No, you didn’t have a collective fever dream with the rest of the black & gold family. No, you didn’t drop your subconscious into your latest EAFC save either. This is really happening, or, has happened. Yesterday, after reports and teasers for several days, LAFC made it officially, official and announced the return of club legend, Carlos Vela. The news comes just as the team have hit a rough patch in the lead up to the playoff push, with news dropping just days after a heartbreaking loss to LA rivals, Galaxy. Now the question is, what will we see from the Mexican superstar in his return to a club that hasn’t won silverware, despite plenty of chances, since his departure?
Juntos de nuevo đź«‚ pic.twitter.com/dpNgoOSI2q
— LAFC (@LAFC) September 16, 2024
The contract is one that will run through the 2024 season, with a club option for the 2025 campaign. Which, let’s be honest, is an option the club will most definitely be picking up, unless something goes drastically wrong. “Carlos has played such an instrumental role in the success we have enjoyed at LAFC both on and off the field,” LAFC Co-President & General Manager John Thorrington said in a statement. “He means so much to our club, our fans and our city. It was important to everyone involved to have him return to LAFC, and we are thrilled that he will be back in Black & Gold.”
“Los Angeles and the LAFC fans are very important to me and my family,” Vela said in a statement provided from the club. “LAFC is a special club, and I am proud of what we have built here. I am excited to return to LAFC and try to help the team achieve great things in any way that I can.”
Why now?
After seemingly retiring and spending most of the MLS season enjoying his time away from the sport, Vela makes his triumphant return to LAFC with just a handful of regular season matches left to play, as well as playoffs to navigate. While there is absolutely the feeling of immense excitement and joy, there are probably a fair amount out there asking themselves, why now?
Truthfully, that answered is layered. LAFC have made no secret of their desire to bring Carlos back this season. Throughout the offseason and even as the team got off to an incredibly slow start, the talk around the club was, ‘when will they reach out to Vela?’ In truth, the club have always maintained contact with the Mexican, always testing the waters, feeling out the vibes. According to reports, the initial issue was, as it often is in sports, money. Now, we can’t confirm that, so we would rather not talk too confidently about it, but it is a safe bet. Then, the team started winning, which brings us to the next layer. Its why we have gone so long without even a whisper about Vela. It doesn’t meant the team had stopped talking or checking the temperature with him, it just means there was no need to go down that path. They were on a multi-month winning run, had put pen to paper with Olivier Giroud, life was good. Until it wasn’t.
Carlos Vela, according to his teammates.
➡️ What this club embodies.
➡️ Mr. LAFC.
➡️ Carlos has walked the walk.
➡️ He has the utmost respect from this locker room. pic.twitter.com/Usx5S1M2oS— LAFC (@LAFC) September 16, 2024
What we can expect from Vela
In fairness, it wasn’t all good. To really understand the why now to the Vela signing, you have to go back to last season. Despite every opportunity, with three finals appearances as well as two other competitions they were knocked out of prior to the final match, the team came away trophyless. Not a single cup, shield, or trophy to put alongside the 2022 MLS Cup. Every chance, the team that had demolished opponents in the lead up, couldn’t finish the job, as Kobe would say. Looking at this season and that startling trend has continued. The team reached the Leagues Cup final, and despite being in the middle of losing just one match over a nearly three month span, they once again came up short when it mattered most. In eight days time LAFC will have yet another opportunity when they face Sporting KC in the US Open Cup final. The last time LAFC won a finals match? 2022 MLS Cup final, when one Carlos Vela was the captain. Not just that, but a Vela that was absolutely hellbent on making good on the promise he made to LA when he first arrived. That he came for one thing, trophies, and that he wouldn’t leave until LAFC had their MLS Cup. In 2022, he did just that.
Which is why this signing is more than just about the goals he can produce, or the question of what he will bring on the pitch, because the truth is, he isn’t really needed on the pitch. This isn’t a team that is lacking talent, but rather they are lacking that championship mentality. Sure, they have players that have won and who were there in 2022, but they don’t seem to have that one player who everyone knows turns it on when it matters. At the very least, the player we all know will make sure everyone else turns it on when it matters most, a true leader. That is exactly what Vela is. Much like we saw with the arrival of Gareth Bale, Carlos won’t be asked to carry the team on the pitch, but help motivate the squad to carry themselves, and yes, when he can we are sure he will provide a moment of true magic.
Think of Carlos Vela as the old retired mercenary in an action movie. You have the young, up and comers, who would be the likes of Mateusz Bogusz and Denis Bouanga who have taken the mantles of superstars at the club in their short time. However, like in the movie, they may be good, flashy, strong, and seemingly unbeatable, but there is always that one villain lurking in the shadows. For LAFC, that villain really is finals matches all of kinds, but it could also be said that lately their real nemesis has been Columbus Crew. Either way, the new guys can’t get over that hump, destroying everyone else but getting pummeled in the scenes with the big bad. So what do they do? They turn to the old, retired mercenary up in the Andes or some other remote mountain with tons of snow and forty-mile hike to the cabin where they are greeted with booby traps and a grizzled old guy wanting nothing to do with them. Only for that old guy to show up in the final act to save the day. That’s Vela. Grizzled and arriving just in time to, hopefully, save LAFC by helping them finally achieve more silverware.
Final opinions
Back in 2022, we here at Angels on Parade talked about how the shift in Vela’s playstyle was the biggest key in their overall success. Back then, it was Chicho Arango who was scoring goals at will, his star shining brightest within the team. Even then, Vela had taken half the shots on average he took the season previous, while nearly doubling his created shots and assists/assist opportunities from seasons prior. He had stepped back, allowed others to shine as bright as possible, allowed them to be themselves freely, and when needed, he would do his best to once again carry the squad. We expect that role to be similar this time around. Chances are slim he takes a starting spot from Denis Bouanga or Bogusz. However he could move into that Kamara role a bit. Mostly, we feel he is here for the leadership. Not just that championship mentality, but that ‘get this done by any means’ mentality. A player who knows the club, the city, the expectations, and most importantly, he knows how to surpass them. That’s really what LAFC need right now, a hard kick in the ass to finish the job. That’s why Vela is here.
Thoughts on the return of El Rey? Leave a comment below!