Galaxy's new direction has them on target to host MLS Cup

When LAFC entered Major League Soccer in 2018, it was a noisy, brash upstart willing to challenge the hegemony of the Galaxy, its Southern California neighbor. The Galaxy were the class of league, an original franchise and five-time champion who had made the playoffs eight times in the previous nine seasons, winning three MLS Cups and two Supporters’ Shields. This weekend, however, it was passed back with LAFC’s season ending Saturday short of the Western Conference final for the first time in three years while the Galaxy laid waste to Minnesota United on Sunday in what was arguably the most dominant playoff performance in franchise history. The boycott lifted when Chris Klein, the team’s longtime president, was sacked that spring but the funk continued with the Galaxy winning just eight games, matching the franchise low for a full season. Let’s try to find the players we really believe will give us the best chance.” So Kuntz spent more than $19 million in transfer fees and another $6.4 million in 2024 salary on Pec and Paintsil, two twentysomething players most Galaxy fans had to Google to identify while LAFC was signing French World Cup stars Hugo Lloris, 37, and Olivier Giroud, 38.