Laurent Ciman and his teammates walked off the StubHub Center pitch on Saturday distraught and in near disbelief. A sensational 60 minutes to start the match saw LAFC race out to a 3-0 lead, only to have four unanswered goals erase it all in the final 30 minutes.
On Tuesday, as LAFC returned to the training pitch for the first time following the result, Le Général was intent on making sure his teammates moved forward.
"The importance of my role is to make sure that we forget as fast as we can," Ciman said after training with assistant coach Marc Dos Santos translating.
While attempting to push the 4-3 loss to the Galaxy out of their minds, LAFC must now focus on a trip to Mercedes-Benz Stadium to face a high powered Atlanta United side (Saturday, April 7 at 2pm PST on ESPN) that has won three straight. Asked what response he wanted to see from his teammates this week, the LAFC captain maintained the need for a level approach.
"We have to stay realistic to everything that happened. We played 60 very good minutes that we were in control. And then there were 30 minutes where we have to go back, review, and make sure those minutes don’t happen again," Ciman said. "It’s part of a growth as a team. My role as captain is to make sure that everybody understands that."
Despite the poor result in Carson, the LAFC defender did have one positive takeaway when asked about the LAFC Supporters at the last match.
"I was incredibly surprised with the turnout. I didn’t know we had so many and such an organized fanbase. It’s encouraging going forward," Ciman said.
"We are going to need all of them to help us build this team and win more games before our home opener."
