LA Galaxy are a team transformed in 2024, and a mouthwatering MLS Cup final between themselves and Inter Miami – original Galacticos against new Galacticos – is a possibility, as the MLS Cup playoffs get underway this weekend.
By James Nalton
Despite being overtaken to the top spot in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference on the final day of the season by local rivals Los Angeles FC, LA Galaxy have largely been the best team on that side of the league in 2024. They’ve had the standout players, and the best attack – having scored 69 goals – and produced a big turnaround on last season’s performance.
A meeting between them and Inter Miami in the biggest game of the season would have a sense of glamour about it. The team that once signed David Beckham against the team that signed Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez, and the franchise now owned by Beckham as a result of his contracts signed with LA Galaxy back in 2007.
The question is, are LA Galaxy good enough to get that far? If you’d have asked this question last year, the answer would certainly be no, as they didn’t even make the playoffs.
There has been a lot of focus on Inter Miami’s turnaround from 2023 to 2024 as they went from a team that finished 14th out of 15 teams in the Eastern Conference and 27th out of 29 teams overall in 2023, to one that topped the overall standings to win the Supporters’ Shield in record-breaking fashion in 2024.
The unusual and high-profile nature of Inter Miami’s story, involving as it does the arrival of one of the best players in the history of the game has overshadowed many other teams and their achievements in MLS in 2024.
LA Galaxy’s own, not dissimilar turnaround from 2023 to 2024 is one of the stories that has been overlooked.
The Galaxy finished 13th out of 14 teams in the Western Conference in 2023 and were just two points ahead of Inter Miami in the overall table in 26th.
In 2024 they finished level on points with Los Angeles FC at the top of the Western Conference table, losing out on top spot in agonising fashion on goal difference after losing to Houston Dynamo on the final day of the regular season.
LA Galaxy’s impressive form in 2024 also saw them finish fourth in the overall table with 64 points, 10 points behind Inter Miami but only two behind the much-lauded second-place team, Columbus Crew.
LA Galaxy’s 64-point total is the highest in MLS history for a team finishing 4th in the overall standings, showing how strong they have been and how big a turnaround this has been.
Does this mean they will be a force in the playoffs?
Most will predict an MLS Cup winner from the Eastern Conference. If it’s not Inter Miami, then it will be Columbus Crew, as they’re the two teams widely considered the best in the league – Miami for their star power, and the Crew for being such a well-coached team with an exciting and effective style of play.
A solid defence can take a team far in the playoffs (which is why Seattle Sounders might be a dark horse from the West) and this hasn’t been a strong point for the Galaxy in 2024.
They conceded 50 goals, more than any other team in the top six of their conference and this affected their goal difference which ultimately cost them top spot in the West. But they have a lot of other things going for them.
No team can match Messi and Suárez for star power, but the combination play from Riqui Puig and Gabriel Pec for LA Galaxy has come closest to doing so. It can be one of the most effective and devastating attacking link-ups in the league alongside the dynamism of winger Joseph Paintsil.
Add the goal-getter Dejan Joveljić, waiting to pick up a chance on the back of the go-forward and the creativity of the aforementioned trio, and the Galaxy have the attacking power and quality to scare any defence and win any game.
What’s changed?
In short, Pec and Paintsil
Pec’s impact since arriving from Vasco da Gama for the 2024 season has been so impressive that he’s challenging Suárez for the Newcomer of the Year award in 2024, and probably deserves to win it.
He’s scored 16 goals, made 12 assists, and has been a constant threat from the right-wing linking with the classy former Barcelona man, Puig who has the second-highest FotMob rating of the season behind Messi.
Pec also has a very high pass success rate for an attacking player, at 89%. It’s the kind of accurate passing you might expect from deeper lying players who have more time to pick their passes, and not from a player operating in tighter spaces and attacking positions up close with opposition defences.
Those who scouted and signed the 23-year-old Brazilian for the Galaxy could not have wished for a better season from their new man.
Another new addition, Miki Yamane, has also been a regular presence at right-back, and his consistency and diligence earned him the player of the year from supporters’ group LA Riot Squad. Though not as outstanding as those attackers and midfielders, being recognised as a solid pro in this manner shows that Yamane has been an important part of the team unit.
Head coach Greg Vanney deserves credit for overseeing this improvement on the field, and his team top numerous attacking metrics including having the highest total xG and the most accurate passes per game – an indication of their possession style, while Will Kuntz, who was appointed general manager ahead of this season, has played a big role, especially in those key signings.
The supporters also played their part. It wasn’t so long ago that they were boycotting games in an attempt to make the flagging ownership group take notice of their concerns as their once-great franchise slumped on and off the pitch. It seems to have worked, and the fans deserve credit for waking the club from its slumber.
The Galaxy are now in much better shape, making clever signings and better moves in most departments. The next step is to trouble the best teams in the league in the MLS Cup playoffs, but regardless of what happens there let’s not forget the big leap they have already made in 2024.
(Cover Image from IMAGO)
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