LAFC Weekly Presented by Carmax - Ep. 27

[Music] [Music] unbelievable welcome into LFC weekly presented by CarMax hi I am Max brettos this is the show that gets you up close and personal to All Things black and gold 2024 marks the third season in charge for head coach Steve cherundolo you will be hardpressed to find a coach off to a better start especially in a high press situation like LFC than coach Steve won an MLS Cup and he's made final after final after final he is an American coach but important to remember he spent two decades in Germany as a player and where he began his coaching career but it all started down in San Diego and we go off the pitch with Coach Steve [Music] chuno Steve tralo tell us a little bit about where you where you're from well I was born in Rockford Illinois uh the family moved out to San Diego a couple years later and so I grew up in in San Diego uh moved to college then to University of Portland for a couple years before I found my way in Europe at the age of 19 that's a nowadays there's more players are doing the back then it wasn't so often how does a kid from San Diego the University of Portland end up in the crosshairs of a German club and become puts two decades of time in that place yeah so the the German club is is a little strange and there is a story that that I'll get to but um I grew up with um English coaches and um you know their influence on me was was uh pretty incredible and great and I also went to the University of Portland to where Clive Charles was a coach who had also obviously come from England but um had drawn a lot of his coaching from the English game and so growing up with that and having gone over to England and got to watch uh EPL matches live uh was quite influential and and kind of set the seed for L I said you know what uh if I have the opportunity I'm going to take it when did you know that you said this is I'm comfortable here this is a place I want to grow at and become an iconic player well I don't think there is that that that one moment um I do I do believe a lot of individual moments that lead up to that and as a player you kind of think from contract to contract and at Handover it was it was the case um for me whenever it came up to contract negotiations I had a couple questions I needed uh to answer with yes and that was am I still developing as a player is the club still developing and moving forward um as a club uh on the field but also off the field financially and then lastly uh am I still happy as a human being there and growing as a person and thank hope y I said yes to all those questions every single time the contractual uh extension came around and uh that's how it became 15 years and you were able to start your coaching career a little bit there but how how did that set your platform or philosophy on how you view the game of just that time that you were able to spend there uh incredibly I think I think we're all products of our environment and uh our environments and um I had some fantastic coaches I had a couple rotten coaches um where I also learned some some lessons and tools from how not to do things and things to kind of steer away from but predominantly the coaches I had were fantastic and I still draw back from each one of them and I wrote a journal as a player or kept a journal I should say and um looking back at those entries now is is is pretty fascinating you still have the journal I still do yeah I still do you pull out on just every once in a while yeah I did recently uh pull an entry out and talked about it at one of the uh coaching conferences here uh in LA and uh it's pretty cool to read and I would recommend every player to do it you were selected for three World Cups yeah you played in two what did it mean for you to represent your country and just being able to play at uh the showpiece event yeah it truly is the greatest show on Earth it's it's hard to describe uh what it's like it's a impeccably run tournament what it means the experience for the players is is phenomenal and also to have your families there I remember um believe it was a nberg um I we played Ghana and um I see my family like in the sixth or seventh row warming up super emotional I don't know what to be excited to focus or to go hug them and shed a tear so it's it really is a lot going on emotionally and it's uh it's truly spectacular and a treat for every player who gets to who gets to enjoy that so so um and it's worth every minute of sacrifice to get there favorite moment uh from your International career um yeah I think the game against Italy in Kaza slau we tied 1-1 um it had it all had a couple red cards um some amazing plays emotions a lot of American fans um I got to trade jersey with one of my Idols so it was it had it all who did you trade jerseys with uh Del Pier oh wow very nice when did you know you wanted to be a coach I don't think there was again one moment but I've always been fascinated with coaches and and how they approach leading a group and how they get the most out of the group or do not get the most out of a group I think if I wasn't a coach in sports it would have been some sort of leadership role hope maybe a teacher in elementary school or a PE teacher maybe who knows you you're still new at coaching but you've had success at coaching and I imagine you say okay this works uh I will stand by this but do you still catch yourself incorporating new ideas you find something you say okay this