What happened to the Los Angeles Galaxy?

Attention to the MLS has increased in recent months. The reason for this is the new strategies of the American league, but above all the arrival of Lionel Messi at Inter Miami, in the wake of Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba. Something similar had happened in the past, but without the league making a decisive leap forward and competing with the European leagues. As recently as 2007, David Beckham's move to the LA Galaxy was revolutionary in some respects. Beckham completely changed the perception of American soccer at the end of the 2000s by doing some image work and raising the general level of the league, which brought about many changes.

The resulting 'Beckham Rule', officially known as the Designated Player Rule, actually changed the MLS football market completely, as the rule allowed teams to sign up to three players outside their salary cap and made it easier to sign international stars. This began a period of unprecedented dominance for the Galaxy, with other stars such as Robbie Keane and Landon Donovan leading the team to two Supporters' Shield and three MLS Cup victories between 2010 and 2014. The famed dynasty thus cemented the Galaxy's status as the powerhouse of American soccer, becoming the league's premier team, in the city of spectacle and spectacle 

If you look at the current Western Conference standings, the LA Galaxy look like a lost and confused version of that great franchise, now sitting in second to last place. It has been 9 years since the Galaxy last lifted a trophy or even reached a final, and their best league finish during that time was a 6th place finish in 2016. The absolute collapse of the 2023 season had been developing for some time, but how did we get to this point? Yet, when you look at league standings now, all you see is a lost and confused version of a once great franchise, sitting at the bottom of the MLS with 3 wins this season. It has been 9 years since the Galaxy lifted a trophy or even made a final, and their highest league finish during this time was 6th in 2016. The absolute collapse of the 2023 season has been brewing for some time, but how exactly did we get here?

Ironically, the collapse began with Beckham's transfer. Yes, it was a great move, no doubt about it, it worked because the league was young, lacked quality and needed more visibility. A star player, albeit of a certain age, was exactly what the league needed to boost its appeal and recover from the waning interest in the early 2000s. Becks, however, created an obsession with the most marketable players in the Galaxy, a strategy that worked from a technical and marketing perspective and limited management's choices, leading to unexciting results. Ashley Cole, Nigel de Jong and Steven Gerrard; after the Galaxy's last MLS Cup win in 2014, these were the most prestigious new signings that could not guarantee Beckham's performance and highlighted the club's commercial focus. There were obvious attempts by Galaxy management to make the team more attractive from a marketing point of view, think Giovani dos Santos, who was expected to attract Hispanic fans because of his popularity in Mexico. The franchise was thus fixated on acquiring international stars to capitalise on its image and become increasingly important as a brand.

The Galaxy would later go on to sign other aging legends such as Zlatan Ibrahimović and Chicharito Hernández, and while these two objectively put up some good performances for the club, it was not enough. Blinded by the insatiable desire to increase valuation and brand strength, the higher ups at LA Galaxy failed to read where the MLS was heading during the late 2010s. Instead of starting to rely on local talent, the ever-improving academies, and a system able to dish out good players, the Galaxy kept recruiting big name players. But they did not understand that this is not what the MLS was anymore. What may have been true about the “retirement league” that Europeans joked about 10 years ago, is now firmly in the past. Today, the MLS produces its own talent, such as Alphonso Davies, Brendan Aaronson, Gio Reyna, and more recently Thiago Almada and Jesus Ferreira. It is a self-sufficient league, able to create a competitive environment for itself. The MLS has also revived itself as a “2nd chance” league, attracting seemingly mediocre players from Europe and helping them re-discover themselves and shine. Some of the MLS’ very best right now embody this thought perfectly, like Denis Bouanga, Hany Mukthar, Carles Gil, and Ilie Sànchez. This used to be a league for players on the verge of retiring from professional football, but it has now become a launching pad for hungry, motivated guys. The Galaxy refuse to adhere to this new philosophy, and still believe that winning is done with flops like Douglas Costa.

But aside from the outdated system of player recruitment, the front office itself is heavily dysfunctional. When the Galaxy signed Cristian Pavòn in 2019, for example, the club went over their salary budget, something that is only allowed if you classify the player in question as a Designated Player. The Galaxy did not do that with Pavòn, and as a result, in December 2022, they were hit with a transfer ban, a $1 million fine from the salary budget, and a suspension for now former club president Chris Klein. Klein, who was recently fired from his position, was replaced with current head coach Greg Vanney. So, now you have an organization with a transfer ban on its head, a $1 million fine to pay, and a coach that has only produced poor results taking on the additional responsibility of club president.

Understandably, the Galaxy supporters are not happy with the situation, and many of them have taken to protesting. On January 13th, 2023, when Klein was still controversially at the club, five of the biggest LA Galaxy organized supporter groups (the Galaxians, the Angels City Brigade, the LA Riot Squad, the Galaxy Outlawz, and the Ghosts Ultras Galaxy) threatened to boycott games if Klein stayed with the team, and this caused attendance to go down to all-time lows. Never has the Galaxy’s average attendance been this low in over 14 years, and for the first time since the MLS inception in 1996, the Galaxy are not in the top 10 for league-wide attendance. The fans are done with the entire organization and want change, but just like with the Galaxy’s transfer strategies, it is hard to envision a near future where this happens. And now, with LAFC’s recent success, the Galaxy lost their monopoly on the big, powerful market that is the city of Los Angeles. The pull and influence that characterized this team at the beginning of the 2010s is diminishing with each passing day, and if the front office doesn’t align itself with the MLS’ trajectory, the LA Galaxy will have a tough time returning to winning ways.