Defenders of the Banc - The LAFC Podcast

Send us a text *Disclaimer: This episode contains some swears. Please be warned, colorful language abounds. Here on Episode 131, Defenders Nation, you're in for something very, very different.  Don't worry, we will still have our CCL Preview episode. And we will still have our 2020 MLS Season Recap episode. And we will still have a very special Holidays with the Defenders episode.  But... this is...

Send us a text In the strangest of seasons, with the oddest of circumstances, amidst incredible adversity and numerous challenges, despite injuries, COVID, trades, international breaks, poor play, impromptu tournaments, and more COVID, LAFC began their third playoff run in their young club’s history. This run would start, and end, against a familiar foe in a familiar spot with an unfamiliar name,...

Send us a text It’s the final match of the season, and potentially, the final match at Banc of California Stadium in 2020. A familiar foe awaits, as for the fourth time this year, LAFC takes on Portland. On Episode 129, Filly and the Scarf break down all the good and the bad from our tussle with the Timbers!   Things got off to a beautiful start, as just 5 minutes in, Carlos Vela, back in the star...

Send us a text As the strange, long 2020 season winds down, one thing has remained maddeningly crystal clear: LAFC is THE Jekyll and Hyde team of MLS this year. One night, we look like the Supporters Shield winning world-beaters we were for much of 2019. The next, we look slow, out of sync, and disorganized against an inferior opponent. Rinse, repeat, and throw in an injury or three, the coronavir...

Send us a text On Episode 127 of Defenders of the Banc, we have more reasons to celebrate! LAFC begins another winning streak at the expense of Houston while also clinching their 3rd straight trip to the MLS Cup Playoffs!    Playoffs? Playoffs? Yeah, we’re talking about playoffs yet again! In a season that has been frustrating, disrupted, disjointed, and at times disappointing, LAFC has righted th...

Send us a text For the 4th time in 2020, it's Derby Day in Los Angeles! For the Black and Gold, however, it was also a "Welcome Back!" party being held at the Cathedral of the Black and Gold, Banc of California Stadium.  Welcome back to our winning ways over Carson, a dominant 2-0 victory! Welcome back to a top-notch defense putting up a clean sheet. Welcome back to the four players we missed whil...

Send us a text It’s Episode 125, and we are doing something we don’t normally do here on Defenders of the Banc: We are celebrating a tie!   It’s been a long and tumultuous road both on and off the pitch in 2020, so when little victories come, we need to take time to celebrate them. Tonight’s match against Portland certainly gave us another moment to celebrate, and we recap the entire 102-minute ma...

Send us a text Episode 124 is up, and on this episode, we recap LAFC’s trip up the coast to Portland. To take on Vancouver. How 2020 is that? And unlike our previous match, a 6-0 shellacking of the Whitecaps, this match did not end well for the Black and Gold. It was not without its moments of history for the “Next 5 Years” LAFC hardcover book, however. Christian Torres became the first Academy pl...

Send us a text In a season that started several years ago back in March of 2020, for the first time, LAFC is on a winning streak! What a day in Los Angeles, as the Black and Gold wrap up a huge win over the defending champs about an hour before our hometown Lakers wrapped up number 17, and, more importantly, one for Kobe, Gianna, and everyone else who lost their lives in the awful accident in Febr...

Send us a text It’s Episode 122 of Defenders of the Banc, and it’s another happy one after a 3-1 defeat of RSL on the road. LAFC kicks off a brutal gauntlet of 5 matches in just 18 days with a trip up to Sandy, Utah, and it went about as well as possible. Diego Rossi added to his Golden Boot-leading total, BWP added to his legendary career tally, and Brian Rodriguez, yes, Brian Rodriguez scored hi...

Send us a text There are times here at Defenders of the Banc where we really, really enjoy ourselves. The time we recorded after our first defeat of Carson? Amazing. The episode we knocked them out of the playoffs? Fantastic. And being able to sit down with people like Larry "The Legend" Freedman, Adama Diomande, Steven Beitashour, Max Bretos, and many others? Top of the list.  Well, here on Episo...

Send us a text You know it’s rough when we are channeling the words of the great mid-90’s to early 2000’s philosopher and poet Rob Schneider. In our quest for back-to-back wins for the first time this season, it’s only right that we quote his immortal words from The Waterboy: “Oh, no. We suck again!”    It’s another disappointing, frustrating, and confounding loss for the Black and Gold. Another t...

Send us a text Marc Dos Santos knows LAFC perhaps better than any other opposing coach in MLS. After serving as an assistant to Bob in our inaugural season of 2018, he took the job as head of the Whitecaps, where he dealt LAFC our first loss of 2019. Some said Dos Santos had LAFC all figured out. But as you’ll hear on Episode 119 of Defenders of the Banc, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. ...