is something I may want to bring into what I want to implement always um always learning always trying to improve whether it's more technical work on the training pitch new ideas new new drills um constantly working with the other assistants with Enrique Mar Oka and an uh what can we change how can we get more out of the players so it's a constant uh juggle of trying to include and and gain more knowledge include the new knowledge and instill it upon your players but hold on to the constants that make us good and and and navigating that throughout an entire season with injuries new players all that it is fascinating it's non-stop uh and it's a roller coaster eventually when you get fired at as a coach you get a little break to reflect but until then foot's on the pedal and we're [Music] going coming up on LFC weekly presented by CarMax we go inside Aaron Long's Journey to the black and gold LFC weekly is presented by CarMax official used car retailer of lafc by by bimo official Bank of lafc and by Pacific office automation we have your office game plan [Music] [Applause] [Music] welcome back to LFC weekly presented by CarX when you look at the roster of LFC you have some players who have done some incredible things World Cup winners Euro winners players who have played in the top leagues in the world Aaron long took a different path a very difficult one where he easily could have been discouraged and stopped playing soccer alog together but he pushed on is a great example for all young players out there so much so that he was onetime MLS defender of the year he made the USA World Cup roster in 2022 he is one of the best defenders in Major League Soccer Aaron long a true success story he is this week's player profile presented by Rockstar Energy Drake hello my name is Aaron long Defender for LFC and I'm from o Hills California I began my professional career in 2014 I was coming out of college I actually went to college uh nearby at UC Riverside and I was drafted in 2014 after my senior season College was good for me UCR being in a market that I could go and and make an impact early on so freshman year I did well sophomore year junior year senior year I was I was super excited and had big expectations I had a really good year the whole team had a pretty good year and the main goal was to get into the MLS superdraft and at that time no player in our history had gotten to the MLS super draft and then I did not get invited I had to go to all these MLS um like side camps for teams to see me so I was driving out I think I went to one in Las Vegas I flew to another one in Florida where there was going to be MLS Scouts there so they could see me because I wasn't going to be at the super draft to be able to give myself a chance to get drafted luckily I was drafted in the in the second round Portland Timbers drafted me and I was there for 6 months until they had to make some some roster moves and make some tweaks to things because the season wasn't going too well I hadn't played any minutes there yet so then I once I was dropped almost immediately Seattle Sounders signed me because they wanted to take me in the draft but Portland took me first I was at Seattle for a year and a half until I went to New York Red Bulls and then I originally signed for New York Red Bulls 2 played half the season there my goal was just to make the first team and to get my MLS debut that's all I was worried about at the end of the day that's every player's goal if you're playing in USL that's your goal we we ended up winning the USL Championship that year I got USL defender of the year and then the next year I moved into the first team as a starter since I moved here life's been great it's been amazing I arrived here as a free agent it was a pretty easy decision for me knowing that my family was here and I could come home and have a special moment to play in my hometown for my home team playing in front of these fans with my family and the crowd and there's players all around the world that would do anything to go home and play for their hometown on team and spend the time that I get to spend with my family outside of soccer I don't have too many hobbies now that I'm a father I come home from training and it's Daddy daycar right away try to play with my kids a little bit and then we do dinner time and then we do bedtime routine and that's kind of it before I had kids I had a whole bunch of hobbies I would hang out with my friends I'd cook a lot I played a lot of fortnite actually now that's all gone by the wayside Match Day rituals are are pretty much the same wake up have a high carb breakfast have my coffee try to chill out for most of the day I try to take a nap and then when I wake up from my nap I have chicken and pasta and then I go to the game try to keep it really simple something that's easy to replicate so that I can have my routine no matter what city I'm in I had a favorite player definitely growing up someone that I looked up to a lot was Carlos banega he was a HomeTown kid he's from this area he would come back and he was captaining the national team at the time and would come back and would run Christmas camps and I would go to him like 6 7 8 n all the way up till I was like 14 years old so I saw a lot of him in the offseason for him to be that close and know a guy personally and he's captaining the national team and going to World Cups it was it was crazy it was cool my goal was not to be on the