#lafc

Derby Day is upon us once again, this time in the heart of Los Angeles. The Clasico Angelino comes to the Banc for the first time in 2022, and LAFC gets set to take on Carson. It’s Episode 202 of Defenders of the Banc, and Gareth Bale is in the building!

Both sides started out a little tense, with the North End and the entire 22,000 at the Banc in rare form. This was definitely the loudest the Banc has been since at least 2019, if not ever. 

Just 17 minutes into the match, Kellyn Acosta shows why he is so incredibly valuable to LAFC, and to the USMNT, as he places a corner kick perfectly on the head of Cifu for the first goal of the match! LAFC is up 1-0, and hangs on for what can best be described as a nervy 1-0 lead into the half

The second half was a very different story. Both sides opening up a bit, and it’s Carson to take the first advantage. Efrain Alvarez spots Raveloson who plays it through to Samuel Grandsir for his first goal of the season, and just like that, all the hard work is laid to waste. It’s level again. 

But LAFC would respond in kind, with two lightning strikes in the span of three minutes. In the 70th, Carlos Vela puts all kinds of pace on a shot from just outside the box, and Cifu is there to redirect it with his head for a good old-fashioned brace! Two minutes later, Chicho takes a wonderful pass from the Captain, Carlos Vela, and slots it to the left of Jonathan Bond for a quick 3-1 lead. What a recovery!

Though Carson would pull one more back after the 81st, and wouldn’t really relent their pressure over the final 15-20 minutes or so, these are the games that forge potential champions. These are the games that you build on to prove that it’s your time to be on top of the mountain. And in this particular game, it was LAFC going home with all three points!  

It would be one thing to play 8 matches in 28 days. That, in itself, is tough. But LAFC made it much, much tougher. Injuries. Yellow card suspensions. New signings and rumors of more on the way. Good form and bad form mixed almost equally. And one soul-crushing loss. Put it all together, and what a year these last 28 days have been. LAFC closes out the run with a match against a familiar and beatable foe, the San Jose Earthquakes.

Like the entire month, LAFC couldn’t make it easy. But they did at least get off to a hot start! An 8th minute PK from Chicho (earned by Ryan Hollingshead) and a beautiful assist by Brian Rodriguez for a second goal (scored by Ryan Hollingshead) had LAFC off and running just 13 minutes in. However, “thorn” in LAFC’s side, Jeremy Ebobisse, made it all about him for the remainder of the half. Several near misses spaced between goals in the 16th and 31st minute saw both clubs heading to the locker room knotted at two after one half of play. 

Thankfully, LAFC has one healthy DP, and today, he played like it. Brian Rodriguez nets his second of the season just two minutes into the second half, and a much-improved defensive effort salts away the 3-2 win for LAFC. 3 goals. 3 points. 3 weeks without a match for the Black and Gold, as MLS takes their international break. LAFC heads into the break at the top of the table, best in the West and best in MLS. 

Also on this episode, we are joined in studio by @lafcluke, Luke Klipp of Pride Republic. We get to know Luke as he talks all things Pride, including some great ways to celebrate Pride Month (June) with all your LAFC friends. He even helps us break down the match! We hope you enjoy episode 197, and we are really looking forward to the next verses of Brian’s Song, coming in Episode 198!

The Black and Gold train rolls through Columbus, Ohio on our way to 8 matches in the month of May. Some called it a trap game. Some were concerned about our injuries, or our lack of depth. Some lamented the impacted schedule. And some who were there to see it likely doubted it would even happen in the first place. But the path to greatness is often littered with tiny but important steps, and LAFC took many in Ohio on the way to three points and our 8th win of the season. The Black and Gold dispatch the Black and Yellow, 2-0, after a lengthy lightning delay and a restart. 

On this episode we are joined by Jonathan Reimer, one-third of the Shoulder to Shoulder team. As part of a fundraiser to raise money for the Mauricio “Mo” Fascio Futsal Court in SELA, Jonathan is here to educate us on the three incredible expressions of tequila that are being sold as part of the fundraising effort. Check out flaskfinewines.com, or hit up Jonathan directly at @boozeology on the socials for more info!

Columbus controlled much of the first half (and the game, for that matter), but several quality attempts were thwarted by The Wall, Maxime Crepeau. LAFC had a quality opportunity as well, but the Mamadou Fall header fell right to Eloy Room. The first half ended nil-nil. 

