Neil McGuinness, of Scotland, has been hired as the first technical director in Los Angeles Football Club history.
The role was called director of soccer operations until last Christmas – when Marco Antonio Garcés departed to become sporting director of La Liga’s Celta Vigo – because in Latin America “technical director” is essentially the same thing as coach.
Whatever is in a title, it’s the duties that matter.
McGuinness spent the last five years in the position of director of scouting and player recruitment for the Columbus Crew, and was key in composing the groups that won MLS Cups in 2020 and last December against LAFC.
“I believe my experience building MLS rosters and identifying international talent will be an asset to the club as we look to develop players and attempt to win championships,” McGuinness said in a statement.
McGuinness will oversee scouting, scouting infrastructure, player recruitment and transfer decisions, tying in with co-president and general manager John Thorrington and head coach Steve Cherundolo on first team needs, and everything having to do with inbound or outbound transfers and transfer windows.
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Fielding 350 applicants at a time when he had to take on duties constructing the 2024 team that would have been in Garcés portfolio, Thorrington opted to “walk to the right decision rather than run to the wrong one” when it came time to fill the front office void. “And we found a really good candidate in Neil, amongst a really talented pool. We found the guy who we feel will really help us moving forward.
“He’s a guy that I’ve known for a number of years outside the league, as well as then obviously we’ve noticed the great work he has done with Columbus as head of recruitment. We think certainly he’ll be able to fulfill a bit of that role with us and do a little bit more as well.”
The technical staff is expected to add one more person in a new role following the departure of head scout David Kammarman, who left LAFC after five years to become head of player recruitment with New England.
