CARSON, Calif. – Saturday's MLS Cup final between the LA Galaxy and the New York Red Bulls felt easy to predict, in some ways. The Galaxy would take the role as the flashy side that counts Marco Reus amongst its talent and serve as the favorites after finishing second in the Western Conference, while the Red Bulls would act like the scrappy No. 7 seed that became the lowest-seeded MLS Cup finalist. The Galaxy did get the better of the visitors … for about 15 minutes before the game took an entirely different complexion.
The Galaxy scored two goals in the opening 13 minutes courtesy of Joseph Pantsil and Dejan Joveljic which was just enough to survive the Red Bulls' push to get back into the game. Sean Nealis' 28th-minute goal off a set piece ensured the Red Bulls would be on the front foot for the rest of the game, dominating on the ball after averaging just 31.3% possession in their four other playoff games. The attack-minded Galaxy became a defense-first Galaxy, limiting the Red Bulls to just 0.91 expected goals from nine shots and eventually winning their sixth MLS Cup.
MLS' most successful team got across the finish line by surviving the absence of Riqui Puig, their MVP contender who tore his ACL a week ago in the conference final and while Reus was on the bench. Gaston Brugman was instead a surprise star after slotting into the lineup despite a season of inconsistent playing time, notching the assist on Pantsil's game-opening goal. This merely scratches the surface on the Galaxy's unexpected journey to their first MLS Cup in 10 years.
"Having a working midfield in there today was intentional," Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney said after the match, his suit jacket drenched and carrying the stench of champagne. "The goal of it was to try to free up our wingers and Dejan a little bit more to be able to try and transition in attack and for us to be a little more aggressive through the middle of the park for the day, to try to win it. I think the product of having a little bit less possession was the fact that we got up 2-0 and I thought we were incredible in the first 20 minutes.
"I thought just every duel, every second ball, I think they just felt a wave that was just coming at them and unfortunately around 20 or 25, we got a little bit passive, I felt like, and they started to find their way in the game through set pieces. We wanted to win the midfield. That was important for us and those three guys, if you want to win the midfield from a defensive standpoint and a ball-winning standpoint and all that, these are three guys that can do it and they're as good as anybody in our league at doing stuff like that. They cover ground and they did that. Obviously, they're good soccer players and they can help us keep possession but we thought this would be a battle, so we had our warriors."
Their ability to shift tactical approach was to their credit, especially as the Red Bulls perhaps remained predictable to a fault. Though they did well with the ball at their feet despite having no particular habit of playing that way under head coach Sandro Schwarz, the fact that their high-press style of play is familiar to most made it easy for the Galaxy to solve problems.
"We knew that they come to make [a] high press and put long balls behind," defender Mayaa Yoshida said. "It's very simple. It's nothing special but this is how they are every time, everywhere. In Germany and Austria, same … After that [start], the game [started] to become more open. If it's open, we are really good in the positions so I was really confident, second half."
The Galaxy became MLS' most winningest team on the back of star talent, boasting the likes of David Beckham, Robbie Kean and Landon Donovan on a handful of their MLS Cup wins. Attempts to repeat that success, though, have backfired – Zlatan Ibrahmovic and Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez are just two names who passed through Dignity Health Sports Park without leaving much of a mark or taking home silverware.
When Vanney was hired by the Galaxy in 2021, though, it was the start of an ambitious project that showcases the evolution of the league as a whole. Though MLS' story over the course of the year was about Inter Miami's star-studded team led by Lionel Messi, the league has become more complicated than that over the years.
"There's a lot of things that can balance teams out and small things often make the difference," Vanney said. "If you have a good plan and the players you bring in fit into that plan and you get the most out of those guys, you can win a difference in this league and New York didn't have a great regular season. They had a great postseason and found the little formula at the end that made them a really good team and a team that was difficult to beat and in the playoffs, you can make that kind of a run. That's happened many a time in this league and you see that around MLS a lot. Teams that maybe don't have all the pieces one year have all the pieces they need the next year and things come together and they make a run and so it's possible."
That's particularly relevant to the Galaxy, who finished 13th in the West but did not quit on their vision.
"For our club, you kind of saw this year, when the [designated player] spots opened up, we didn't necessarily go and look for guys with names and huge careers already that are kind of behind them," Vanney noted. "We went for guys that are hungry and super talented and athletic and fit our style of play, which is important. They fit with the guys that we had and they knew that they were going to make those guys better and make our team better and we tried to build on a vision that these guys, they came here, again, with the desire to win but also with the desire to keep improving and to keep building on their careers as well."
That includes Joveljic, who joined the Galaxy in 2021 and waited before his time finally came.
"I knew that this league is the future so I came at 22, I think, and I knew that I'm going to get my chance," Joveljic said. "In the first few years, it was very hard. I was doubting, I was on the bench. Chicharito was the first choice but I know that my moment will come. I'm going to prove [to] everyone that I'm [the] LA Galaxy No. 9 and this season, it finally paid off."
The Galaxy's somewhat unglamorous route to their sixth MLS Cup may, thankfully, not be permanent. They were amongst the league's highest scoring teams and with a rested Reus and a fit Puig sometime next year, the youth-focused squad will no doubt be an entertaining contender in 2025. It was arguably not the statement-making performances of years past, or even the season that just concluded, but the Galaxy are officially back and mapping a new version of their storied history.
"This doesn't matter because a winner's a winner," Yoshida said. "No one remembers how we play but they definitely remember who won."
