Finally, the LA Galaxy are back
It’s the one question that’s eluded me all year.
What does it mean for the Galaxy to be back anyway? There’s been two golden eras, the 1996-2002 retro fueled nostalgia of the Rose Bowl days which culminated in the team’s first MLS Cup win before moving to Carson, and the ruthless success of the Bruce Arena era when Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane and David Beckham led the Galaxy to three MLS Cups and two Supporters Shields. (With all due respect to the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Steven Gerrard, sorry fellas but this is a big club)
Two distinct periods of success. To bring up one without the other doesn’t tell the complete story. Not to mention everyone has their own benchmarks. Entertaining attacking football, big names, shiny trophies? All of the above? Infamously, with LA sitting in the first place the late Sigi Schmid was relieved of duty midway through the 2004 season as the attack was deemed too conservative.
The days of Cobi Jones, Mauricio Cienfuegos and Jorge Campos before big crowds at the Rose Bowl were entertaining as hell, but it took four MLS Cup appearances before finally taking home the big one. Bruce Arena brought unprecedented success to the Galaxy, but by electing not to celebrate their glorious past, it sometimes felt like a piece of the club was missing.
Eventually I came to realize “Are the Galaxy back” isn’t really a benchmark at all. It’s a feeling. A vibe that can’t be replicated by splashy signings, fashion drops or other gimmicks.
For the players, it’s an unflappable confidence in their ability to walk away with a result on any given match day. Down by two goals to LAFC at halftime? No problem. The Killer P’s of Riqui Puig, Gabriel Pec and Joseph Paintsil alongside Dejan Joveljic have terrorized opposing defenses all year long, and thanks to the hard work of the squad (fixing the rest defense!) LA are hosting MLS Cup on Saturday with an undefeated record at Dignity Health Sports Park.
Yes…I know about Riqui Puig’s tragic ACL tear. However the Galaxy won three in a row earlier this year with Diego Fagundez slotting in for Riqui, and the guys will be extra motivated to win the cup for their fallen maestro. IMO they’re still the favorites over the Red Bulls.
For the fans, it’s a universal belief in the club to win trophies. Unlike the players and coaching staff who I suspect always believed in themselves, the supporters were jilted lovers, jaded from a decade of false hopes and broken dreams until the Galaxy won over the most skeptical of fans. All season long there were doubts, but as LA drubbed Minnesota United by a 6-2 scoreline jubilation in the stands cascaded into a whirlwind of emotions from a long-suffering fanbase who could believe once again.
Over the weekend, the Galaxy grinded their way to a narrow victory over the Sounders as 26,327 towel-waving Angelinos blew the roof off the place. As Sacha Kljestan likes to say, the vibes were immaculate, though in this case Kljestan was soundly booed during the trophy presentation for his skeptical Galaxy takes on MLS Season Pass throughout the season.
In the locker room afterwards, a close-knit squad celebrated by singing along to Joseph’s Paintsil’s new single Blessings, while upstairs supporters danced and moshed around a drum pit. Players and fans, working together in unison to make Dignity Health Sports Park a fortress a year after the supporters boycott threatened to destroy everything but instead fueled the greatest season long turnaround in league history.
The Galaxy are back.