The LA Galaxy looking for season turnaround with new quad of players

It’s not often you see parallels between the NBA and MLS, but there is one brewing in Los Angeles.

During the 2023 NBA trade deadline, the Los Angeles Lakers were in 13th place in Western Conference. A team with superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis wasn’t enough to keep the team in playoff contention — there needed to be some changes to the roster. The Lakers added valuable role payers at the deadline to add more support to a team heavily reliant on their big-name players.

Coincidently, the LA Galaxy also found themselves in a similar situation during the final day of the MLS Secondary Transfer window. The club is in 13th place in Western Conference and greatly underachieving when you look at the names on the team, with Riqui Puig, Douglas Costa, Dejan Joveljic, and Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez all having statistically underwhelming seasons in 2023.

The Lakers turned their season around with their new players and made the play-in game despite the horrible start. The campaign came to an end in the Western Conference finals but left lots of optimism for the future. 

The Galaxy's acquisitions of Maya Yoshida, Micheal Barrios, Diego Fagundez, and Edwin Cerrillo feel like fresh air for a club in need of oxygen. All four of these players fit an area of need with the Galaxy and can be considered upgrades in some regard. They aren’t the “big names” that the LA Galaxy has acquired in the past but they all bring something new to the club. It's way too early to tell if this is enough to make the playoffs, but it leaves lots of intrigue to see if the Galaxy can have a similar season as the Lakers.

Working to get it done 

While Galaxy’s new players aren’t the shiny and grand names the club has lured during its 27-year history, it’s impressive they were brought in considering their circumstances. 

The Galaxy was placed under a Secondary Window transfer ban due to the improper roster classification of Cristian Pavon during the 2019 season. The club was limited to inner-league trades or free agent signings after the close of the window. That was a tough set of rules but it didn’t stop the club from actively pursuing them. 

“It's my responsibility to create the vision for the team, the vision for the positions and the players that we want to try to go out and get,” said coach and Sporting Director Greg Vanney during last Friday’s media availability. 

Vanney noted members of his technical staff — including Senior VP of Player Personnel Will Kuntz, Director of Scouting Micheal Stephens, and Technical Director Jovan Kirovski — helped bolster the roster. 

“Their work is then to make up an entire big world. But now our league also into a much smaller space in which we have primary targets that we can go after, then the question is when you have those primary targets, can you actually make a deal with some of those with those teams or clubs,” said Vanney. “Then it comes back around to me to say yes, this is our guy, let's get it done, because there is a deal to be made.”  

He added, “Everyone did a great job of working the phones, having conversations, looking at players, narrowing our options down, and then and then committing to, to in finding the right ways to get it done with also, you know, with, with respect to everything that was done, and I thought a financially responsible way that gives us still a lot of capacity. As we move into the next windows to keep building this team, I thought we did a really nice job of, for lack of better words, getting great players at frugal rates, in my opinion."

The Galaxy ended up giving midfielder Memo Rodriguez, their first-round SuperDraft pick, $500,000 in guaranteed General Allocation Money (which could add up to $1,050,000 due to incentives) for the four players. 

Are they not yet done shopping? 

The LA Galaxy could theoretically still add a Designated Player due to Chicharito being placed on the season-ending injury list earlier this year. The Galaxy currently has Riqui Puig and Douglas Costa as the other two DPs on the team.

“We are remaining open, been looking at a couple of different possibilities but they're super outside possibilities,” said Vanney. 

“I think at this point, they've either got to be really short-term options that don't impact us next year, or guys that we really see as a part of our group going forward,” he noted. 

With how rare six-month contracts are in soccer, it seems unlikely the Galaxy go this route. With Vanney’s criteria and current free agent pool, it’s likely we don’t see any significant additions before the roster freeze on September 13. 

'Happy to take this kind of responsibility'

With the Galaxy losing three of their team leaders for the rest of the season. Maya Yoshida is now one of the most commanding figures in the locker room by default. The 34-year-old defender spent most of his career in Europe across different leagues and captained Japan in Qatar during last year’s World Cup. 

His fellow members of the backline - Calegari, Jalen Neal, and Julian Aude - are all under the age of 23 and in their first season with the LA Galaxy.

“It's quite a young squad and I’m a bit experienced,” said Yoshida about the backline. Becoming a mentor for the young defenders is something that he’s comfortable with right away. “That's what the club wants and I spoke with the coach and that’s what he wants from me, which I appreciate,” noted Yoshida. “This role is my favorite in another club and a national team as well, happy to be here and happy to take this kind of responsibility.” 

With Yosida leaving Europe, he wanted his next club to have a good project in mind. He mentioned that he enjoyed his visit to the stadium and hearing the direction the Galaxy want to move in. “Top organized, the club stuff…I really appreciate what they have done so far. To be honest, it’s much better than the last two clubs. I think it’s very similar to a Premier League club," noted Yoshida. 

