LAFC fires coach Marc Dos Santos amid slump

LAFC, mired in a slump having received just two of its last 13 video games in all competitors, fired first-year coach Marc Dos Santos on Sunday with six matches left in the MLS common season.

The firing, announced in a three-paragraph assertion, comes less than 24 hours after Saturday’s 1-0 loss to FC Dallas dropped the crew to sixth in the Western Conference desk.

“Marc has given a great deal to this club over the years, and we are grateful for his commitment, care and contributions to LAFC,” said John Thorrington, the crew’s president of soccer operations, in the release. “We wish Marc and his family all the best moving forward.”

LAFC (11-9-8) said it should start the search for a new supervisor immediately but didn’t say who would coach the crew in its next recreation on Oct. 10, after the two-week FIFA worldwide break.

Dos Santos, 49, was an assistant on Bob Bradley’s workers in LAFC’s inaugural season in 2018. He left after the season to take over the Vancouver Whitecaps but struggled to a 22-39-20 document in 2 ½ years that had been closely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which pressured the crew to play many of its recreation on the street.

Dos Santos returned to LAFC as an assistant in 2022, this time for Steve Cherundolo, serving to the crew to a Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup. When Cherundolo stepped down after last season, Dos Santos was given the top teaching job just two weeks later, turning into the third supervisor in the crew‘s history.

His two stints as an assistant at LAFC taught him that the team’s followers are among the most demanding in MLS, one thing he said he embraced.

“It’s a privilege when you coach a team in Los Angeles,” he said at the time. “Every sport here is pressure. Every team here is win, win.

“It’s a winning city and the culture of the city. So I understand that.”

Dos Santos, who is fluent in 4 languages, was born in Montreal and cut up his childhood between Quebec and Portugal. With the exception of Vancouver, he has received in all places he’s managed, from the Ottawa Fury of the NASL, where he was named the league’s coach of the yr in 2015, to the San Francisco Deltas, whom he guided to an NASL title.

LAFC was unbeaten in its first 11 matches in all competitors under Dos Santos, outscoring opponents 27-3 and advancing to the semifinals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup, where it misplaced to Mexico’s Toluca, the eventual winner. But the crew has gone 6-9-7 in MLS play since then, including Saturday’s loss when Dos Santos was without six key gamers — including main scorer Denis Bouanga and captain Son Heung-min — who had been with their national groups.

Afterward, he spoke about this plans for the two-week worldwide break.

“It’s a hard moment right now for us. And we have to face it,” said Dos Santos, who was in style with his gamers. “It’s been hard for us to get wins. A lot of draws, a lot of close games.

“We need to have everybody together and start working on what this team can be. That’s the big objective during the break.”