The Los Angeles Football Club has won each of its six Major League Soccer season openers.
Making it seven in a row would not only break Dallas’ MLS record set from 2012-017, it will require something the club hasn’t dealt with before: not having Carlos Vela on the field.
Months after LAFC’s first face of the franchise walked off a soggy pitch in Columbus, Ohio, with his teammates having fallen short of repeating as MLS Cup champions, the soon-to-be 35-year-old forward’s presence remains prominent inside the locker room despite his absence through the preseason and, now, Match Day 1 at BMO Stadium against the Seattle Sounders.
As the organization and free-agent star continue to negotiate terms for what the silky left-footed Mexican declared would be his final season no matter where it takes place, LAFC’s longtime captain remains present one way or another.
“We’ve been in touch with him,” Spanish midfielder Ilie Sanchez said prior to his third season wearing black and gold. “He’s been asking about the dynamic of the preseason, so obviously it’s been different because you don’t have him on the field, but we still have his things in the locker room.”
If the parties don’t agree and Vela’s belongings are eventually removed from the LAFC practice facility on the campus of Cal State L.A., it will reverberate in several ways.
In 2023, Vela appeared in all 34 MLS regular-season games for the first time, tallying nine goals and 12 assists in league play while his attacking partner, Denis Bouanga, romped to claim the Golden Boot.
Minus Vela, who contributed to more than a third of the goals scored by LAFC since 2018, opposing teams, starting with the Sounders, are likely to key in on stopping Bouanga.
“There is also other players who can make the difference,” the 29-year-old French attacker said. “But the foot of Carlos is going to be missed on the field, for sure.”
LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo, who signed a multi-year…
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