Vanney’s side likes to play in possession and dominate the game; Yoshida said this was his favorite style of soccer to play. He said this style of play was also a major factor in joining the Galaxy this summer. He'll now embark on finishing out the season strong and getting used to living in the States. With his Visa still pending, he's optimistic he could be on the pitch for the club's next game on August 20. 

'Very excited to be here'

Back in 2014, Diego Fagundez was part of the New England Revolution side that lost 2-1 to the LA Galaxy in the MLS Cup in Carson. Nine years later, he’s part of an LA Galaxy squad that is fighting for their playoff lives after one of their worst starts in franchise history.

The Galaxy’s acquisition of Fagundez was one of the biggest MLS trades this summer. The 28-year-old was a cornerstone of Austin FC since their first MLS season in MLS and recorded 18 goal contributions last season. It was the Galaxy that initiated trade talks with the winger to upgrade one of their most inconsistent positions in recent years. 

“When a club team wants you, it's an easier way to come in. I'm actually very excited to be here. I know it's a new journey for me,” he told reporters. 

Fagundez will be part of an attacking corp that contains Riqui Puig and Douglas Costa, two creative and technically gifted players. “You see the way they play, the way they move the ball, there’s going to be pockets in there where I'm gonna be able to slip in there and get the ball,” he said. “At the end of the day when you have players like that, it makes you a better player as well.” 

His three seasons in Texas made him a fan favorite among the Austin FC faithful and his departure was a polarizing moment for the fanbase. His focus now is solely on helping the LA Galaxy and starting this new chapter of his career.

“I'm excited to work hard with this team and try to win games. That's what my focus is on and try to help out as much as possible. What's in the past is in the past, and all I can do is look forward to playing (Austin FC) at their home field and going over there and trying to do everything we can so that Galaxy wins that game,” Fagundez told reporters. 

He’s two goals and three assists away from reaching the 70/70 club (goals and assists) in his MLS career. With a veteran like Fagundez, the Galaxy attack looks to become more lethal with 12 games left in the season.  

'It felt natural today'

“From the second that my agent told me that Galaxy was an opportunity. I jumped for it and I told him to make it happen,” said midfielder Edwin Cerrillo at the start of his introductory press conference. “A team like Galaxy is somewhere that I would feel comfortable in and just after today’s training I feel at home and I’m glad I’m here.”

The 22-year-old Cerrillo made 96 appearances with FC Dallas since 2019. Cerillo is a product of the FC Dallas Academy and represented the U.S. at the U-20 and U-23 levels internationally. 

With Gaston Brugman set to miss the rest of the 2023 MLS season following a successful surgery in his left knee, Cerrillo fits as his possible replacement for the rest of the campaign. 

“(Vanney) sees me fitting right in. I'm young, I have energy, and I'm gonna work hard for the team. So I think those are the best aspects that I can bring to him,” noted Cerrillo.  

Tuesday was Cerrillo’s first training session with the rest of his teammates and said he got a glimpse of how the club wants to play. “It's a lot of possession," he reported. "It's a lot of being creative, changing the point of attack. And I feel comfortable and it felt natural today."

Given the injuries and current depth at the number six position, Cerrillo could get lots of minutes to finish out the rest of the season. This new chapter of his career, it’s going to push the 22-year-old to develop into the best version of himself on the pitch. 

Now there's winger depth

With winger Michael Barrios joining the Galaxy, Vanney has depth at one of the most important positions on the field. The 32-year-old was an important piece for the Colorado Rapids with his pace and work rate. He tallied 12 goals and 13 assists in 87 total games with the Rocky Mountain club.

While Barrios has played at his best out wide, he’s capable of playing different positions on the frontline. “I've played a role on the wing, as a striker, as a false nine, and if you ask me I'm comfortable in all but I think I'm most comfortable on the wing,” noted Barrios. With the LA Galaxy needing impact players off the bench, the Colombian is a good fit to be a high-energy pest for tired defenses. 

With four new players added to the roster, building chemistry is essential to making them fit into Vanney’s system without any major issues. Barrios is starting to get on the same wavelength as the rest of his teammates.

“The team has some great players, it's a team that makes it really easy to play with,” said Barrios. “Even today, my first training session, I played super comfortable with a lot of my teammates and we will continue to get to know each other we're looking ahead and forward to the season.” 

With 12 games left in the MLS season and only seven points behind the last play-in spot, it’s possible the Galaxy can get post-season soccer once again. For Barrios, he’s committed to working towards more joyful emotions after games with wins, “The message to fans is I’ll always give my 100%, every day at training, at games and I hope that we can all leave our matches and games happy.”

The LA Galaxy season feels like it’s got a breath of new life for this final third of the season. Time will tell if these acquisitions have the desired effect on the club. Once again, an LA team’s deadline day moves could be the turning point to a subpar campaign.