STORIES: LA Galaxy
“I’m so incredibly happy! I’m literally so happy I don’t even need alcohol!” Jamie Bacon exclaimed in delight.
Hours before the Galaxy battled Leo Messi and Inter Miami, the palm-tree lined tailgating areas were rocking. The Aggrolites had the LA Riot Squad bopping to their signature reggae sound, while nearby live banda entertained the Angel City Brigade and Galaxy Outlawz. Hundreds of happy Angelinos, many with adult beverages in hand, enjoying the ambience of a tight-knit community reuniting after the trails and tribulations of an insane 2023 MLS season. It was total nirvana vibes.
Edgar Zuniga was dealing with a loose bone fragment lodged around his kneecap, risking excruciating pain every time he stepped out of the house.
Didn’t matter. He had to be here.
“My goodness…so much strife, so much anguish, and now we’re seeing the fruits of all this labor…I feel like it’s the dawn of a new era!” said Zuniga, occasionally bracing to protect his knee.
This time last year, the area was a ghost town.
The Aggrolites! (Mike Gray)
Home openers are special. Messi and friends coming to town elevated the match to a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
While the spotlight may have been on the G.O.A.T. however, Sunday’s thrilling spectacle was the story of a club and fans saving each other.
A galaxy in search of solace
When the news broke that suspended Galaxy president Chris Klein was sticking around for an 11th season, the supporters groups quickly banded together to lead a fan boycott. Loyal Galaxy fans were suddenly faced with the proposition of walking away from the stadium, refusing to buy merchandise, whatever it took to pressure AEG president Dan Beckerman into dismissing Klein.
For many in the Galaxy Community, going to games and spending time with friends was a way of life. Reluctantly, the supporters did what they thought was best for the club.
It was a grind. As the months dragged on with the team near the bottom of the table plus attendance and revenues taking a dive, the pressure on Klein rose to a boiling point. Finally in late May, the embattled president was relieved of his duties, providing temporary relief to a fatigued fanbase.
But the damage was done. The atmosphere at games wasn’t quite the same. Friction stewed between the supporters groups. Most importantly, Greg Vanney’s group were hopelessly behind in the standings. Few teams collected more points than LA that summer but season-ending injuries to Gastón Brugman and Riqui Puig killed any chance of a late playoff push.
Speaking to the media for exit interviews, Mark Delgado was visibly emotional discussing the boycott. The fans made it clear they were protesting the front office and not the players themselves, but it still took a psychological toll on guys who were essentially being punished for something they didn’t do.
“That was tough, man,” Delgado explained slowly but deliberately. “That played an emotional part in everything,”
”You’re training so hard every week to come to the game and perform, and then when you come in the support’s not there, right? Usually that’s part of the home field advantage, having that support there and that pressure on the other team,”
”In a way you and the home crowd are working together. Your supporters are working together to ultimately get this result, and overcome everything and push and get that result, get the goal, then you get the momentum, you get into the other team’s head, and that’s when things can happen, everything just shifts right? But it wasn’t like that.”
“It just wasn’t there, and teams came in and saw an empty stadium and said, “Hey, no pressure”,”
”It sucked for sure, from the players point of view. And obviously [the supporters] had their reasons right? But on the other side of that, you kind of leave us hanging right? In some sort of way.”
(Off the record, several players estimated losing home field advantage until summer cost the team 4-6 points in the standings)
It was hard on all of us, including the reporters. I’d pop in the press box, drop off my stuff, go downstairs and cover a protest, go back upstairs, stare at an empty Victoria Block and sigh. Then a DM pops up…
“Hey man, how’d the protest go?”
We ALL needed a reset.
The reset
The Galaxy knew it, and Beckerman knew it too. Major changes were needed. And to his credit, Beckerman began to right the ship with a series of correct calls.
