You don’t have to look long or far to spot the differences between this year’s Galaxy team and last year’s.
The lineup? Eight of the 11 players the Galaxy started in Saturday’s El Tráfico win over LAFC weren’t with the team at the start of last season. The standings? The Galaxy were 13th in the 14-team Western Conference table at this point last season, this year they have the second-best record in the league and are closing in on their first conference title since 2011.
And what about their record. Last year the Galaxy won eight games all season; they’ve already won twice as many this year, clinching a playoff berth with five games left.
For coach Greg Vanney, only the numbers have changed. The team’s values, philosophy and goals, he said, have remained constant. And that consistency, a little luck and a few other things the naked eye can’t see are what has really fueled the team’s best season in a decade.
“We had to sort out our roster a little bit. But the vision for what we wanted and how we felt the team could be successful didn’t change,” he said. “A lot of things have to come together for you to have a turnaround like we did. A lot of credit [goes] to just the vision for what we wanted to do, sticking to it, and then finding the players who fit into that vision.”
Maybe. But there’s more to it than that.
Take Saturday, for example. Both teams needed a victory to improve their chances of winning the conference and securing home-field advantage in the playoffs. So when LAFC, arguably the deepest team in MLS, ran out to a 2-0 lead in the opening 15 minutes, it appeared as if that issue had been decided.
Last year’s Galaxy would have quit at that stage. And it wasn’t a consistency in the team’s vision that brought them back Saturday. It was heart, grit, determination and a few other things the naked eye can’t see.
“To get punched in the mouth, to be down two. The response just showed a lot of maturity and a lot of belief,” Vanney said.
“In my nearly four years here, this is one of the proudest moments I’ve had of this group,” he continued. “The courage they showed and the personality they showed in the second half, it was fun to watch. They came together and believed in what they are doing and believed in the mission and got it done.”
Want some more numbers? Three of the Galaxy’s four goals came in a 14-minute span early in the second half, two of them from Dejan Joveljic, who was starting for the first time in more than two months, and the other from Edwin Cerrillo, his first in MLS. Midfielder Riqui Puig, who had created zero scoring chances in his last three El Tráficos, scored the final goal to go with two assists.
“Sometimes people say ‘you don’t play a good game, you don’t make chances’,” Puig said. “But there are more things in the soccer than to make chances and to make goals. This year we have the pieces that maybe two years before, we didn’t have.
“To win the MLS [Cup], it’s very important for us.”
A year ago that was out of the question. But this year?
“We have a lot of work to do in these last [five] games,” Vanney said. “There’s a lot of things that will happen down the stretch. We’ve got a lot to do to win it, but we’ve been consistent. In order to stay in this race, you’ve got to have a consistently high level.”
Especially since the Galaxy probably haven’t seen the last of their crosstown rivals this season. The team’s last two playoff appearances ended in losses at BMO Stadium, but after Saturday’s win the Galaxy (16-6-7) have a seven-point lead over LAFC (14-7-6) atop the Western Conference table.
If the Galaxy win the West they’ll play all their conference playoff games at Dignity Health Sports Park, where they are unbeaten this season.
“After last year, you don’t take anything for granted,” Vanney said. “Now our eyes are set on we control our destiny and trying to win the West, which positions us in the playoffs in what I believe is the best possible scenario.”
For LAFC, which has played in the last two MLS Cup finals, the stretch run this year will an arduous one made all the more challenging by a loss that left it winless in its last three MLS games. Fatigue was an issue Saturday, coach Steve Cherundolo said, and the schedule only gets tougher going forward. Including this month’s U.S. Open Cup final with Sporting Kansas City, LAFC will play eight times in 31 days.
Depth, then, will be key over the next month and this week’s return of former captain Carlos Vela could bolster that.
“We’ll try to turn it around as fast as possible,” promised Cherundolo, whose team plays host to Austin on Wednesday.
⚽ You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.