Oct 4, 2026 · 51 min · 20 segments
Max Bretos & Benny Feilhaber pull back the curtain each week with expert analysis of the Black & Gold on the "Inside LAFC" podcast. Join in LIVE and submit your questions. Watch LAFC on \*MLS Season…
Max BretosHost
Benny FeilhaberHost
Last week, we were on the air when the news happened that Mark Dos Santos and LAFC parted ways.
Earlier or later, uh, last week, the announcement that Chavy Tamariz, who was on the staff, has been bumped up to the interim head coach, so we were gonna discuss that.
The staff, as far as we know, remains in place with, uh, Enrique Duran, who has been a longstanding member of LAFC, Andy Rose, who ca- oh, who, like Chavy, came over at the beginning of the season.
Okon Nikolav, who is the goalkeeper coach, that will remain in, uh, tact for the final six games of this season, and then we'll see where it goes from there.
There'll be two games at BMO Stadium in the upcoming week, and you can only imagine, like, right into the frying pan for Chami- Chavy here, as LAFC look to get this season back on track.
Everything there in front of them, qualifying for CONCACAF Champions Cup, as well as potentially making a playoff run, and who knows where that goes.
Uh, we will get to that, but just the idea of the interim, uh, head coach, this is a, a tough spot, and this is normally how it operates.
I think there are some outliers, Benny, where, uh, once you part ways with your head coach, that maybe you go outside of the beltway to find somebody, but that's rare.
How have you seen that process, and what is the best way for it to go as smoothly and hopefully as effectively as possible?
Well, we, we spoke about it a little bit last week in terms of, you know, the new, the, the new head coach bump, and I think that'll motivate some players to not only turn up for games, but training itself, it becomes a little bit more competitive, a little bit more earning your spot, so to speak.
And of course, there's gonna be some pos- positions that, even so, with the new coach, are probably locked in to, to specific starters, and we can all name what guys those, those are to be.
Um, but there will be, you know, fighting spots in certain positions and, and maybe positionally speaking, we might see a little bit of a different idea.
That was obviously not trending in the right direction towards the back se- back end of the season.
Um, in terms of, you know, Chavy being named the interim coach, obviously makes a lot of sense to come from in-house.
You, you, you mentioned it, it's rare, I think, es- especially at this point in the season when there's six games left until the, the, the postseason, to go outside of the organization and try and find someone that's gonna be a perfect fit for such a short period of time.
Usually, that doesn't bode well for the, the cohesion with the team and the coach, and also, there's not many coaches that are, you know, in- ready to come into, you know, the last two months of the season plus.
Hopefully, Chavy has a really good connection with the players and the rest of the staff.
I think, um, can he give some different ideas that we haven't seen, uh, prior to, with Mark Dos Santos, especially in the attacking third of the field? I think that's where we've been lacking, just creativity and, um, dynamism of, of, of the runs off the ball, the movement.
Um, we've been relying a lot on, on, on two players to score our goals, and I, I, I think we need to expand that a little bit more, have, have other guys partake in the movement in, in the, in the goal scoring, in the assist department.
Last week, we were on the air when the news happened that Mark Dos Santos and LAFC parted ways.
Earlier or later, uh, last week, the announcement that Chavy Tamariz, who was on the staff, has been bumped up to the interim head coach, so we were gonna discuss that.
The staff, as far as we know, remains in place with, uh, Enrique Duran, who has been a longstanding member of LAFC, Andy Rose, who ca- oh, who, like Chavy, came over at the beginning of the season.
Okon Nikolav, who is the goalkeeper coach, that will remain in, uh, tact for the final six games of this season, and then we'll see where it goes from there.
There'll be two games at BMO Stadium in the upcoming week, and you can only imagine, like, right into the frying pan for Chami- Chavy here, as LAFC look to get this season back on track.
Everything there in front of them, qualifying for CONCACAF Champions Cup, as well as potentially making a playoff run, and who knows where that goes.
Uh, we will get to that, but just the idea of the interim, uh, head coach, this is a, a tough spot, and this is normally how it operates.
I think there are some outliers, Benny, where, uh, once you part ways with your head coach, that maybe you go outside of the beltway to find somebody, but that's rare.
How have you seen that process, and what is the best way for it to go as smoothly and hopefully as effectively as possible?
Well, we, we spoke about it a little bit last week in terms of, you know, the new, the, the new head coach bump, and I think that'll motivate some players to not only turn up for games, but training itself, it becomes a little bit more competitive, a little bit more earning your spot, so to speak.
And of course, there's gonna be some pos- positions that, even so, with the new coach, are probably locked in to, to specific starters, and we can all name what guys those, those are to be.
Um, but there will be, you know, fighting spots in certain positions and, and maybe positionally speaking, we might see a little bit of a different idea.
That was obviously not trending in the right direction towards the back se- back end of the season.
Um, in terms of, you know, Chavy being named the interim coach, obviously makes a lot of sense to come from in-house.
You, you, you mentioned it, it's rare, I think, es- especially at this point in the season when there's six games left until the, the, the postseason, to go outside of the organization and try and find someone that's gonna be a perfect fit for such a short period of time.
Usually, that doesn't bode well for the, the cohesion with the team and the coach, and also, there's not many coaches that are, you know, in- ready to come into, you know, the last two months of the season plus.
Hopefully, Chavy has a really good connection with the players and the rest of the staff.
I think, um, can he give some different ideas that we haven't seen, uh, prior to, with Mark Dos Santos, especially in the attacking third of the field? I think that's where we've been lacking, just creativity and, um, dynamism of, of, of the runs off the ball, the movement.
Um, we've been relying a lot on, on, on two players to score our goals, and I, I, I think we need to expand that a little bit more, have, have other guys partake in the movement in, in the, in the goal scoring, in the assist department.
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