national team or to represent the United States or to go to World Cup but for me it was more of a dream than a goal the World Cup being in qar made it that much more memorable for us it was such a unique location and for us to have a home base in Kar and the Entire World Cup being almost in one city instead of in an entire nation it was it was crazy but the travel there was amazing the way that the the people the qari people accepted us and the hotel that we were at like the whole experience was was unbelievable I wouldn't trade it for anything coming up on LFC weekly presented by CarMax we relive Georgio kin's most iconic moments with lafc [Music] [Applause] [Music] welcome back to LFC weekly presented by CarMax many moments over my career that I will cherish the 2023 MLS Cup in Columbus after lafc lost we were underground and I saw Georgio Kini seated there didn't know what he was saying but I knew this was probably the end of his storied career he looked over and gave me a wink this is a guy who has won trophy after trophy won a European Championship with Italy one of the most famous and recognizable players on the planet and the most incredible part about Georgio Kini despite all of that you will not find a more grounded more agreeable human being than Georgio we love him here in La he is always welcome and he is this week's call Jacob iconic [Music] player we are here today to welcome a player that has had unprecedented success and we know exactly what Georgio will bring to lafc because it will be what he has always brought to every single team he played on which is to do absolutely everything he can to lead his team to Victory boss for huling head pucked in for Georgio Kini and to championships [Music] [Applause] it's not just about my experience here in us the last year I started to enjoy everyday life be the last [Music] day the way that this guy loves the game knows the game interacts with every one of his teammates when you have him as like a foundation in your back line makes himself better and the team better with I last year with a lot of dreams and hope I never could dream what I live in this [Applause] [Music] [Applause] mon coming up on LFC weekly presented by carax Gareth Bale takes us back to Cardiff to reflect on his childhood and impact on Wales lafc weekly is presented by CarMax official used car retailer of lafc by bimo official Bank of lafc and by autoc Collision group official auto collision center of lafc [Music] [Applause] [Music] welcome back to LFC weekly presented by carax earlier in the program I told you that Georgio Kini was one of the greatest most recognizable soccer players from Italy Gareth Bale is the most recognizable greatest soccer player from Wales You could argue he is the greatest athlete from that country a small place and the Welsh public probably could not believe all the incredible memories he was able to create for them at Real Madrid and even for us here at lafc Bale his roots are very important to him and we tagged along as he returned to Wales it is this week's classic Club moment presented by ritley I was born in Cardiff a normal kind of childhood my parents still live in the same house that we we grew up in um a place very special it really feels like a a family City everybody really tries to push in the right direction to do the right thing and um yeah we're we're all trying to help ciff and whales grow on the world stage and um yeah it's uh it's a good place to be I haven't been here for a while either you okay it's good it's good incredible Absolut Inc no it's good that was that was an old it's definitely me it's gone so quick the time literally we were saying the other day in Wales that I'm I've been playing for well is half of my life now I said ear the mem you given just it's not incredible it's beyond that yeah no it's for these lot they they they just no success yeah you know they think up all the time now live up to this now everybody else coming after you well no pressure well no pressure you not my name is Gwyn Morris I'm head of physical education at witches High School in Kliff what GTH had with a football was this that that vision and I keep saying good players make other players look good I know he like to dribble with the ball and I know he like to and sometimes you say you're at two touch only to pass the ball but it was just the quality of the of the of the passing the timing of the passing and and and the decision making and of course it's just been fantastic to see his his career develop and flourish as it has hi you okay I know what the memories he's given us as as Welsh uh the nation is just absolutely incredible and I can't thank him enough for that you know I've had moments with my kids and my family that it's Priceless I feel what makes our country so special is the pride the passion is very unique in this country I think um we're obviously a very small country um people kind of in a way write us off in in terms of sport and other things but we always come fighting back we we wear our our national um flag with pride with passion and we really do turn up and we turn up on the big [Music] occasions I am afraid that is all the time we have for this week but a reminder go to lfc.com and come out and see us at bimo Stadium go see an LFC game in person or if you're in Orange County check out LFC 2 down there at Titan Stadium in Fullerton I am Max bretos and until we meet again let's go black and gold [Music]