LAFC fans (and Steve Cherundolo) need to give Denis Bouanga a break | OneFootball

When LAFC fans haven't been fretting about what to do with slumping (and now injured) striker Olivier Giroud, they've been worrying that Denis Bouanga may not be the same player he was during back-to-back 20-goal seasons in 2023 and 2024.

The Gabon international has only one assist from his first four league matches in 2025, as the Black-and-Gold split results to take six total points. And some have wondered whether opponents have sussed out his patterns of play, or that at age 30 maybe his visible decline is beginning.

The more likely explanation, however, is that Bouanga is just exhausted.

The ugly totals

The winger has played 661 mninutes of 720 total for LAFC, which played eight matches between MLS and Concacaf Champions Cup play. And when you include his goal contributions in continental play, suddenly he has five through those eight games, maybe not his typical rate of production but also somewhat understandable given that those 661 mintes came in a stretch of only 26 days.

To think of it another way, Bouanga has been on pace to play about 6,500 minutes over a full nine month season across all competitions.

He finally missed an LAFC match this week, their 2-0 win at Sporting Kansas City. But that was only because he was busy traveling to Africa to play in a pair of qualifiers, going 167 minutes total in wins over Seychelles and Kenya.

You can understand why Cherundolo has pushed Bouanga harder than he probably wants to. Giroud is in the aforementioned slump. LAFC's competitive season had already begun before the loan move for Turkish international Cengiz Under was over the line. And LAFC had one of the most difficult early Concacaf draws, playing a troublesome Colorado Rapids side in the first round and familiar nemesis Colombus Crew in the round of 16.

A pullback coming?

And hopefully it was merely a calculated gamble, knowing reinforcements were coming and that Cherundolo could lessen his reliance on Bouanga as the season wore on. We will find out soon enough, with trips to San Diego and Houston looming in the league, and a quarterfinal series with Lionel Messi and Miami coming next in Concacaf.

At the very least, Bouanga needs to be spared a start in both those league games after his trans-continental travels.

The Black-and-Gold just proved they can win in the league without their attacking leader. And seeing a rested Bouanga take on Messi and Miami is exactly the kind of occasion that could help the Concacaf Champions Cup capture the attention of casual fans.