Lights FC technical director Jose Luis Sanchez Sola grabs drink with fans

Fans pose with Lights FC technical director Jose Luis Sanchez Sola and coach Isidro Sanchez at the Downtown Las Vegas bar Gold Spike on Thursday. (Ben Gotz/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Lights FC technical director Jose Luis Sanchez Sola’s solution for angry fans: Add alcohol.

Sola invited fans on Twitter to have a drink with him at the Downtown Las Vegas bar Gold Spike on Thursday, and about 15 supporters showed up to talk about the Lights ahead of their game against Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, which starts at 8 p.m. Saturday at Cashman Field.

Sola and coach Isidro Sanchez stayed about two hours answering questions amid the team’s 0-4-3 slide in United Soccer League play.

“It shows me that they care,” said fan Joey Martel, who works at Trader Joe’s.

Sola first approached owner Brett Lashbrook about the idea Monday, but he wanted to do it on his own and not make it a team event. So he posted the invitation on his personal Twitter in both English and Spanish on Wednesday afternoon in the hopes that he could create a direct line to supporters.

“The fans, they are angry. They don’t have all the information. They deserve the information,” Sola said. “The fans should know who is responsible for all this because they have supported us a lot and I need their support to continue.”

Sola hoped to convey the struggles he had in building the expansion team’s first roster without a lot of context on the level of play in the USL. The Lights have cut four players and added six since May 4 to reshape a club that Sola believed initially had a low ceiling.

Some fans didn’t come seeking answers though; some just came to get to know Sola and Sanchez.

“It’s just a way to get to know the coaches better and I’m perfectly fine with that,” fan Ricky Alvarez, who works as a flight dispatcher, said.

Sola honored plenty of fan requests for photos and selfies. Supporter Stefanie Black, who works as a server, said he was approachable.

“He was so cool, like we knew him already,” Black said. “This is awesome. I love this.”

Sola previously raised a glass with fans at Gold Spike after his hiring in November. He wanted to meet the people of Las Vegas and he allow them to get to know him. With his team struggling, he decided to reach out to the supporters again in the hopes of keeping them unified behind the Lights.

“For me, it is the most important,” Sola said. “My main job is to bring together all the branches of this big tree.

”One branch is the owner, one branch is the media, one branch is the players and the other branch is the fans. I’m in charge of pulling all this together.”

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Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.