Why the offense has been more disappointing than the defense for the LA Galaxy

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·21 de abril de 2025

Why the offense has been more disappointing than the defense for the LA Galaxy

The 30th MLS regular season has been historic for many reasons. It welcomed the new expansion team, San Diego FC.

It also saw the LA Galaxy begin their sixth MLS Cup title defense. However, that last one is off to an ugly start (0-3-6).

Vídeos OneFootball

Last season, the Los Angeles Galaxy owned the best offense in the MLS Western Conference. With 69 goals in the regular season, they were the second seed in the playoffs (via a tiebreak that went in favor to LAFC).

This season, just about everything has gone wrong. In 2025, the defending champions are still looking for their first win of the regular season and nine games already played.

The LA Galaxy's defense does not deserve all the blame

In Match Game #1, the six-time MLS Cup champions did not expect to get blanked at home against newcomers San Diego FC. A scoreless first half at least kept the Los Angeles Galaxy in the contest. That was until Andres Dreyer found the back of the net twice in the second half.

Weeks later, the LA Galaxy played Orlando City SC to a 2-1 loss. They kept the visiting Eastern Conference opponent scoreless in the first half, as well. Two late scores allowed in the second half doomed the LA Galaxy, this time 2-1.

"As you can imagine, this is a group that's expected to win and expects to win every week. And so we're frustrated. We're disappointed, and motivated to turn this thing around as quickly as possible. So you know, our margins are a lot thinner than last year, and so every mistake is magnified, and we've seen that over the course of eight, ten games, whatever it may be. And so the message is, we need to continue to improve, continue to put ourselves in situations to get a result. So we'll have to continue on and try to get better."Eriq Zavaleta, LA Galaxy defender

This trend continued as the LA Galaxy blew their 1-0 lead going into the half against the Portland Timbers. After a near perfect defensive first half, the Galaxy had a key mishap allowing a goal in the early minutes of the second half.

The offense offered just one goal between those two games. It was shutout once again when the LA Galaxy traveled to Sandy, Utah to play Real Salt Lake.

A pair of first half goals put the six-time MLS Cup winners down 2-0. However, another shutdown period after halftime kept the LA Galaxy within striking distance of tying or winning.

The pattern of the LA Galaxy defense playing shutout soccer for at least one half but not getting enough production from their offense has been a recurring theme this year.

In the last two regular-season games, the Los Angeles Galaxy had one scoreless half by the defense but no backup from their offense. The Galaxy tied the Houston Dynamo (1-1), and then lost again to Austin FC 1-0 this month.

What is the solution from head coach Greg Vanney and the players?

Simply put, the Los Angeles Galaxy need to score. They need to push the action more up to the opposing box and put more shots on target.

The LA Galaxy gave up seven of their 16 goals this season in the first three contests. The other nine goals were surrendered in the last six games.

"Some guys who haven't played a ton or haven't played a lot in MLS are needing to learn and come along, and obviously the stress level builds when you're not getting results right away. But there's been a lot of guys kind of in and out or guys out and coming into the lineup."Greg Vanney, Head Coach of the LA Galaxy

Former Columbus Crew forward, Christian Ramirez, is the only member of the LA Galaxy with multiple goals this season. He has three while Diego Fagundez, Gabriel Pec, and Carlos Garcés each have one.

A season ago, the LA Galaxy had four players score at least ten or more goals. This sudden and drastic reduction in offensive output and scoring has led to the team's current nine-game winless streak to open this historic season.