Circumstances around the 18th edition of El Trafico offer a role reversal.
While the Galaxy hold a two-win advantage over the Los Angeles Football Club in Major League Soccer regular-season meetings (7-5, with another handful of draws between them) the five-time MLS Cup champions have generally entered the hotly contested matches since 2018 lagging behind their neighbors in the standings and in hope.
Following the first month and a half of the 2024 season, however, that appears not to be the case.
Under the helm of Will Kuntz, who departed LAFC this winter after six seasons with the club’s front office, the Galaxy have an out-of-the-blocks lead in the Supporters’ Shield race and carry a top-dog look about them.
“If they are up there it’s not because of luck,” said LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who is among a handful of newcomers in Black & Gold who will be getting their first in-person look at the Galaxy on Saturday at BMO Stadium. “They have quality. Something positive is happening in their side.”
Galaxy signings Joseph Paintsill and Gabriel Pec made immediate impacts, scoring three times between them while freeing up Dejan Joveljic for five goals.
Adding to the possession-based play preferred by Galaxy coach Greg Vanney and his staff, LAFC defender Aaron Long noted that the visitor’s “dynamic” attack, led by midfielder Riqui Puig on the ball, gives the Galaxy (3-0-3, 12 points) the ability to play over the top and run behind defenders in ways they could not the past few seasons.
Meanwhile, LAFC (2-3-1, seven points) is in ninth position in the Western Conference standings. Six games is too few to glean much about where either team will wind up in the fall, and starting fast early isn’t always an indicator for success, but going unbeaten in their opening six matches has projected a new-old sheen on LAFC’s rival at a time when the 2022 MLS champions look inconsistent as a slew of newcomers build up the basics they’ll have to count on later in the season.
Notwithstanding Coach Steve Cherundolo’s inclination that the timing of the first of three regular-season derbies is no more important than any other for LAFC, experience tells the team’s 37-year-old goalkeeper that “psychologically it’s an important moment in the season to confirm good form at home. And it’s all about confidence. When you win games, especially big games, you can build on that type of feelings for the future,” Lloris said.
Long agreed.
Prior to experiencing 180 minutes of El Trafico madness last year, he was familiar with the Hudson River Derby as part of the New York Red Bulls, and he rolled with Seattle into battles against Portland.
“Derby matches are known to jump-start seasons, for sure,” Long said. “Set you on a new path, for good or for bad. So it’s a huge game, always.”
As the group attempts to find sure footing, this will be the first El Trafico in which Carlos Vela is not on the roster. The Mexican leads all players who appeared in the high-scoring series with 10 goals and five assists through a dozen regular-season appearances.
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Cherundolo said it is difficult for him to put the L.A. rivalry into proper context for the uninitiated, but “it doesn’t take much to catch up. You just have to understand the intensity and gravity of the moment.”
Coming off a 3-2 defeat in Colorado when the wheels fell off late after 18-year-old David Martinez was red carded (making him ineligible to appear Saturday), “we haven’t had the start as expected, but we also know the season is a long way,” Lloris said. “We need to reach a consistency in terms of performance, in terms of result, especially away from home. But I believe this game arrived at the right time for us to judge a little bit where we are.
“It’s a good time for us to challenge that type of team.”
GALAXY AT LAFC
When: Saturday, 4:45 p.m.
Where: BMO Stadium
TV/radio: Fox (Ch. 11), Apple TV+ (free), 710 AM, 980 AM
