LAFC Pull the Plug on Marc Dos Santos After Nine Months

LAFC have one win in their last nine games in all competitions. On Sunday night, that cost Marc Dos Santos his job.

General manager John Thorrington fired the first-year head coach a day after a 1-0 loss at FC Dallas, the latest result in a 1-4-5 MLS stretch going back to July. With Son Heung-Min and Denis Bouanga in the lineup, LAFC sit sixth in the Western Conference at 11-9-8. The club hasn't named a replacement.

"Marc has given a great deal to this club over the years, and we are grateful for his commitment, care and contributions to LAFC," Thorrington said.

It's a quick end for a hire that was never popular. Dos Santos had spent four seasons as Steve Cherundolo's assistant, after coaching the Vancouver Whitecaps, and it was the second time in a row Thorrington promoted from within. Fans who wanted a new direction after Son's arrival got more of the same, and lately the home crowd at BMO Stadium has booed a team it rarely turns on. Complaints about rigid tactics and substitutions followed Dos Santos all season.

It didn't start that way. LAFC opened the season by beating defending champion Inter Miami 3-0 in front of 75,673 at the Coliseum. Then came a CONCACAF Champions League exit in May and a slow slide down the West table.

Dos Santos was only the third coach in club history, after Bob Bradley and Cherundolo, who won MLS Cup in 2022 and the U.S. Open Cup in 2024. Cherundolo now coaches the U.S. under-23 team.

Whoever takes over gets almost two weeks to prepare. LAFC's next match is at home against Vancouver on Saturday, Oct. 10, at 7:30 p.m. PT, the first of their last six regular-season games.