After watching last year's Audi MLS Cup Playoffs from home for the third time in four years, the LA Galaxy are among the favorites to make a push for the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy in 2024.
The latest episode of Offside with Taylor Twellman explores the Galaxy's rise as Western Conference contenders, featuring insight from head coach Greg Vanney. Bringing the club back to relevance was personal for the former Toronto FC manager, who suited up for the Galaxy for seven seasons of his playing career.
"We took it in the nose, we took it however we were going to take it, but we maintained our flexibility going into this season so that we could build the roster, that we could get the pieces that we felt like matched the way we wanted to play," Vanney told Twellman. "And everyone did a great job of doing that.
"And we did it with proactive scouting, identifying our targets, going to see them live, and understanding who it was that we were bringing to the club, and how we wanted them to fit into this puzzle that was going to be our team, and how we wanted to play. And so it worked. And it worked because we stuck to it, we stuck to the plan."
That makeover included the arrival of Designated Player wingers Gabriel Pec and Joseph Paintsil, who supercharged an offense built around Spanish playmaker Riqui Puig and Serbian No. 9 Dejan Joveljic. LA's 69 goals scored this season marked the highest total in the West and third-most in all of MLS, behind Inter Miami CF and the Columbus Crew.
"For us, I felt like this year we had this level of freedom, and this confidence," Vanney said. "And it wasn't that we were wearing the stress of last year. We had a belief in the group. And for me as a manager, I want our players to feel emboldened, and to feel positive, and to feel like they can go out in the field and within the structure, and the ideas, and the principles of how we play, that they can express themselves as players."
Their 2024 postseason campaign got off to a roaring start, as the No. 2 seed Galaxy crushed the No. 7 Colorado Rapids, 5-0, in Game 1 of their Round One Best-of-3 series. A Game 2 win on Friday (9:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass) and the Galaxy advance to the Western Conference semifinals where they would take on either No. 3 seed Real Salt Lake or No. 6 Minnesota United.
"It is going to be about closing out games," Vanney said. "It's going to be about locking things down. It's about every play on the defensive side matters, just as much as every play on the attacking side. And so I do think, and that was the message to our group, we lost the game on the last play of the season, which cost us the Western Conference.
"...The next time that happens, we're out of the playoffs and our season is done. And this is a reminder that every action matters, that we're all connected, that all these details are important."
