Los Angeles Football Club head coach Steve Cherundolo intends to step down at the end of the season.

On Friday, as LAFC (4-4-0, 12 points) prepared to visit the Portland Timbers (4-2-2, 14 points) for an MLS regular-season match, Cherundolo informed the coaching staff and players of his decision to return to Germany with his wife and two girls.

A native of San Diego, Cherundolo became a Bundesliga legend playing for Hannover 96 during the entirety of his career – 415 total matches over 15 seasons before retiring in 2014, a record for the most appearances by an American at one club.

The defender, a member of two U.S. men’s national team World Cup squads, coached on the youth level in Germany prior to being named head coach of the then-LAFC affiliate Las Vegas Lights in 2021. Less than a year later, he agreed to replace Bob Bradley and serve as the second head coach in LAFC history.

“It is an honor to be the head coach of LAFC,” Cherundolo said in a statement. “After much reflection and discussion with my family, we made the decision that at the end of this year we will return to Germany. I love Los Angeles and LAFC, but this move is in the best interest of my family, even as it will ultimately take us away from a team, city, organization and fan base that I am proud to represent. I am looking forward to continuing our work with the players, coaches and staff to make the 2025 season a success as we keep fighting to win trophies.”

Cherundolo, 46, led LAFC to its first MLS Cup and second Supporters’ Shield in his debut season, a feat no coach had accomplished.

In 2023, Cherundolo also became the only MLS coach in the same year to see his team into the CONCACAF Champions League and MLS Cup finals.

And LAFC captured its first U.S. Open Cup in 2024.

LAFC has 58 regular-season league wins under Cherundolo, the most by an MLS team since co-president and general manager John Thorrington elevated him into the head-coaching role.

“Steve has been a tremendous leader for LAFC and has proven to be one of the top coaches in our league,” Thorrington said. “What he has achieved during his tenure speaks for itself, and we are extremely thankful to him for his continued dedication and hard work. We support his decision to focus on his family with this move at the end of the season.”

With the season top of mind, Cherundolo spent the week after LAFC’s 2-1 win over San Jose implementing a training plan emphasizing chance creation without letting any goals on the other end.

“I think finding that balance is important to us,” he said. “And from what I saw this week the players have accepted that and have made some great changes.”

Having a full complement of attackers helps. Both Jeremy Ebobisse and David Martínez are ready to rejoin Denis Bouanga, Olivier Giroud, Cengiz Ünder and Nathan Ordaz.

From Cherundolo’s perspective, LAFC is best using all attacking options, essentially finding an appropriate mix of playing time coupled with taking advantage of favorable matchups.

“That’s our priority to get those decisions right,” he said this week.

The LAFC roster was designed to withstand an early crunch of midweek matches and produce points in the league, but up-and-down results in Cherundolo’s fourth season have not lived up to that standard, leaving the team in a spot where it now feels the need to make up ground in MLS after bowing out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup last week in Miami.

With more than three quarters of his last campaign in Los Angeles to go, Cherundolo heads to Portland, where he attended college and years later set a record for the most wins (21) by an MLS coach in their first season, carrying an impressive 87-43-26 record across all competitions at the helm of LAFC.

LAFC AT PORTLAND TIMBERS

When: 7:15 p.m. Saturday

Where: Providence Park, Portland, Ore.

TV/radio: FS1, Apple TV (MLS Season Pass)/710 AM, 980 AM

Related Articles