Coming off the bench at half, putting on their capes and tights, were Carlos Vela and Brian Rodriguez. After also inserting Cifu at the hour mark, all the major players were set for LAFC to get to doing what they do best, score. Because of the incredible pressure applied by Chicho Arango, Darlington Nagbe and the Crew coughed up the ball not once, but twice, leading to both Carlos Vela and Jose Cifuentes finding the back of the soggy net for LAFC. LAFC steals three points on the road and takes down the Crew, 2-0. 

Also on this episode, you’re going to learn an awful lot about tequila. Jonathan really knows his craft, and it’s definitely a fun learning process. We lament missing the match live while Scarf has trouble with the calendar and Filly’s ADHD is in full effect. This one is a bit of a longer episode, but like the match in Columbus, we hope you’ll agree, it’s worth the wait! Enjoy Episode 195!

LAFC begin their biggest and longest test of the season, with 5 matches in just 15 days. The first of the five is a showdown with the best club in the East, the Philadelphia Union, the last team LAFC played pre-pandemic. Their last match was a 3-3 knockdown heavyweight draw. This one begs for a trilogy to settle it, as the two combatants play to another draw, this time 2-2. 

Despite controlling much of the run of play, LAFC would give up an early goal yet again. In the 9th minute, Daniel Gazdag puts Philly on top after a beautiful set of passes in and around the box. LAFC would mount attack after attack in the first half, mostly off of their seven first-half corners. The Union, however, would make it to the half up 1-0.

As LAFC does, they would come out swinging in the second half. Just 12 minutes in, Mahala would find the equalizer with a laser beam over the right shoulder of Andre Blake. The sheer joy in a Mahala goal celebration seems like it would power the entire stadium. In the 67th minute, however, LAFC would surrender their first second-half regular-season goal of 2022, as Julian Carranza bends one around the outstretched arms of Maxime Crepeau to once again give the Union the lead. 

But in this fight, no lead was safe, as LAFC proved in the 82nd minute. It comes off a corner (of course) from Carlos Vela (of course), which finds its way to Cifu. CIfu’s shot is saved by a diving Blake, but the rebound comes off to a wide open Franco Escobar, who may have salted away the starting RB spot with his performance in this match. After an absolutely insane bicycle attempt by Mamadou Fall and plenty of Sharks vs. Jets posturing on both sides after the match, the great refs at PRO blow it dead for a 2-2 draw. What a match!

Also in this episode, we check in on Adama Diomande, we welcome Nathan Ordaz to the family, and try to let our moms know exactly how much we love them. To ALL of the other moms out there in Defenders Nation, we hope you all have a wonderful, happy, and healthy Mother’s Day as well! See you all real, real soon for Episode 192!

Matchday number 4 in the 2022 MLS season is here, and it’s more of the same from Steve Cherundolo, Carlos Vela, and the best team in Major League Soccer, LAFC. It’s Episode 184, it’s Scarf’s birthday, and it’s time to take another moment to appreciate Mo. 

Though Filly and Scarf took a bit to get their schedules on the same page, and to both be in the same country, it’s all worth the wait as the boys discuss the 3-1 win over Vancouver leading into the international break. 

All Scarf wanted for his birthday was three points, but Tristan Blackmon, the former LAFC defender, didn’t get the memo. A 12th-minute goal put the visitors up a goal, definitely not the start that the Black and Gold wanted. It would take 15 minutes for LAFC to find the leveler, as Carlos Vela’s corner finds the grounded Ryan Hollingshead for a beautiful header. 11 minutes later, Mahala weaves through three defenders, passes it by a fourth to a streaking Carlos Vela, and, after his second bite at the cherry, uses the Left Foot of God to give LAFC a lead they would not relinquish. 

After several great second-half chances to extend the lead, Ryan Hollingshead gets that pesky first-brace-of-his-career out of the way after 197 MLS matches to put LAFC up 3-1, and that would be that. LAFC stay at the top of the table with 10 points through four matches as the defense has another solid performance. Dolo Ball is working!

Also on this episode, Angel City FC takes flight, Danny Trejo makes history in Vegas, three of LAFC’s best and brightest get called into camps for El Tri, MAK gets disqualified for El Maple Tree, and the push to build a futsal court in Mo’s honor begins. We’re sorry for the delay, but we really hope you enjoy Episode 184 of “The Most LAFC Podcast on Earth!” 

Match 2 of the Steve Cherundolo era is upon us, and a familiar yet unfriendly foe comes knock, knock, knocking on Black and Gold Heaven’s door, the Portland Timbers. The Pesky Pine Trees, as Filly likes to call them, have dominated LAFC as of late, with our last win against the Rose City coming in September of 2020. 

