.

A juggernaut that’s made a real dent in Los Angeles, a crowded market that already had its share of fans devoted to the five-time MLS champion Galaxy. That club has hit turbulence as its new crosstown rival is cruising ever upward, including now, as LAFC takes steady steps toward international acclaim previously unimaginable for an MLS team.

LAFC is making all this look easy. It’s not.

That résumé doesn’t sparkle so without some grime, without having to dig success out of the dirt every now and again.

“That’s one of the prevailing characteristics of this team,” said John Thorrington, co-president and general manager, by phone this week. “Even when it’s not going specifically to plan, even when we’re not playing our absolute best, we find a way.”

Denis Bouanga is inevitable.

LAFC with a stoppage time goal. They trail Club Leon 2-1 after leg one of the CCL final. Huge moment. pic.twitter.com/C9QXeUN5lU

— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) June 1, 2023

That toughness was there Wednesday, when Dénis Bouanga scored a stunning goal late in stoppage time in a 2-1 loss on the road at Estadio Leon, changing the whole complexion of the home-and-home continental final.

The focus, Bouanga said Saturday, never changes: “We’re gonna fight hard.”

See also: LAFC’s first MLS Cup win in a thriller over Philadelphia Union last November, when it took Gareth Bale’s equalizer deep in stoppage time to tie it 3-3 before backup goalkeeper John McCarthy’s two saves in the shootout lifted LAFC to its first title.

Or before that, last October, when Bouanga scored his first MLS goal five minutes into stoppage time to clinch LAFC’s second Supporters’ Shield.

Or in 2020, when LAFC reached the CONCACAF Champions League final for the initial time after first defeating Club León in the quarterfinals; the Black & Gold using a 3-0 victory in L.A. to overturn a 2-0 goal count.

Or off the pitch too. After missing the MLS postseason in 2021, LAFC gave itself a good hard look and concluded it needed to plug holes not with hot prospects but with seasoned vets.

And also this year, check out how LAFC’s roster – helped none by MLS’ salary cap structure prioritizing league-wide parity – is bearing the weight of a schedule made more taxing by this long CONCACAF Champions League run.

Bearing it and grinning in the face of the traditional CCL hangover.

There’s a reasonable notion that MLS teams that make deep runs in this tournament will struggle in league play, because the workload is so burdensome. That included last year, when the Seattle Sounders – the first CONCACAF Champions League winner from MLS – finished 12-5-17 and failed to make the postseason for the first time in 14 seasons.

But the notion that doesn’t appear to apply to LAFC, which is 7-4-1 with the second-best goal differential (plus-13) in MLS.

“We work every day,” said star forward Carlos Vela, who in his five-plus seasons with LAFC has won the MLS Golden Boot and MVP, two Supporters Shields, a MLS Cup title, and has the top-selling adidas jersey on MLSstore.com – and also a clear-sighted view of what’s led to such success.

“We have to fight to the end,” he added. “It’s the only thing.”

.@LAFC could claim *another* trophy Sunday in the CONCACAF Champions League final.

On paper, the Black & Gold can make it look easy, but that’s not actually how it works.

Carlos Vela: “We work every day… The only thing we are sure we can do, go hard. Give everything we have.” pic.twitter.com/jstz09K8q9

— Mirjam Swanson (@MirjamSwanson) June 4, 2023

For all the famous faces in the stands and among the team’s deep and deep-pocketed ownership group, and for all the ambition and professionalism the club’s become known for, LAFC also set out to represent another part of its city.

Its toughness.

“Aggressiveness, the mentality, the will to win, I think is what will decide (Sunday),” coach Steve Cherundolo said at Saturday’s news conference. “And that carries over on the field and into quality of play. Being there in those big moments, being aware, alert, mentally in the right state to capitalize on those few moments, having grit in creating those moments … is extremely important in getting this organization over the finish line.

“We were able to do it twice last year, we’re looking to complete the task again (Sunday).”