LAFC's Atuesta says it's `very special' to be back
When Eduard Atuesta returned to Los Angeles after playing in Brazil for the past two years, the midfielder said it felt like he hadn't been gone more than a week.
That may say something about his well-spent time at Palmeiras, where Atuesta won six titles and learned a lot by doing things like playing 42 minutes, including a half-hour of extra time, during the crucial late stage of the FIFA Club World Cup final against Chelsea in 2022.
But it's indicative of how the 26-year-old Colombian feels about L.A., especially the Los Angeles Football Club, which first signed him with targeted allocation money seven years ago.
“It was the best decision of my life at that moment to choose LAFC,” said Atuesta,
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who started and played to the whistle in the club's season-opening win at home over Seattle last weekend. “The sense of belonging that I have here is very special.”
Everything about L.A. felt familiar to Atuesta since the move a little more than three weeks ago, especially inside LAFC, which acquired him on a loan through 2024 with a club option to purchase.
“I'm very happy and excited that he's back home,” said Jesus Murillo, Atuesta's countryman.
El Profe, as Atuesta is known, stayed in touch with the Colombians who remained at LAFC, regularly chatting with Murillo and Eddie Segura.
When it came to the game, they discussed the shape of the team and the culture around it as it worked to win a Supporters' Shield and MLS Cup under head coach Steve Cherundolo in 2022.
“I watched that they were very happy also,” Atuesta said, “so it's good to be back with my Colombian amigos.”
Atuesta will reunite with another Colombian buddy today — Real Salt Lake's Cristian “Chicho” Arango.
With or without either of them playing a part, LAFC has cleaned up against RSL, going 13-3-0 while outscoring the Utah team 37-15.
As LAFC heads on the road for the first time in 2024, Arango, the belovedwherever-he-goes forward, leads RSL (0-1-1, 1 point) as captain.
Arango joined LAFC in the summer of 2021 during the last days of Bob Bradley's four-year tenure, which put a premium on possession and passing the way into goals.
Through a condensed preseason and one competitive match, Cherundolo, entering his third year in charge, has shown Atuesta a few tactical wrinkles that make this LAFC side more comfortable than the one he left at defending deep and searching out quick-strike attacks.
“We have the ability to be dangerous with less passes,” assessed the midfielder, who is comfortable playing defensive, running box to box, or pushing higher up into the attack. “With two passes in transition, we can score goals. That's different. Maybe before we need to make more passes to have progressive plays on the field. Now it's intensity to recover the ball and we have two airplanes with (Denis) Bouanga and (Cristian Olivera). That's good.”