ProfileKenny Nielsen’s next LAFC chapter comes under a new head coach
AI editorial illustration of anonymous football boots walking through a warm concrete stadium tunnel toward a sunlit pitch, with the headline The Next Chapter; no athlete likeness is depicted.
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Featured players · 2 min read

Kenny Nielsen’s next LAFC chapter comes under a new head coach

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AthleMix · AI-generated editorial illustration; no athlete likeness depicted · Source

By AthleMix ·

Xavi Tamarit takes interim charge before the October 10 return to BMO Stadium, changing the context for LAFC’s final regular-season stretch.

Next scheduled match
Oct 10

LAFC vs Vancouver · BMO Stadium

Interim head coach
Xavi Tamarit

Official appointment confirmed before October 6

Draft selection
57th

LAFC · 2024 MLS SuperDraft

A change before the run-in

Kenny Nielsen and LAFC will resume their league schedule with a different head coach. The club has appointed Xavi Tamarit on an interim basis after parting with Marc Dos Santos in late September. Vancouver visits BMO Stadium on October 10, with LAFC entering its final six regular-season matches.

Tamarit joined the staff in January, so the appointment promotes a coach already familiar with the group. LAFC’s announcement points to his experience in England, Spain and Argentina, along with UEFA Pro and CONMEBOL Pro coaching licenses.

Next scheduled match: Oct 10. LAFC vs Vancouver · BMO Stadium; Interim head coach: Xavi Tamarit. Official appointment confirmed before October 6; Draft selection: 57th. LAFC · 2024 MLS SuperDraft
Kenny Nielsen · the key numbers with their dates and competition context. Source
Source notes0102

The defender’s starting point

Nielsen reached the first team after LAFC selected him 57th overall from Georgetown in the 2024 SuperDraft and he subsequently signed with LAFC2. His senior contract was announced in March 2025.

This season has included assignments during rotation. LAFC’s April 11 report from Portland identified Nielsen among the players making their first MLS starts of 2026 as Dos Santos changed the lineup ahead of a Concacaf fixture. It is one established part of his first-team record as the coaching staff prepares for another phase.

2024: 57th overall in the SuperDraft: Selected by LAFC from Georgetown; MAR 2025: First-team contract announced: After his LAFC2 chapter; OCT 2026: Xavi Tamarit takes interim charge: LAFC vs Vancouver is scheduled for October 10
The record before the next assignment. Career milestones · no prediction of future selection. Source
Source notes0304

AthleMix takeaway: watch the assignments

A coaching appointment changes the setting in which selection decisions are made. It does not, on its own, establish a larger or smaller role for any player. Nielsen’s next useful markers will be concrete ones: selection, position, minutes and the circumstances in which he is used.

That makes the October return worth following without predicting a breakthrough. A start, a late substitution and a place among the unused substitutes tell different stories. For a defender still building his senior record, repeated assignments will provide stronger evidence than assumptions about what a new coach might prefer.

Behind the story

Sources & further reading

Original AthleMix writing based on the linked reporting. Editorial analysis appears under “AthleMix takeaway.”

  1. LAFC · Xavi Tamarit appointed interim head coach, checked October 6, 2026
  2. LAFC · October 10 Vancouver match and coaching-change context, checked October 6, 2026
  3. LAFC · Nielsen first-team signing, March 11, 2025
  4. LAFC · Portland recap, April 11, 2026

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