Tournament Struggles for LAFC and Boca Juniors Detailed

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00:00But LAFC is out, yeah, I mean, we came to participate, you know, our hopes were high.

00:08I think that after what we saw versus Chelsea, we had the hope that they were going to deliver

00:13and get some more points to be able to qualify.

00:15At the end of the day, they struggled with the Esperanza de Tunes and I think that was

00:19a key game for them to be eliminated right now.

00:22They came to learn.

00:23I mean, obviously, it was not a successful tournament, but at the end of the day, they

00:28represented the MLS and I'm happy for that.

00:30I will go to the extent of calling it a failure.

00:33A team like LAFC with that level of talent up top, having a player like Buanga just choke

00:41in crucial moments like that penalty against Esperanza de Tunes, I feel it's a warning side.

00:46We've been talking about this for a long time.

00:48The team is not performing.

00:50Cherundolo has lost the tactical compass of the team and this is a proof that the team

00:56needs a complete rebuild, I think.

00:59Another heavy loss in the tournament.

01:01Boca Juniors started playing really well.

01:04Seemed like they were going to get the result with Benfica and then little by little they

01:07collapsed till the, dare I say, embarrassing result of tying with an amateur team from New Zealand,

01:16Auckland.

01:17Tell me, Alex, how does it feel?

01:18I mean, this is, you know, a tragedy, honestly, for the Boca team.

01:22I think this really goes to show that these early, the first games in this tournament

01:28are the ones that matter the most.

01:29I mean, they had the result against Benfica at first and then they let it slip out of their hands,

01:34which ultimately was the ending result of having them depend on that last game

01:40with Benfica-Bayern.

01:42They had to depend on that result to be able to qualify.

01:45And, you know, honestly, it's a little embarrassing that, you know, it was a tie game

01:52for that Auckland City game.

01:54But, you know, at the end of the day, it just goes to show that they needed to start it off

02:00a lot better than they did.

02:02And La Hinchada showed up.

02:03They were proud of how they played in those first two games.

02:06But, you know, at the end of the day, it just wasn't enough to qualify.

02:09I think that it is important to say in behalf of Boca Juniors that, like you said,

02:16the Hinchada sometimes is so intense, is so loyal, that it might be, you know,

02:22these guys in the reality of the team.

02:24Boca Juniors is a team that, as of now, failed to qualify to advance from the Pre-Libertadores

02:29tournament.

02:30This is a tournament that they used to win and now they can even make it to the final

02:34elimination part of that tournament.

02:36So I think that just like LAFC, this is a call for these teams to realize that they have,

02:41you know, Boca Juniors is a much more historic and long-tenured team than LAFC.

02:47But I really like they share the commitment to their fans to play a certain way.

02:54And that was not the case.

02:55Chiba, what needs to happen in LAFC so this not happen again?

02:59Right now, there's a rumor going on that America wants Blanga.

03:03Yeah.

03:03And this is gonna probably not sound right, but I think it's time for Boanga to leave the team.

03:08Yeah.

03:08I think why I say this, the team depends too much on him.

03:12And I do believe that we have a team to play as a team.

03:16I love Boanga.

03:17He's an amazing player.

03:18I think he has a lot of history with LAFC, all the goals that he has scored.

03:23But I mean, it's been too much.

03:26Yeah.

03:27I think at the end of the day, they have to rebuild the team without Blanga and take advantage

03:32of that offer from America to bring more players, not like Miller.

03:36Sorry, but we don't need somebody like Miller.

03:37We need youngsters.

03:39Like, you know, when they brought Diego Rossi, Brian Rodriguez, et cetera, et cetera.

03:42A complete change with LAFC.

03:44That's what's gonna help them, you know, keep being the team that they are in the MLS.

03:48Without a doubt, LAFC works better when they are relying on young players.

03:51And they have been very successful in not only developing these players, but making

03:56good money out of them.

03:57They have sold plenty of players that they get under $1 million and sell them for $8, $10 million.

04:04So the investment have been working.

04:06And now it seems like they're revering to a model where they try to bring these

04:09proven names and they make the team very predictable, I think.

04:14Now, let's move on to some other teams that were surprisingly out in the group stage

04:20of this tournament.

04:22For me, the most important name that is out the door is Atletico de Madrid.

04:26They collapsed.

04:28They put a lot of reasons why they didn't perform like the heat, but that loss 4-0 to PSG

04:34really wiped them out of the tournament.

04:36What do you think happened with Atletico de Madrid?

04:38They never adjust to the tournament, to the heat, to the turf, to being here in Pasadena

04:47because they play most of the games here.

04:48And I think we saw it since the game versus PSG, they never showed up.

04:52Yeah.

04:53And that's the reason why they're eliminated.

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