Send us a text Episode 118 – The Referee’s A Sounder!  We are back for yet another September episode of Defenders of the Banc, and it’s another tough result for LAFC. LAFC makes their way up to the Emerald City to take on the defending champs, and, unbeknownst to them, the referee, as well. It’s a 3-0 loss to the champs, and it’s Episode 118 of Defenders of the Banc.  LAFC started out well, and it...

Send us a text As all of the Black and Gold faithful awaited the Kaiser Permanente injury report yesterday, the question around the Banc was, “Will Eduard Atuesta be healthy enough to give it a go?” Well, much to the delight of LAFC supporters, he’s baaaaaaack!   LAFC looked to close out phase one of the restart of the 2020 MLS season on a high note. After the roughest patch in club history over t...

Send us a text 5 matches in 19 days . But for some reason, it has seemed like an eternity. LAFC, mired in their worst stretch of play in their young history, travel to Sandy, Utah. Rio Tinto Stadium has been a welcome sight for LAFC, as the Black and Gold have taken all three prior matches by an aggregate of 10-1. However, much like this season as a whole… heck, much like 2020 as a whole, today’s...

Send us a text For the third time in 2020, despite COVID, despite quarantine, despite all of the challenges that this year has brought the Black and Gold faithful, it’s Derby Day. First in Orlando, then Los Angeles, now the scene shifts to a tiny suburb on the outskirts of L.A. County, Carson.  Unfortunately, for LAFC, it would be more of the same from the last matchup: no goals, more questions. W...

Send us a text History has a way of repeating itself. Coming into this matchup LAFC has dominated the series vs San Jose and today was no different. LAFC was back at the Banc in search of their winning ways and boy did they win today. LAFC, without Carlos Vela and Eduard Atuesta, managed to once again dine on Smurf Stew. How does Smurf Stew taste, it’s good enough for 5 servings.  Diego Rossi and...

Send us a text LAFC. Seattle. It's taken just two-plus seasons for MLS to have a new must-see matchup. Last year's Supporters Shield winners taking on last year's MLS Cup champions. A game made all the more important considering LAFC's previous result against Carson, our current unfamiliar place in the standings, and our holes in the lineup created by injuries to our captain Carlos Vela and midfie...

Send us a text LAFC has had several Hollywood endings inside Banc of California Stadium over the course of our first two and a half seasons. Our first match against Seattle. Our first win over Carson. The win over Leon. Capturing the Supporters Shield. So many reasons to celebrate. We entered Derby Day with the expectations that this match against Carson would share the same fate: spectacular play...

Send us a text It’s Episode 111, and, more importantly, Filly survived his 40th birthday! FillyFest 2020 was a resounding, socially distant success, complete with videos from loved ones, small tokens of affection, and shots! Back behind the mic at world famous Filimonster Studios, the lads of Defenders of the Banc are ready for the restart of the 2020 MLS season. After Episode 110 meandered like t...

Send us a text Episode 110 is here, and, like the actual 110 Freeway, this one meanders a bit. With no LAFC game to chat about, and with the Filly birthday episode on the horizon, Filly and Scarf go down the rabbit hole of topics. Our athlete of the podcast is a goalie, but he plays hockey. We talk college football, Syracuse basketball, our sad, sad Metropolitans, and so much more. But don't worry...

Send us a text The House of the Mouse became a house of horrors for LAFC, as the pre-tournament favorites were bounced by, of all teams, the cinderella story of the COVID Cup, Orlando City SC, led by, of all players, Joao Moutinho. LAFC loses on PK’s 5-4 after ending regulation locked at 1.  This week should have been a celebration of epic proportions at Banc of California Stadium. The All Star Ga...

Send us a text It’s Episode 108, and what a way to spend a Monday! The Black and Gold continue to soldier on in the COVID Cup. This time, the road runs right through the Emerald City, by way of Orlando, of course. LAFC takes down Seattle, 4-1, in what might be their best performance of the young season.    First, it’s a This Day in LAFC History that includes a “Wait, What?!” moment for possibly th...

Send us a text Benny Feilhaber. Open Cup. Confederations Cup. Gold Cup. MLS Cup. World Cup. The Olympics. MLS. Superligaen. Bundesliga. Premiership. Champions League. New England Revolution. Sporting Kansas City. Colorado Rapids. LAFC. All Star. Best XI. MVP Finalist. Champion. And now, finally, a guest on Defenders of the Banc! Filly and The Scarf sit down with the USMNT legend to discuss everyth...