It was a star-studded affair at the Banc, with Owen Wilson, Weston McKennie, owner Will Farrell, B-Real, and even Head of Security Paul all in attendance. The 22,000 in attendance would be treated to a classic Portland/LAFC match. Franco Escobar came off with an injury in the 13th minute, and just 5 minutes later, Portland would find the back of the net first. Yimmi Chara’s second bicycle kick in as many weeks put Portland on top and into their patented defensive shell. 

After the half, LAFC provided our first Wait, What? Moment of the regular season: Carlos Vela coming off after half-time with a potential small knock.

It would take 80 full minutes for LAFC to answer, but now without some help from the visitors first: Portland’s Claudio Bravo would pick up his second yellow card in the 62nd minute, and from then on, LAFC was on the front foot. Brian Rodriguez would find a streaking Mamadou Fall in the box after yet another successful run by Rayito up the left flank. Brian made the pass, Fall slotted home the equalizer, and, after Crepeau swatted away another Chara attempt, LAFC claws back a point at home.

News and Notes tracks a player we loved to watch in the preseason while This Day In LAFC History says both happy birthday and so long to a former Defender of the Banc. Why are the boys waking up extra early for an away match? How is Scarf celebrating his birthday? And what will Filly program next on the new toys in studio? Make sure you tune in to Defenders of the Banc all season to find out answers to these questions and many more on Episode 183. 

Joined by MLS Now Correspondents for Atlanta United  Gary @gary1123 and Bryce @bleslie19

Topic:

1. Sosa
2. Josef
3. Barco
4. Franco
5. Lisandro 
6. Gabriel Heinze 

last season, Offseason, playoffs and much more. Enjoy the episode and sorry in advance for parts of the audio.

David and Gavin were joined by The Cooligans (@SoccerCooligans) hosts Alexis and Christian! Start your day off with some fun MLS talk with this great episode.

Gavin is joined  by MLS NOW Correspondent for New England Chris @Creighton11

The Following were discussed:

1. Gil
2. Bruce Arena
3. Midfield
4. Henry Kessler
5. Buchanan
6. Fagundez
7. Matt Turner

Expectations for this season and much more.  Enjoy the episode 

Gavin and David share their thoughts on the latest transfer rumors and share some exciting news with us on the growth of the podcast.

Joined by Franco Panizo @FrancoPanizo senior reporter on Inter Miami for @SBIsoccer we take a look at Miami's season last year, Alonso exiting, Phil Neville coming in and the team doing a complete change. We talked about this and much more, enjoy the episode. 

Francisco from @TwinOaksTV and David sat down to discuss Austin FC current roster, The expectations, the Dp's and areas the team still needs to focus in.  

Vince from @USMNT_Thoughts Joined David to discuss a Little of everything when it comes to USMNT. They also discuss the MLS becoming more of a development league, European teams scouting the MLS more than ever and what players to keep an eye on. Vince also gives us his best starting 11 for the National Team. Make sure to follow him on Twitter @USMNT_Thoughts  

Gavin and David give their thoughts on the 2020 season, the moves some clubs have already been making. They discuss Austin's roster building up and the transfer market heating up. What club needs to improve the most this offseason? Gavin and David give their picks 

Breakdown of the mls cup final Sounders vs Crew - Exciting game and perfect game for the crew and a sounders team that had a very difficult time on the field. Follow us on mlsnowpodcast.com on IG and Twitter. Thank You for the support!

Gavin and David give us a good review of the semifinal conferences. Why the revs didn't 
have a chance against the Crew and what Minnesota did wrong that led to the game being lost. Listen to the Stats, breakdowns and predictions listen to it all, we also answer some of your questions.  follow us on twitter @mlsnowpodcast and check out mlsnowpodcast.com for more 

David, Colin, Luis and Ben got together to discuss the mls playoffs, the players, goals, coaches and surprises. Everything about it on this episode, Check out mlsnowpodcast.com for more.

I complete recap of the first games of mls playoffs, full of excitement and drama.
A little of all in this episode! 

Break Down of Nashville SC roster, a preview of the playoff game vs Inter Miami. 
The importance of Willis, Zimmerman, Godoy and McCarty for Nashville, Inter having the experience with Higuain, Matuidi, Trapp and Gonzalez Pirez . Go to mlsnowpodcast.com for much more. Thank you for the support

Our 100th episode! we couldn't have done it without you, thank you for all the amazing support you continue to show. We are doing a Giveaway. Listen to the episode for more details.

Gavin and David Talk playoffs and choose who they have moving on. Let us know who you have moving on to the second round, Tweet us @mlsnowpodcast.