LOS ANGELES — Given how much playing time he missed over the past two seasons no one following the Los Angeles Football should have been surprised that its captain, Carlos Vela, spent most of last season’s critical home finale watching from the bench.

A strained quadriceps had troubled the Mexican star since the season opener. He lost stretches of games only to return, suffer a setback, then miss additional games.

Over the 34-game Major League Soccer schedule, as other key LAFC contributors became unavailable due to injuries or roster moves, the 2019 league MVP couldn’t do much to keep his club from veering out of playoff contention. Pep talks. Advice. For a while, that was as much as Vela could offer.

Leading into an early November showdown against the Vancouver Whitecaps with playoff implications on the line, three months had passed since public address announcer Eric Smith last had the chance to mention Vela in an LAFC starting 11.

Waiting to introduce another Vela-less lineup against Vancouver, Smith looked down upon the field from the fourth level of the stadium. From here, his deep voice booms out a first name, setting the crowd up to respond with that player’s last name. As a byproduct, this presents them with a way of meting out player popularity.

Supplying supporters with hope that a season-long struggle might actually finish with a late flourish is a tried and true way of getting in their good graces. Since joining LAFC that August, whenever Smith called Christian Arango’s name, fans let it be known that they appreciated the striker’s contributions picking up Vela’s slack.

Heading into the Vancouver match, Arango had 13 goals in 15 games, one every 94 minutes, and the club was 6-1-2 when he scored.

Deep into the second half, Arango and his teammates had been unable to change the game. Tied 1-1, the crowd grew eager when it saw Vela preparing to play with 20 minutes to go, and when his name reverberated around the venue it alerted Smith to what was coming.

Vela, who had played 12 minutes the previous 12 weeks, showed snippets of what makes so many MLS players consider him the best in the league. But a go-ahead goal never came, effectively closing the door on whatever chance LAFC had of sneaking into the postseason tournament.

Following the season, LAFC exercised a contract option that ensured Vela would stay with the team through at least the summer. The club is likely to try and retain Vela, though much will depend on his ability to stay fit and productive during the first part of the season.

“After the last year, I just want to be healthy first and make the people happy,” Vela said. “A lot of fans in the stadium come to see good skills, good goals and I think I’m a guy who can bring that to the fans. So when I’m healthy, when I’m fit I know I can do it. My goal is to be ready for that. To enjoy every single game I get to play in front of the fans. I enjoy every time I get to play in this stadium.”

Between now and then, Vela will lean on his experience to avoid letting contract talks become a distraction as he tries to bring the club its first MLS Cup. Over the holidays he set his mind on the opportunity, he said.

There would be a new coach and a new group of players with whom he was eager to establish chemistry.

Over the few weeks that Vela has worked with Bob Bradley’s successor Steve Cherundolo, the coach is “coming with fresh air for the team,” Vela said. “With new ideas. Of course, we are still working on that. I can’t tell you if it’s better or worse because we need time and we need games. You know how the sport is. If you start well and win games everybody will be happy. Everybody will say Steve is crazy good, or the other side. Time is the only way to know how good and how bad we can do this year.”

The former Arsenal player considers Cherundolo a coach with “really good energy. Always something good to say. Always talking. He’s really friendly so he’s more close to the players. It’s different. The opposite side of Bob’s style. But we will see how good we are.”

Several images shared on LAFC’s social media accounts since the start of camp have featured Vela offering that 1,000-watt smile of his. He’s happy, he said, having fun at a time of the year that tends to be difficult and tedious.

There’s no reason to suspect Vela will receive anything less than a thunderous response when he is introduced by Smith as part of the LAFC starting lineup when the regular season commences on Saturday.

“The fans want to just cheer him on,” Smith said. “That connection that these fans have with him is like nothing I have seen in sports.”

Smith added LAFC to his extensive PA announcing resume in 2019, the year Vela and his teammates stormed across MLS, setting assorted league records before the magic faded with a 3-1 home loss to the Seattle Sounders in the Western Conference final.

Throughout that year, Smith, a soccer novice at the time, took a good look at the club’s leading man and the supporters who had fallen in love with him. From the start, he sensed there was something unique in the way L.A. sports fans reacted to the silky smooth left-footed Mexican.

Fourteen years with the Dodgers beginning in 2001. Sixteen years with the Clippers, including the last nine. Going on a decade announcing USC football. Two seasons with the Chargers when they played in Carson. Currently announcing for the Las Vegas Raiders. Each opportunity has offered Smith chances to punctuate exhilarating sporting moments.

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Introducing Eric Gagne’s intimidating walk to the mound at Dodger Stadium made the most noise. A touchdown in front of 90,000 people at the Coliseum delivered a formidable rumble.

“The volume is greater but the intensity is nothing like what you see here,” Smith declared. “It really isn’t. And the response LAFC supporters have for Vela in particular “is without parallel.”

Running over the league in 2018 and 2019 to the tune of 48 goals and 28 assists in 59 regular-season matches, there’s no question that Vela took a step back while totaling nine goals and seven assists in 27 appearances the last two seasons.

Vela knows skeptics are increasingly doubtful that he can stay on the field long enough to contribute in the most important moments. That’s alright because it’s one of the many things he appreciates most about Los Angeles. The people care and demand champions.

That his greatest supporters “start to talk about me in a bad way,” exclaimed Vela, makes him eager to remind people, “I’m still here doing good – let’s enjoy it. If you do well here, a lot of doors can open for you. I’m working hard for that and of course I want to enjoy my life here. I think L.A. is special. More for me – you know how many Mexican and Latin people are here. How they love football and how connected with you they are.”