LAFC, Columbus look strong going into MLS Cup rematch
LOS ANGELES — Neil McGuinness will be more than an interested observer on Saturday night when the defending MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew visits BMO Stadium to tussle with the opponent they beat to claim the trophy last December.
“It’ll be the first time for me experiencing wanting Columbus to lose,” McGuinness said.
Carrying the day at Lower.com Field, the 2-1 victory for the Crew over the Los Angeles Football Club earned McGuinness his second MLS Cup with Columbus, where he served as director of scouting and recruitment the past five years, playing a key role in signing MLS stars Cucho Hernández and Lucas Zelarayán.
In May, the 43-year-old Scotsman departed Ohio to join LAFC as the club’s first technical director, a position that holds similar responsibilities to his job in Columbus with some wrinkles, including close day-to-day contact with the coaching staff and having a hand in all facets of the sporting side of the operation.
Settling in at the LAFC performance center after taking a couple of weeks to pack up a home for the first time in his life, McGuinness joked that “I kept my head down so nobody punched me.”
No one did, of course.
In actuality, what he found was another soccer shop that felt like a family.
“In Columbus it was a little bit more of we’ve overachieved, whereas here it’s expected,” McGuinness said. “I think that’s part of the passion for me coming here. You want to be constantly challenged. Stay at the top. Stay at the top. Stay at the top. That for me is the big difference.”
Another contrast: the Southern California sun.
“I was not blessed with sunshine growing up,” McGuinnes said. “The Scottish sunshine shows up maybe three weeks out of the year.”
Joining a staff pick-up game early on during his LAFC tenure, something he often did in Columbus, McGuiness said his skin looked “in between lobster and burnt pink” when he stepped off the field. “If you find a shade in there, that’s what I was.”
Despite the SPF issues, L.A. has quickly grown on McGuinness. And in a short two months, he has grown on his new team.
LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo said McGuinness has taken some of the workload off the coaching staff and is clear in his ideas, especially his methodology of onboarding new players and scouting.
“He’s got a lot of work still ahead of him,” Cherundolo said, “but so far impressions have been fantastic.”
The technical director’s first real chance to make a mark working hand in glove with LAFC co-president and general manager John Thorrington comes July 18 through Aug. 14, during the league’s secondary transfer window.
As he did with the Crew, McGuinness will focus on enhancing the qualities of an already strong group.
“Adding a body to the squad doesn’t help,” he said. “It has to be someone that we feel can actually push to be in the 11.
“For now we want to maintain the core of the squad and challenge for the championship.”
As last season’s MLS Cup participants rematch this weekend, both find themselves battling for the league’s top spot once again.
First in the Western Conference, LAFC (13-4-4, 43 points) is unbeaten over its past 13 games (12-0-1) in all competitions.
Meanwhile, Columbus (11-3-6, 39 points) has won eight of its last nine games, good for third in the Eastern Conference while conceding a paltry 18 goals, the fewest in the league.
“You’ve built a lot of very close friendships with both players and staff, and I know how they play inside out,” McGuinness said regarding his last stop. “It will be interesting to see that on the other side of the table now.”
COLUMBUS CREW AT LAFC
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: BMO Stadium, Los Angeles
TV/Radio: Apple TV+ – MLS Season Pass/710 AM, 980 AM