Christian Ramirez departs LAFC: Why it makes sense, and why it does not

On Wednesday, Los Angeles Football Club traded Christian Ramirez to the Houston Dynamo for $250,000 in allocation money across two seasons, plus possibly more if certain conditions are met.

This, coming basically a year after LAFC traded for Ramirez from Minnesota United.

In the year and a day in between, Ramirez had an uneven time with the Black-and-Gold.

He had a great start to his time here, scoring a brace in his first game for LAFC against Real Salt Lake. He also scored a great goal in LAFC’s playoff loss, also against Real Salt Lake.

Besides those goals mentioned though, Ramirez only scored four other times with the club, and struggled to really cement his place with the squad.

Coming in to the season, because of his performance in preseason and injuries to Adama Diomande, Ramirez was the starter up top early on.

Despite LAFC getting off to a flying start, Ramirez himself did not score that much, and eventually lost out on the starting job to Dio.

Now bringing in Brian Rodriguez, LAFC add another high-priced attacker, and Ramirez looks to get more minutes on a Houston team pushing for a playoff spot.

Why the Ramirez trade makes sense

First and foremost, Ramirez just did not establish himself as a consistent goal scorer with LAFC.

LAFC are likely to face teams defending deep in the playoffs, and teams keyed on stopping Carlos Vela. Ramirez did not inspire great confidence that when the team needed him in big spots, he could find the back of the net.

With LAFC bringing in a new DP into the already crowded attacking lineup, Ramirez became the odd man out, because he’s not really able to play on the wing, and his goal production was not as good as Dio’s (seven league goals this season, 19 in a season and a half in MLS).

It makes sense for Ramirez too, going to a team in Houston that is in a playoff race, but has not played at their peak, and could do with an infusion of goals.

Bob Bradley and the front office have shown they can get productivity from players that are not high priced well known players. With the GAM and TAM sent from Houston, LAFC could use those funds to strengthen the squad’s depth in other areas.

Why the Ramirez move does not make sense

Ramirez and Dio were the only out-and-out strikers that LAFC had.

Dio has picked up injuries from time to time, and if he gets hurt again, LAFC could struggle to replace him.

If Dio gets hurt or suspended, LAFC could have Rodolfo Zelaya or Diego Rossi fill in up top, or have Carlos Vela playing a sort of False 9 role. Heck, maybe even Latif Blessing could slot in up top. He’s played basically everywhere else for the team.

None of these solutions is ideal for how LAFC would want to play though, especially in important games.

So, while we are excited that LAFC are adding a new DP in Brian Rodriguez, it is sad to see Christian Ramirez go. Best of luck to him as his career journey continues.

What do you think? Leave a comment below!