In April the club lured former LAFC executive and league office whiz-kid Will Kuntz to Carson. A month later Klein was relieved of his duties. The club restructured its soccer and business operations. Will Misselbrook was named chief creative and content officer and tasked with leading Galaxy Studios. Before the year was up Kuntz was named GM, allowing Vanney to dedicate 100% of his time and energy to coaching.
Fast forward a few months later…
Messi Mania
Leo and Riqui sharing a word (LA Galaxy)
Outside the sanctuary of the tailgate areas, the scene was chaos. Lines snaked around the building with Inter Miami, Barcelona and Argentina NT kits as far as the eye can see. The concourses were crazy packed.
Commissioner Don Garber hosted an impromptu Q & A session inside the press box. Celebrities in attendance included Halle Berry, Lil Wayne, Kim Kardashian, Novak Djokovic, Vlade Divac, Christen Press, Tobin Heath, Joe Lo Truglio…more I can recall and a suite full of Galaxy alumni to boot. (In hindsight, LAFC passing out a list of celebrities when Messi showed up may have been more of a helpful courtesy than a flex)
Don Garber dropping in (Mike Gray)
Once the shenanigans subsided and the match kicked off, all the hard work over the past year came to fruition.
LA dominated from the opening whistle. The club dropped $20 million in transfer fees this winter to fill both DP spots with goal dangerous wingers and their ambition was rewarded. Joseph Paintsil drew a penalty and gave Jordi Alba fits all night with his direct play. Gabriel Pec shined in a substitute appearance, dancing around challenges and providing the assist for Dejan Joveljic’s tally. With the new-and-improved Diego Fagundez in rotation and Riqui Puig pulling the strings, this attack has the potential to slice and dice opposing back lines.
All the offseason signings lived up to expectations. Japanese international right back Miki Yamine showed his class on the ball. Goalkeeper John McCarthy made several big stops and superbly commanded his box, even striker Miguel Berry provided an energetic spark off the bench.
Paintsil shined on his debut (LA Galaxy)
Greg Vanney introduced a new wrinkle into the game plan, ceding possession to Inter Miami and ruthlessly punishing them in transition. As a result the Galaxy outshot Miami 23-11 and obliterated the Herons 3.9 to 0.9 in expected goals (xG). Only wasteful finishing, shoddy refereeing and a moment of magic from Messi prevented the Galaxy from posting a decisive victory.
If the failures of the past had cast a hex over the Digs, Will Misselbrook and company seemed determined to drive away the curse by giving the game day experience a refreshing facelift. The new hype video featuring Galaxy players in a post-apocalyptic landscape was goosebump-inducing. Recording artist Alesso performed a halftime set on the grass berm. When Dejan’s tap-in blew the roof off the building, smoke billowed from the newly installed neon Galaxy logo atop the south end.
Downstairs afterwards, Vanney was obviously disappointed in the draw but saw what the rest of us enjoyed: A front four with ridiculously scary potential.
“I'm really proud of the group,” the Galaxy manager beamed. “I look forward because I see what this team is capable of even on a night like tonight, and knowing the guys are still coming together and getting healthy and all that kind of stuff, I really am excited about the group we have.”
Apple Season Pass analyst Taylor Twellman remarked afterwards he could count on one hand the number of times he’d experienced an atmosphere like Sunday. Some of it was for Messi, but the fans were also expressing their appreciation for a club who’ve put in the work to earn back their trust.
“From the ashes, a new fire arises” read the tifo display from LARS before kickoff, an apt descriptor for a night seemingly destined to celebrate reconciliation. Inter Miami owner David Beckham got in the act at one point, saluting his one-time nemesis the LA Riot Squad before catching a scarf from the stands to loud applause.
As referee Gabriele Ciampi confirmed Joveljic’s goal stood in the 77th minute, Riqui Puig empathically gestured to the crowd to make noise. A record attendance of 27,632 roared back.
The fans are back. The players are back.
Maybe, just maybe, the Galaxy are back.
