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Bob Bradley was angry.
Heading into the final regular-season match of the 2018 season, Bradley expected his playoff-bound group to step onto the pitch against the top team in the MLS Western Conference and make the most of the attacking, eye-pleasing style that first took shape 10 months ago during preseason camp at UCLA.
“On a day when not enough of that happened,” Bradley said, “yeah, I was angry.”
In the aftermath of LAFC’s 2-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City, a match in which L.A. conceded the game-losing goal despite playing with a man advantage, Bradley was compelled to publicly express the anger he directed at his players.
“For sure we sensed it and I think most of us are angry,” noted LAFC defender Steven Beitashour, who won an MLS Cup in 2017 with Toronto FC. “It was unacceptable. You have a chance to win the Western Conference and you bring out a performance like that? We didn’t do anything we know we’re capable of.”
After LAFC’s disappointing 2-2 draw with Vancouver in the final regular-season match at Banc of California Stadium on Oct. 21, Beitashour couched the pending contest at Kansas City as a playoff dress rehearsal.
“Good thing we had that game to prepare us, because that’s a perfect example of us not coming out good enough, in all aspects,” Beitashour said. “We weren’t sharp enough. We weren’t intense enough. We weren’t good enough on the day. If that was an actual playoff game we’d be done. We’d be like the rest of the teams that didn’t make the playoffs, so it was a wake-up call and I think everyone got the message.
“It’s going to be a mix of sometimes pretty football and sometimes having that grit. That’s what the playoffs are all about.”
Unable to secure a bye into the conference semifinals, third-seeded LAFC face a fast turnaround with a home elimination game against Real Salt Lake, which was the only MLS team not to play on Decision Day due to the league’s odd number of teams.
Hosting a barbecue for his coaching staff on Sunday, RSL head coach Mike Petke rejoiced when the L.A. Galaxy blew a two-goal lead against the Houston Dynamo at StubHub Center.
That result gave RSL (14-13-7, 49 points) a second life – and a third crack at Bradley’s LAFC team. In March, LAFC visited Salt Lake City and dismantled RSL 5-1. The rematch in mid-August saw LAFC triumph 2-0.
Coaches and players on both sides dismissed the significance of the previous matches, though RSL captain Kyle Beckerman said he and his teammates haven’t come close to landing their best punch against LAFC.
“Everyone was really excited when we saw it was them (as their playoff opponent),” Beckerman said. “It’s going to be extremely tough. They’re a really good team. And they have got the better of us but we feel there’s no reason why we can’t change things.”
Winning the ball back when LAFC are dispossessed will be critical to keeping RSL’s Joao Plata, Jefferson Savarino and Corey Baird off the scoresheet.
“They are quick and tricky,” Beitashour said. “They can go right or left. We have to really pay attention to them. Bob has spoken about our offensive marking has to be really on point.”
LAFC (16-9-9, 57 points) is poised to become the second team in MLS history to win a playoff match in their debut season (joining Bradley’s 1998 Chicago Fire), a result that would propel them into the home-and-away conference semifinals against the Seattle Sounders.
Bradley’s anger at the result in Kansas City receded as he shifted his attention toward LAFC’s first MLS Cup playoff appearance.
Throughout a record-setting inaugural season, the 60-year-old coach, who led the U.S. to the World Cup and has hoisted MLS championships, preferred to talk about his team rather than himself, and focused on words like “us” and “we” because, in his estimation, that is how you build something.
“We go to the playoffs still believing in what our best football looks like,” he said.
LAFC vs. REAL SALT LAKE
Kickoff: Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; Banc of California Stadium
TV: ESPN2, UniMas
Radio: 710 AM, 980 AM
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