A couple hours after being named the 2024 Major League Soccer sporting executive of the year Tuesday, Los Angeles Football Club general manager and co-president John Thorrington declared he would gladly trade individual recognition for team success.
“Right now we are all very disappointed given that we felt like we had a team that was capable of more,” Thorrington said in the wake of LAFC’s Western Conference semifinal loss to Seattle on Saturday at BMO Stadium. “And so in this moment, we all feel disappointed that we did not take full advantage of the opportunity ahead of us to win another trophy – but that does not mean the season was disappointing.”
That depends on how one measures success, but by most standards across the top flight of American soccer, LAFC delivered the goods even if the team fell shy of winning a second MLS Cup in three years.
“There’s so much that goes into a season. We won a trophy,” said Thorrington, referencing the club’s first U.S. Open Cup. “We had some great moments. We had the best winning streak this team has ever had. We improved our record and a lot of our metrics from last season to this season. Now any time we don’t win the MLS Cup we’re going to be disappointed, but I don’t necessarily think that means it’s a disappointing season as a whole.”
Coming into 2024 off an unsuccessful MLS Cup repeat bid in Columbus, LAFC started the season with a thin roster. Yet it remained highly competitive through the summer, eventually making the Leagues Cup final, earning a CONCACAF Champions Cup berth, lifting the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, and rallying over the last month of the season to become the No. 1 seed in the West.
Most disheartening at the moment for Thorrington was missing out on what would have undoubtedly been the most important El Trafico in the seven-year history of the rivalry between LAFC and the Galaxy.
Instead of preparing for a first all-L.A. conference final against the Galaxy, which advanced to the conference final with a win over Minnesota on Sunday, LAFC is going through a postmortem before fully turning its intention to the 2025 season beginning the first week in February with the Champions Cup.
“That does alter our decision-making a bit in preparation for the preseason,” said Thorrington, who conducted exit player meetings Monday and Tuesday alongside head coach Steve Cherundolo. “That lends itself to the idea that we want to find the right balance of continuity and new faces. We feel we have a really good group of guys that is a really good foundation to build off of, and we think with the right pieces we can go a few steps further next year.”
To that end, several roster moves were made official by 10 a.m. Wednesday, when LAFC faced an MLS deadline to exercise contract options and submit bona fide offers to the league office.
LAFC retained goalkeepers Hugo Lloris and David Ochoa, defenders Sergi Palencia and Eddie Segura, and forward Adrian Wibowo.
Meanwhile, the club declined an option on club legend Carlos Vela, who rejoined the group in August as a free agent and saw the field for four minutes.
“I’m grateful Carlos had a chance to play again,” Thorrington said. “I think he was a positive influence. He was great to have around the building in the run-up for these games. We’ll have to sit down with him and see what makes sense for the future for him and LAFC,” which has not ruled out a return for Vela in 2025.
Club options on strikers Kei Kamara and Luis Müller, midfielder Thomas Musto, and defenders Marlon Santos and Diego Rosales were also declined.
Kamara scored eight goals and six assists while appearing in 40 of the club’s 50 matches. The 40-year-old striker became the No. 2 goal scorer in MLS history during his stint with LAFC.
Defenders Aaron Long and Jesus Murillo along with midfielder Ilie Sanchez and Kamara are free agents.
Homegrown midfielder Erik Dueñas is out of contract, too, but because he’s not yet 24 years old, he’s ineligible for free agency.
LAFC confirmed they are in talks to retain Long, Murillo and Santos as it aims to keep its crew of defenders together, as well as Dueñas and Sanchez.
Playing for LAFC on loan in 2024, midfielder Eduard Atuesta is slated to return to Brazilian club Palmeiras.
Lewis O’Brien’s loan from Nottingham Forest in the English Premier League also expired, though LAFC is in discussions to retain the midfielder who played heavy minutes over the last third of the season.
Additionally, LAFC transferred homegrown midfielder Bajung Darboe to German giant Bayern Munich.
By failing to reach a third consecutive MLS Cup final, LAFC isn’t on the hook for player bonuses that financially hamstrung the team the past two offseasons, providing more room and flexibility to assemble the roster than Thorrington and his staff have been used to in recent years.
The returning group includes the first full season in black and gold for 38-year-old French striker Olivier Giroud, who was slow to contribute since arriving in August during the summer window.
Thorrington and Cherundolo said with time off and a full preseason under his belt, more will be expected from Giroud.
Talented attacker David Martínez, who is 20 years younger than Giroud, and midfielder Timothy Tillman will return, but there remain several unknowns as “midfield is a key area for us that we know we need to add some quality and some depth,” Thorrington said.
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Could the transfer market in the upcoming primary window see the departure of key contributors Mateusz Bogusz or Cristian Olivera?
“If they go, it’ll mean it was the right opportunity for the player and for us,” Thorrington said. “And if they stay here, we’ll have one or two, depending on how many stay, great assets for us heading into next year.”
Thorrington did not rule out top French attacker Antoine Greizmann arriving in the winter from Atlético Madrid.
“I think we have some flexibility to add some really key pieces that will push the group that we have,” Thorrington said. “I would expect us to see improvement between the team that stepped off the field disappointed against Seattle on Saturday, and the team that we’ll see come our first game in February.”