In Varas’ first job as a men’s head coach, he led the Californian side to the top of the Western Conference with a record-breaking tally of points, wins and away wins for an expansion team.
And he did it all while deploying a style that has been inspired by Pep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova’s Barcelona.
Varas said: “I love football. I think the best thing in life is playing football. And if you can’t do that, the next best thing is to be working in football. And if you can’t do that, I think the next best thing is to be a passionate fan of football.
“And I know there are many ways of playing football and I respect all of them and all of them have tremendous value and you can win any way.
“But deep in our hearts and in our DNA, we feel this type of exciting football, and it makes it all the more special a journey when we play this way.”
It is this style that bonded a group of 30 strangers and helped them outperform MLS giants such as the Seattle Sounders, Vancouver Whitecaps and both Los Angeles clubs in the Western Conference.
But despite everyone having to develop relationships with team-mates during pre-season, often through card games and the odd trip to watch Major League Baseball side San Diego Padres, the fresh start for staff and players felt like an advantage.
Midfielder Anders Dreyer said: “It was nice to get into a dressing room where every player wanted to be at the same place.
“Sometimes you come to a club with history and there is stuff carrying over from last season where people want to leave because they didn’t play enough or were unhappy.
“But here, there was a group of players who would just want to be a part of this journey.
“I’ve been in a lot of different teams with a lot of history and then to try a whole new team with no history, was something I would love to do.”
