Los Angeles Galaxy Attacking Midfielder Efraín Álvarez celebrates scoring a lovely opening solo goal in the Galaxy’s 2-1 home win against Toronto FC Saturday, February 18 at Dignity Health Sports Park. (Photo Credit: LA Galaxy)
Los Angeles – The Los Angeles Galaxy won 2-1 at home against Toronto FC on Saturday night in their final preseason match before the 2023 MLS campaign starts. Two individual moments of brilliance from midfielders Efraín Álvarez and Marky Delgado spurred LA’s victory, with Álvarez, in particular, having an encouraging game. The young Mexican international said in an LA Galaxy post-match presser, that this needs to be his “breakout” year.
Although there were positives on the night for the Galaxy, like Álvarez’s performance and the continuing development of Center back Jalen Neal, they are a club still mired in distraction and instability, on and off the field. The roster as is, still has holes, while the empty seats on display in one of MLS and Apple’s first televised games on MLS Season Pass, were certainly seen nationwide. With just six days before the Galaxy take on their city rivals at the famed Rose Bowl on February 25, it’ll be a race against time for the most decorated club in league history to stabilize.
Efraín Álvarez, you tease. When you scored that gorgeous left-footed blast against Charlotte last year, it was a certainty that it would be your breakout year. Just like the year before that. And the one before that.
Everyone knows the talent is there, Los Angeles Head Coach Greg Vanney has spoken about it and the Lion of Los Angeles himself, Zlatan Ibrahimović, was equally impressed during his time with the Galaxy. Ibrahimović called Álvarez “the best talent in Major League Soccer,” and Saturday night, he showed why.
The Galaxy opened the match against TFC well, but 25 minutes in, they had stalled. Enter Álvarez. The 20-year-old picked up the ball on the right side of the box from Riqui Puig and proceeded to take off on a slaloming run to the left side of the box. He showed the composure to skip past three defenders, took a moment to gather himself, and struck a left-footed shot to the right side of the goal, which kissed off the bar and settled into the net.
It was a sweetly struck goal and a testament to Álvarez’s preparation this off-season. He spoke in the LA Galaxy post-match presser that it was time he changed his approach for “himself and the club.” He revealed that he worked with personal trainers and dieticians in the buildup to the season. Both he and Vanney spoke of accomplishing the “little things” that would be difference makers in any success Álvarez has this year.
“This preseason has been a little different for me, a different mindset. This has to be my year, I said, but at the same time, it has to be our year. Collectively, we’re trying to achieve one thing, and it’s to win MLS Cup,” Álvarez shared calmly. If Álvarez, can in fact, “breakout,” it will go a long way in lessening the goal-scoring burden on Javier “Chicharito” Hernández and Dejan Joveljić.
Mark Scores a Missile
When the Galaxy is getting goals like these from their midfielders, it goes a long way in masking the holes on the roster.
Mark Delgado, the quiet man in the middle doing the dirty work for the Galaxy, constantly gets overlooked in favor of midfield partners, Gaston Brugman and Riqui Puig. The dependable Delgado is just as, if not more important, than his mates. However, it’s no coincidence that when he was absent last season, the Galaxy struggled.
Against TFC, he and Puig were terrors. For Delgado’s goal, TFC were so focused on containing Puig, that they fell asleep on the set piece play and allowed Puig to play a slow roller into the middle of the pitch to Delgado. He took a touch to gather himself and unleashed a missile into the top right corner of the net to put the Galaxy up 2-0.
On their best day, the Galaxy midfield can match up with any midfield in MLS. This is the one area of the pitch in which the Galaxy has no worries aside from depth.
Still Missing Pieces of the Puzzle
It’s no secret that the Galaxy needs pieces if it hopes to challenge for an MLS Cup. Wingers have been the most pressing need with recent departures. Thus, Vanney gave an update on what he called, “the worst kept secret in MLS.” Tyler Boyd, who recently arrived from Turkish side Beşiktaş, has shown dangerous glimpses of quality in the matches he’s managed to get in with the Galaxy as a “trialist.” Vanney gave reporters clarity on Boyd’s status in the LA Galaxy post-match press conference.
“I think everything is right there, done or being close to done. So, it was good to get him out there in a few minutes. He’s had a lot of minutes this weekend. This was his first week of the preseason, so it’s asking a lot…hopefully everything will be finalized and announced in the next couple of days.”
Despite Boyd’s arrival, LA is still lite on the wings. Thanks to Julian Araujo’s dream move to FC Barcelona, now they’re light at the right-back position too. Vanney confirmed the Galaxy’s interest in Fluminense defender Lucas Calegari on Saturday night, saying the club had “been in communication” with Calegari. By Sunday morning, MLS’ Tom Bogert had confirmed that the 20-year-old Calegari had agreed to a loan move to Los Angeles, with a purchase option should LA decide to keep the highly-touted Brazilian.
BREAKING: LA Galaxy and Fluminense have reached an agreement for right back Lucas Calegari, per sources. Final steps now.
Vanney indicated that the Galaxy might not be done either, with a DP spot still to use and a lack of wingers still a problem.
The Other Problem
On Friday, ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle dropped a piece on the fans boycotting the Galaxy that drew national attention to the high-stakes bluffing game going on between the Galaxy and its supporter groups. Now more than a month into their protest, neither side is backing down. In fact, Vanney has already let supporters know they’re probably in for disappointment regarding Chris Klein’s employment with the team.
“There are things out there that fans and supporters can impact, and there are things that they’re probably not going to impact,” Vanney told Carlisle. “And so then it just becomes a distraction, because it’s not going to change anything. I hope that there’s a resolution, and the supporters’ groups — who are really important to all of us, and to the players — find the right way, whatever the resolution is for them to show up because it’s probably not going to be ‘Chris out.'”
Faced with this, supporters showed up pre-match to protest once more.
Attendance at the match itself was sparse and the lack of supporters groups definitely makes for an altogether somber experience. Where once were drums, songs, cheer, and laughter, now there are only empty seats that make the deafening silence echo louder.
Black Roses?
Detractors of the protest will say it’s only preseason and the real test of the boycott will come when the season starts. The Rose Bowl match against the Galaxy’s city rivals and the regular season home opener on March 18 will give an indication of just how much lack of attendance can be chalked up to preseason. We’ll also get to see how much can be blamed on the protest/boycott. Can MLS and Apple afford to have their showpiece debut ruined by the optics of it all?
The supporters claim they’ll “hold the line,” despite the results on the field. Preseason or not, it doesn’t seem as if they’re bluffing.
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