For LAFC's Mark Delgado, it'll be 'weird' playing against Galaxy in El Tráfico
LAFC's Mark Delgado controls the ball during a match against Portland in April. Delgado will see the other side of the El Tráfico rivalry for the first time on Sunday. (Soobum Im / Getty Images)
Mark Delgado has known Greg Vanney since he was 13.
'We're definitely close,' the LAFC midfielder said of the coach he played for in three MLS Cup finals.
So it's been difficult for Delgado to watch from afar as Vanney's Galaxy team, the one Delgado played for last season, has struggled through the worst start in franchise history.
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'I definitely hope, personally, things go better for him,' Delgado said of Vanney, who got a multiyear contract extension Friday, one that reportedly makes him the best-paid manager in MLS. 'I hope Greg can get things turned around.'
Read more: Galaxy sign coach Greg Vanney to contract extension amid franchise-record winless start
As long as that turnaround starts next weekend since Delgado returns Sunday to Dignity Health Sports Park for the first time since December's MLS Cup final. Only this time he'll be wearing the black and gold of LAFC, the Galaxy's bitter rival.
'Yeah, definitely. I want to come out on top,' he said. 'It's kind of a weird situation. You don't wish them too well because you want to do well yourself.'
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A weird situation is also an apt description of Delgado's last five months. Six weeks after capping a career-best season by assisting on the winning goal in the Cup final, Delgado was traded 12 miles up the Harbor Freeway to LAFC, a sacrifice to the league's paltry salary cap.
The Galaxy (0-10-3) haven't won since but Delgado has thrived. Not only did LAFC (6-4-3) give him a multiyear contract with a raise from the $876,250 he made last season, but he's tied for the team lead with three assists and is one of just three players to appear in all 13 MLS games for a team that hasn't lost a league game in six weeks and is fifth in the Western Conference table.
And he's done that despite playing under a coach not named Greg Vanney for just the second time in 11 seasons.
Galaxy coach Greg Vanney celebrates after a win over Seattle in the Western Conference final on Nov. 30. The defending MLS Cup champion Galaxy is winless through its first 13 games of the season.
(Etienne Laurent / Associated Press)
'Coming to a new team, a different view of things, may take a little time,' said Delgado, who played under Vanney in Toronto and with the Galaxy after breaking in as a teenager with Chivas USA, where Vanney was an assistant coach. 'I'm a guy who can take in information and change on the fly as well. I think my ability to do things passing and how I see the field, [my] work rate covering ground, helps.'
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His leadership and experience is also important. Although he just turned 30 on May 9, Delgado is in his 14th MLS season and his 340 appearances, including playoffs, ranks ninth among active players, according to Transfermarkt. No other LAFC player is close.
He's also the only man to have played for all three of Southern California's MLS teams, Chivas USA, the Galaxy and LAFC. Yet none of that, he said, has prepared him for changing sides in El Tráfico.
'It is definitely a different look,' he said. 'But at the end of the day it's a Derby. Once that whistle blows and we're on the field, I'm locked in.'
Read more: Mark Delgado ready to embark on 'next chapter' as part of LAFC roster overhaul
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The crosstown rivalry has grown into the most passionate in MLS but most of that bad blood is felt in the stands. On the field, Delgado said, the feeling is more one of mutual admiration regardless of the colors you're wearing.
'I don't know what goes on between the two fans bases, but I know as players there's a level of respect. Everyone has their own journey of getting here. Everyone has their own battles,' he said.
And his fight Sunday will be for LAFC. So while he feels for his former teammates, he'd like nothing better than to see them suffer for at least one more week.
'I have an emotional attachment with the club over there. But I'm over here, right?' he said. 'I have duties over here and I'm working on doing my part and finding success for this club.'
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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