From day one, the LA Galaxy has been scrambling. Their heavily promoted opening day match against LAFC at the Rose Bowl was postponed due to inclement weather. Fan protests marred the first part of the season before president Chris Klein stepped away from the club. Poor form and defensive mistakes were constant. Then injuries got worse as summer turned to fall, with five starters suffering season-ending injuries. It all resulted in the Galaxy’s elimination from the playoffs this past weekend.
The short version: This is a club in flux, with plenty of flexibility to reload for 2024, if they get it right.
State of the roster
Head coach: Greg Vanney (since 2021)
Chief Soccer Officer: Greg Vanney (since 2023)
The good
Attacking midfielder Riqui Puig is a singular talent in MLS and plays a position crucial to success in this league. Vanney’s system fits Puig perfectly. His FBRef scouting report is hilarious— He’s in the 99th percentile in several attacking categories like passes attempted, progressive passes, progressive categories, shots and shot-creating actions… but is at the bottom of the first percentile in several defensive categories like tackles, blocks and clearances.
In other words: a proper, throwback No. 10.
This summer’s trade for Diego Fagundez as a secondary playmaker flanking Puig makes a ton of sense stylistically. Defensive midfielder Gaston Brugman is excellent, midfield partner Mark Delgado is perpetually underrated and center back Maya Yoshida fits the system perfectly as well. Homegrown center back Jalen Neal broke into the first team and the senior U.S. national team before his injury. That’s a strong start to the spine.
The bad
While the Galaxy have been adamant at every turn that Puig is going nowhere this winter and they plan to continue building around him for many years to come, a player of his quality on an unsuccessful team will always have suitors abroad. If Puig is gone, this roster gets significantly worse and he’s near-impossible to replace.
The roster is aging and struggles in defensive transition, an ailment exacerbated by key individual mistakes in their possession-based system. That system relies heavily on wingers when at its best, but prior to Douglas Costa’s late season surge and Fagundez’s August acquisition, they got precious little production from the position.
LA has conceded a league-worst 61 goals in 32 matches, including a whopping 20 over their last six games. For context: Nashville SC has conceded 29 in 32 matches this year. Jonathan Bond had a bad season and he’s one of the more expensive goalkeepers in the league.
What could change
A lot. The Galaxy will almost definitely add two designated players (DPs) with the contracts of Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez and Costa expiring. Both largely underwhelmed, though Chicharito had an excellent 2022 season and was limited by injury his other two seasons. The club was interested in Mexico star Chucky Lozano and, while he signed for PSV this summer, that’s the kind of profile they’ll continue to aim for.
The club has contract options on Edwin Cerrillo, Billy Sharp, Uri Rosell and Kelvin Leerdam. Michael Barrios and Tony Alfaro are out of contract.
U-22 initiative forward Dejan Joveljic couldn’t earn starts with any regularity even after Chicharito got injured, and was firmly second choice to the 37-year-old Sharp at the end of the season. One would imagine that’s not a scenario Joveljic wants to be in again next year. He was signed for $4 million from Eintracht Frankfurt.
Lucas Calegari suffered a torn ACL in September. The Galaxy has a purchase option as part of his loan. It seemed very likely that was going to be triggered before the injury. Now that’s up in the air.
The infrastructure
As befitting their reputation, the Galaxy has continued to spend big and hunt for stars. Their (likely) two open DP spots will be extremely valuable.
Outside of Vanney, the front office has been reworked a bit in recent years. Technical director Jovan Kirovski was joined by former LAFC executive Will Kuntz this season. That trio leads the front office, aided by Gordon Kljestan, Michael Stephens and Joe Jesseau.
Offseason priorities
Decide on Vanney’s future
After a hugely disappointing 2023 season, will Vanney be back in 2024? This is the first decision, and it will inform the rest of the offseason.
The best clubs in MLS are aligned from front office to coaching staff, with a long-term vision in mind that helps short-term decisions. The Galaxy kept their long-term vision in the summer, signing only two players (Fagundez and Yoshida, who were both long-term targets) with contracts past 2023.
If the Galaxy are to move on from Vanney, it has to happen immediately so the coaching search can finish before new DPs signed, contract decisions made and more.
The worst-case scenario for the Galaxy is if they’re lukewarm on keeping Vanney, he leads the decisions to use potentially two DP spots … then is fired a handful of games into 2024 after a bad start.
If Vanney stays, stick by that decision for at least half the season, no matter what
Hit on DP signings
Not exactly a revolutionary thought, but: This MLS club should try to do well on their DP signings.
If the Galaxy hit on their two DPs, they can immediately be a contender again in 2024. If they hit on one, they should be expected to make the playoffs. If they miss on both, well, they’ll be set up for more years of misery and dysfunction.
I’d expect a center forward and a winger to be direct replacements for Chicharito and Costa.
More defensive athleticism
The Galaxy continues to get shredded when they scramble defensively. They try to control the games with possession and that’s admirable, but modern soccer is largely won and lost in transition, especially in this league.
Getting Brugman back from injury will help a lot. Having an athletic partner for Yoshida (like Neal) will too, but another defense-minded option at fullback and a reliable defense-minded backup for Brugman are two musts to round out the roster.