RealGM

“We will go undefeated in our inaugural season. I don’t know how hard that is to do, but we have a pretty good chance. And if not, you can come up and tackle me in the parking lot, OK?”

LAFC co-owner Will Ferrell drew the laughs after jokingly laying down the gauntlet during his club's stadium groundbreaking event on Tuesday, but it was the stadium project that was the star on the day.

LAFC’s home will be called Banc of California Stadium, as a naming rights partnership was announced during the event, something lead managing owner Larry Berg said was “the largest sponsorship in the history of MLS” and vowed will be “the most impactful in MLS as well.”

A collection of LAFC owners, local politicians – including Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti – MLS commissioner Don Garber and US Soccer president Sunil Gulati joined the supporters and media in attendance in watching or lifting their gold-plated shovels to break ceremonial ground on the project, which is scheduled to open in the spring of 2018.

But first, the LA Sports Arena will need to be torn down, as the new soccer-specific stadium will be built on the site, located next to the LA Coliseum. As Garber noted, it will be Major League Soccer's 20th facility built or renovated with soccer in mind.

And in the course of any such large construction project, nailing down an opening date nearly two years ahead of time is next to impossible.

“We’ll see how they do with the project,” LAFC president Tom Penn told reporters after the groundbreaking. “We’re on target for spring of 2018. This is an uncertain project, a lot has to go right, but God willing it will, safe and on time.”

LAFC attacker Carlos Vela feels his new club is "in a good way" but acknowledged that there is still much work to be done ahead of the team's inaugural season.

Vela scored twice in LAFC's 4-4 draw with the Vancouver Whitecaps on Sunday as the expansion team came back from a two-goal halftime deficit.

The Mexico international opened the scoring in the third minute with a sparkling free kick, and then added a second half penalty. Vela played mostly as a No. 10 behind a front three of Latif Blessing, Marco Ureña, and Diego Rossi, and showed a good understanding with his teammates.

The result was tempered, however, by the fact that LAFC was fielding its first-choice lineup, while Vancouver's starting XI was comprised mostly of reserves. For that reason, the Mexico international knows his side needs to improve on the defensive side of the ball.

"It was a crazy game," he told ESPN FC in an exclusive interview. "We have to work, we have to be stronger because we conceded a lot of goals and it's difficult to win a game like that.

"Of course, it's difficult because we start from nothing. We have to build how we can play, how we want to play, and we are in a good way. But of course we have a lot of things we have to improve, and I hope we can be ready for the start of the season."

The team has been together for just over a month, and it has a manager in Bob Bradley who is well versed in the challenges faced by expansion sides. It was Bradley who led the Chicago Fire to a MLS Cup and U.S. Open Cup double in its inaugural season back in 1998.

Carlos Vela has lived up to the marketing
The young players are holding their own. Rossi and Atuesta don't look overwhelmed at all. MAK is rough....but has potential.
6-3-2 after 11 games with the first 6 being on the road has been an excellent start for an expansion team
The signing of DiO and Lee Nguyen came at the perfect time
The offense looks fluid, good ball movement...attacking style

We've missed too many chances in the final 3rd of the pitch
We've had to play with our backup keeper, and he's been hit or miss.
...
Going back to the missed chances... Portland will pass us if we keep this up

50CalClips wrote:Is the LAFC Option missing from RealGM's "preferences"? I can't represent my team!