One of the toughest times for the LA Galaxy is now, and here's why

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·17 de abril de 2025

One of the toughest times for the LA Galaxy is now, and here's why

Declaring the first quarter of the 2025 MLS regular season a shocking disappointment is not an understatement. The defending champions are still without a win after the season's first eight games.

With the three ties and five losses, the Los Angeles Galaxy (0-3-5) are in search for answers on offense and defense. They have scored just six goals so far during the 2025 season. A season ago, they scored 69, the most in the MLS Western Conference.

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Saturday's match against Austin FC is another instance of how the LA Galaxy's tough travel schedule has affected the Riqui Puig-less Galaxy early on.

"So I think even though we're getting healthier, there are still guys that have not played a ton with us and that are still learning a little bit more about what we're trying to do. But, yeah, we've got to clean it up. Clean up putting ourselves in a hole and the not-so-good starts. Those are the biggest things. Because after that, I feel like we find ourselves back into the game and we look all right."Greg Vanney, Head Coach of the LA Galaxy

Why this season was already stacked against the LA Galaxy?

A target is automatically placed on any defending champion's back entering the next season. After capturing their sixth MLS Cup title last December, the Los Angeles Galaxy entered the 2025 as a marked man (or team).

Given the circumstances, the poor start isn't too much of a surprise. However, how bad it has gone so far is what has provided the shock value.

During the season opener, few people expected MLS newcomers San Diego FC to shutout the LA Galaxy. Afterall, Gabriel Pec and company went unbeaten in all 16 regular season games played at Dignity Health Sports Park last year. They went a perfect 4-0 during the postseason, too.

Following the 2-0 loss at home, the Los Angeles Galaxy traveled nearly 1,275 miles to British Columbia, Canada in order to play the Vancouver Whitecaps. Currently one of the best teams in the MLS Western Conference, the Whitecaps won 2-1 against the Galaxy.

The next contest was the first leg of the Round of 16 in the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup. That game was more than 3,500 miles from home. A 1-0 loss put the LA Galaxy in unfamiliar territory. In 2024, the team never lost three games in a row.

During the second week of March, the LA Galaxy had the luxury of having two home games in the same week. Unfortunately, they could only capitalize on one of them. A second consecutive shutout loss at home (3-0) put the LA Galaxy down 0-0-3 on the season.

A 4-1 victory gave the LA Galaxy some life as they knocked off Herediano to advance to the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Champions Cup. Julian Aude, Miguel Berry, Gabriel Pec, and Christian Ramírez all scored in this affair.

The Los Angeles Galaxy spent their next two games away from Carson, California. A second trip to the Pacific Northwest saw the team travel another 950 miles to Portland. Their away game against Minnesota United FC forced the winless team to travel another 1,900+ miles, again.

Another pair of home games on March 29 and April 1 provided a short break in the traveling. A 2-1 loss set the LA Galaxy further back in the MLS Western Conference Standings. A 0-0 draw against Tigres UANL was the best outcome of the brief homestand.

The LA Galaxy then ventured to Utah when they played a familiar foe in Real Salt Lake (675 miles). Another 2-0 shutout prevented head coach Greg Vanney from earning his first regular-season win during the title defense.

Flying roughly 1,525 miles to Monterrey, Mexico, for the second leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinals, the LA Galaxy were eliminated via a 3-2 loss against Tigres UANL. The Galaxy defense allowed two early goals and could not recover.

The Galaxy hosted the Houston Dynamo last weekend on the anniversary of their inaugural game from the 1996 MLS season. It was 29 years ago when the soccer club debuted.

"Just we have to stop putting ourselves in holes, and then trying to figure our way out of holes. Yeah, there's no two ways about it. It's got to get cleaned up. It's got to get fixed. "Greg Vanney, Head Coach of the LA Galaxy

This Saturday, Vanney's team makes its way to the capital city of Texas (1,375 miles). Counting the journeys to and from, that equates to nearly 20,000 miles in travel total. We are only mid way through April.

Austin FC hosts the 2024 MLS Cup winners. The team will put in its best effort yet and hopefully win for the first time in 2025.