Reconnecting with Europe: Why LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo is stepping down

Three weeks ago Steve Cherundolo said this season would be his last as coach at LAFC. On Wednesday he explained why.

“I just feel like the next step, reconnecting with the European game and coaching in Europe, is something that I would like to do,” said Cherundolo, who is returning to Germany, where he starred as a player. “The timing of it and the messaging, I think the sooner the better so we can all kind of plan and move forward and get it out of the way and focus on this season’s goals.

“I’m not a great fan of leaving things to the last minute.”

Cherundolo, 46, spent his entire 16-year club career in Germany at Hannover, where he met his wife, started a family and still owns a house. That’s also where he started coaching. The decision to go back was a family one, he said, as was the decision to come to the U.S. four years ago.

“I don’t think there’s anything negative about it for me. It’s all opportunity and positive about the next chapter,” said Cherundolo, who grew up in San Diego. “That’s how we saw moving back to Los Angeles: We saw a great opportunity and as a family, more of an adventure.

“And now we see something similar moving back to Europe.”

Cherundolo said he intends to continue coaching but said he hasn’t lined up anything for next season, preferring instead to focus on the remainder of this season.

“It’s really hard to plan seven months in advance in coaching,” he said. “Not many clubs are willing to wait that long for a particular coach unless your name is Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp. And last time I checked my passport, that’s not my name.

“So no, there’s nothing immediately around the corner and I actually kind of like that. I’m excited about what project would be next.”

Cherundolo got his managerial start in Hannover’s academy system, then coached LAFC’s affiliate in the second-division USL Championship — going 6-23-3 — in 2021 before taking over for Bob Bradley in MLS a year later. And in three-plus seasons, he established himself as one of the most successful coaches in league history.

As a rookie manager, he became the only man to win both the Supporter’s Shield and MLS Cup in his first season. He also won the 2024 U.S. Open Cup and took LAFC to the title game of the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League, 2023 MLS Cup and 2024 Leagues Cup.

His 59 regular-season wins since 2022 are the most of any MLS coach over that span; he has gone 88-43-28 and played in six finals in all competitions. And he has done that with a revolving door at the entrance to his team’s locker room since just two players, defenders Ryan Hollingshead and Eddie Segura, remain from the roster he inherited in 2022.

His final season is shaping up as his most challenging, and not because the announcement of his impending departure last month makes him a lame-duck coach. At 5-4-2, LAFC is already nine points back in the Supporter’s Shield race yet they can play their way into the prestigious FIFA Club World Cup with a victory over Mexico’s Club América later this month.

Cherundolo said the decision to return to Germany was made “a couple of months ago” but he didn’t share it publicly until the team was eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions Cup on April 9. The announcement came eight days later.

“No hidden agenda or other reason,” he said of the timing. “It was really just to maintain focus.”

Doing that, he said, will be easier now that his short-term future is set.

“There’s nothing to hold back,” he said. “It makes it easier to push even harder to end on the most positive note possible. What other people think about it, I’m not in control of nor do I spend any time wasting energy on that. That’s not my issue. The team is my issue.

“Everybody is locked in and focused on being as successful as possible.”

Cherundolo also said the move back to Germany doesn’t mean he has to stay there. His name has come up in conversations about the U.S. national team job, which will come open after next year’s World Cup, and there will certainly be opportunities to return to MLS someday, so he’s not closing any doors.

“No, no,” he said. “All options on the table.”