Let’s talk about how they got there:
The Galaxy had… let’s call it $20 million to spend last winter and two DP slots to fill. And here’s a thing we should all know by now, about this version of MLS: If you don’t get your DP signings 90% correct – it doesn’t have to be 100% correct, but it’s got to be close – you’re not going to win a trophy.
Think about the teams that have won the Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup the past few years. Think about the US Open Cup winners, or the Leagues Cup winners, or the teams that make a run in Concacaf Champions Cup.
There's not much dead weight at the top of the roster! And so when general manager Will Kuntz went to work last winter, adding to a team that was clearly going to be built around Riqui Puig’s all-world passing ability in midfield, he knew he needed to go 2-for-2 on DP wingers whose skillsets would resonate with and amplify Riqui’s (and vice versa).
In Joseph Paintsil, he got a Best XI-caliber winger. In Gabriel Pec, he got the Newcomer of the Year who scored one of the greatest individual goals in Audi MLS Cup Playoffs history:
If your three DPs are each 95th percentile (or better) at their position, you’re going to win a lot of games.
First time in a long time that’s been the case for the Galaxy.
Talent wins. Give a good manager (Greg Vanney is definitely one!) great talent up and down the roster and you won’t just win a lot of games; you’ll get silverware.
Understand it’s not just guys like Pec and Paintsil, but clever intra-league signings like Edwin Cerrillo, Diego Fagúndez, John Nelson, and John McCarthy who were all brought in either during the summer of 2023 or the following winter – the window ahead of this season. They signed veteran center back Maya Yoshida for free in the middle of last year and then added countryman Miki Yamane, who was widely regarded as the best fullback in the J-League, ahead of this year.
By this summer, the cap had been managed so well that they signed Borussia Dortmund legend Marco Reus on a VERY manageable salary.
That wasn’t the big one, though. The big one was adding unheralded Colombian center back Emiro Garcés on loan. Garces has flaws (he’s not good in the air attacking crosses; that almost led to an improbable RBNY equalizer in the 33rd minute), but he’s a perfect partner for Yoshida in the middle of that backline. It’s no surprise LA looked like a top-five defense down the stretch once he claimed a starting spot.
The common denominator for all of this is Kuntz. He joined the Galaxy from LAFC in April 2023 and has been throwing straight smoke for three straight transfer windows. He got the big-name signings right. He got the veteran signings right. He saw, in players like Cerrillo, Nelson and Garcés, championship building blocks. Anybody could’ve gotten these guys; the Galaxy did.
It’s eerily similar to what LAFC did ahead of their 2022 season. Remember, they had some big-name DPs on that team. But it was the offseason rebuild with guys like Ryan Hollingshead, Ilie Sánchez, Kellyn Acosta, Maxime Crépeau and, yes, John McCarthy, that drove that team’s MLS Cup/Supporters’ Shield double.
Anybody could’ve had those guys. LAFC got them and trophies followed suit. Kuntz had a big hand in that, too.
Riqui is gonna play the way Riqui plays no matter what. Know how we know that? Because he’s in LA instead of Barcelona.
I honestly think this guy is the second-best passer of the ball in the entire world, behind only the other No. 10 with Barca roots in MLS. The issue is Riqui has zero interest in structure, positional play or… balance. If he did, he’d be starting next to Pedri every week in LaLiga.
So it was incumbent upon Vanney to figure out how to build a structure around the little genius. It did not come easy.
“It's not exactly how I saw the position on paper,” Vanney said two weeks back on the way Riqui plays.
“What we've learned with Riqui is how to give him the right spaces to allow him to move around because he's unplayable when he's on the move. And it's so hard if you try to mark him and chase him around because he is so mobile and he's so quick, and so a lot for us is how to not put him in the box, but for other guys who are playing with Riqui, to understand how to best be effective and to allow his movements to take place and to work off of those things.”
Across MLS regular-season and postseason play, here are the numbers:
- Puig: 17g/18a
- Pec: 19g/16a
- Paintsil: 14g/11a
- Dejan Joveljić: 21g/8a
Safe to say they got the attacking balance right! And then once Garcés was added to the group, they got the defensive balance right (his ability to snuff out opponents in transition after bad Galaxy turnovers is irreplaceable). And then when Riqui got hurt and Vanney had to adjust for MLS Cup, he made the bold call of going with Gastón Brugman instead of Fagúndez.
Brugman went out and won MLS Cup MVP presented by Audi. The coach got that call right, too.
- Riqui Puig (AM): Hopefully we’ll see him return in mid-summer, and hopefully he’s the same guy he was before the ACL injury.
- Gabriel Pec (RW): He’ll be an annual Best XI-caliber guy until the Galaxy get a godfather offer for him from one of the world’s biggest clubs.
- Joseph Paintsil (LW/RW): He’ll be a Best XI-caliber guy for the next half-decade.
- Dejan Joveljić (FW): Classic No. 9 who, like Pec, could command a big offer from elsewhere. But if you’re him, why leave?
- Emiro Garcés (CB): Perfect for what they needed this year. And there’s a world where he’s a starter in Carson for the next decade.
Mark Delgado has a contract option; it is an easy call to pick that up. Martín Cáceres has a contract option; it is an easy call to decline that.
Yoshida is out of contract. He turns 37 next summer, but I assume they’ll work to bring him back.
That’s really it for big decisions unless someone comes in with big money for Pec or Joveljić, which shouldn’t be ruled out. That’s the business.
The other thing… I’d assumed for a while they’d work on a buyout of Brugman’s remaining guaranteed year (listed at $1.4 million as per the MLSPA) this winter. But given his performance in MLS Cup and Riqui’s injury, I think it’s extremely likely they’ll hold onto him, as they should.
They’ve also got one open U22 Initiative slot, and can very easily open an international roster slot (Caceres departing would do it). My guess is they’ll use that to try and find the next Joveljić.
My point is the hard yards have already been run. This team is deep, talented and will be one of the favorites to do it again next year.
Everything old is new again.
