LA Galaxy's Poor Start to 2025: Is it Time to Panic for the MLS Cup Champions? | OneFootball

Ahead of the 2025 MLS season, LA Galaxy star Marco Reus raised concerns about the club’s roster build.

After a stellar, MLS Cup-winning campaign, the Galaxy saw key players leave, and few came in as replacements, with the two experienced European stars expressing their frustrations about the detrimental impacts a winning team has to experience in MLS.

While their concerns are valid in some ways and less so in others, they’ve certainly come to light– this is a bad LA Galaxy team to start 2025, dealing with a storm of injuries and other situations, making them look like a shell of the team that won the club’s sixth MLS Cup title just months ago.

On Sunday, the club dropped their fourth straight game, losing 3–0 to St. Louis CITY SC, a team that had failed to score in its first two MLS matches.

Despite pulling together some chances, the Galaxy were nowhere near St. Louis’ level, falling to 0-0-3 in MLS play, with a Concacaf Champions Cup 1–0 loss to Costa Rica’s Herediano in the mix.

“It’s the worst start that we could have. We played four games and four losses, and we are conceding too many goals, and we are not scoring so many goals,” Reus told reporters after the match. “It's a little bit frustrating because we had a couple of changes this season with players who are really important for us – some of them are injured, some of them are not here anymore."

“The new players come in, but of course, they need a little bit of time. But in this sport, you don't have time.”

Without injured players Riqui Puig and Joseph Paintstil in the lineup, the Galaxy have lacked a creative edge. So far, the attacking duo of Christian Ramirez and Gabriel Pec has struggled to create on their own. At the same time, Mark Delgado and Gaston Brugman, two key midfielders from 2024’s winning team, are thriving with other MLS clubs.

It brings a dark cloud over the Galaxy’s season as the polish still shines fresh on their latest MLS Cup championship.

Even with small improvements, nothing is going right. They can’t score, they struggle to defend and transition, and new goalkeeper Novak Mićović, has struggled as a first-choice goalkeeper.

On Sunday, there were noted improvements in some areas, as the Galaxy stayed more patient on the ball, holding 71% possession and putting up 1.82 expected goals while struggling to finish. Despite not playing up to his standards, Reus proved to be one of their better players, linking up with Diego Fagundez on the left side and putting three shots on target.

Yet, the two players relied on to get in behind defenses were poor in the big moments. Ramirez made an error leading to a St. Louis goal, and missed the target twice from close range, and Pec failed to score on nine shots.

“I felt like there was some progress in the use of the ball, the coordinated movements, and the chance creation because we haven't seen a ton of that in the first few games,” head coach Greg Vanney said after the St. Louis loss. “But then just the ease at which we give up goals can be demoralizing; I think that was a piece of it today, and not taking chances that we need to take can also be demoralizing.”

As much as improvements can come with familiarity and the team simply spending more time together, there aren’t clear signs of optimism for the Galaxy. Yes, they’ll get a boost with Paintstil’s eventual return and Puig’s later in the season, but this is a team dealing with far more than just a lack of creativity; they’re slowly but surely getting into a dangerous rhythm of low-confidence losses.

If it doesn’t end soon, that rhythm can become a habit, even for a club as prestigious as the Galaxy.

Galaxy must improve from within

Elijah Wynder, 21, is one of several players that LA Galaxy will want to see step up as 2025 wears on / Anne-Marie Sorvin-Imagn Images

Improvements from within might be the only way to improve. Last week, MLS released the General Allocation Money allotments for each club, and the Galaxy had none remaining. This puts them in a tight position to improve the roster without making other trades.

Injuries will eventually heal, but that can’t be the only help. Times are tough for the Galaxy, and players need to step up. Will it be Reus, Fagundez, Pec and the experienced players, or younger standouts like 21-year-old Elijah Wynder and 17-year-old debutant Harbor Miller?

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Worst-case scenario... what if this is just the LA Galaxy of 2025, a shell of what they were in 2024?

It’s possible, albeit unlikely, as they forge onto the second leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup against Herediano and Matchday 4 against the also-struggling Portland Timbers.

After all, a trip to Portland in rainy Cascadia is exactly what they need. This Galaxy season is a storm, but even the most substantial rains eventually run out.

“I can say that during my career, I had a lot of these situations when it's not going well for the team,” added Reus, who experienced lulls in form with Borussia Dortmund. “We have to stay together and work harder every day... Today was not our day, but in three days, we have another chance.”

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