The Los Angeles Football Club has parted ways with head coach Marc Dos Santos.
LAFC on Sunday announced that less than one full season into Dos Santos’s term as head coach of the Black & Gold, the organization is headed in another direction.
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An interim coach will be named soon, according to a statement provided by the club, and the organization is commencing a search for its fourth full-time head coach.
Hired last December following Steve Cherundolo’s successful four-year tenure, Dos Santos was a member of the original LAFC coaching staff during Bob Bradley’s expansion-leading season in 2018.
Dos Santos spent the next two and a half seasons as head coach of the Vancouver Whitecaps before being fired in the summer of 2021 with a 22-37-18 record.
In 2022, Dos Santos returned to the LAFC bench as an assistant for Cherundolo and the Black & Gold won its lone MLS Cup. Dos Santos remained on Cherundolo’s staff and that continuity was one reason given for the organization’s decision to make him head coach.
“Marc has given a great deal to this club over the years, and we are grateful for his commitment, care and contributions to LAFC,” president of soccer operations John Thorrington said in a statement on Sunday. “We wish Marc and his family all the best moving forward.”
LAFC started in fine form under Dos Santos, a native of Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Unbeaten in a club-record 11 straight matches, including an MLS record six consecutive shutouts to open a season, Dos Santos appeared to pull all the right strings. However, that early success gave way to inconsistent outcomes and middling performances, leading to extended spells of dropped points and, ultimately, the first instance of LAFC removing a head coach from the job.
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Cherundolo chose to depart after the 2025 season.
Bradley’s contract was not renewed following the 2021 campaign, when LAFC missed the MLS Cup playoffs for the only time.
Dos Santos’ time with LAFC was challenged by injuries and a busy transfer window.
Last December, Thorrington and the ownership group said that the players’ support for elevating Dos Santos from assistant to head coach was critical to the club’s decision.
Demonstrating what Thorrington described as “a clear conviction of what the best version of LAFC looks like” during the interview process, Dos Santos, 49, took control of a roster that appeared primed to succeed, especially with an attack boasting star forwards Denis Bouanga and Son Heung-min.
Since the start of August, LAFC went 1-4-5 in league play, scoring nine times.
Employing a cautious attacking approach that saw the most prolific scoring team in MLS since 2018 repeatedly come up short in the final third, LAFC’s positive outcomes under Dos Santos were generally reliant on stout defending and the stellar work of goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who is tied for the league lead with 12 clean sheets.
Following a 1-0 loss at Dallas on Saturday, LAFC (11-9-8) is sixth in the MLS Western Conference. Including CONCACAF Champions Cup, which ended with a trip to the semifinal and a defeat to the eventual winner Toluca FC, and Leagues Cup, LAFC went 17-10-12 in all competitions with Dos Santos in charge.
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