It was just Dec. 7 when the Galaxy made it back to the top of Major League Soccer, winning their sixth MLS Cup.
Almost three months later, the Galaxy, with a significantly different roster with several key pieces moved, kick off the 2025 season at home against expansion team San Diego FC.
Will the Galaxy be able to navigate through a busier schedule with Leagues Cup and CONCACAF Champions Cup. No MLS Cup champion has won back to back since the Galaxy in 2011-12.
The Galaxy made the big jump from 13th place to MLS Cup champion, but are not the same team heading into the new season.
Here is a look at some questions facing the Galaxy as the quest for a seventh MLS Cup begins:
How will the Galaxy replace Riqui Puig?
Puig, who suffered an ACL injury in the Western Conference final, will be sidelined until late in the season. Even then it will be uncertain how much he will be able to contribute. Puig turn in an MVP-type season in his second full MLS campaing. He had 13 goals with 15 assists, engineering the Galaxy attack. “There’s nobody in our league like Riqui,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said last season. To fill the void, look for Diego Fagundez, Elijah Wynder, Marco Reus and Ruben Ramos Jr. to get time in the attacking midfield role, with Lucas Sanabria also factoring in. Fagundez said he’s ready to have a big season. What the Galaxy is able to get out of Reus will be another important factor. He made 11 appearances last season for 534 minutes. He only played in only one preseason game as they slowly built him up for competition.
Who picks up the scoring for Dejan Joveljić?
The “Killa P’s” as they’re called (Puig, Joseph Paintsil and Gabriel Pec) all scored at least 10 goals and added 10 assists. Add in Joveljić and the Galaxy had four players with at least 10 goals, the first time in league history. Joveljić scored 21 goals across all competitions, but was moved to Sporting Kansas City for $4 million to ease the Galaxy’s salary cap pressure. In addition to Puig’s injury, Paintsil (quad) is out for a few weeks. How will they score? The Galaxy acquired SoCal native Christian Ramirez in a trade with Columbus Crew (51 goals in MLS career). As he’s shown, he’s more than capable of contributing goals. Pec is still around, but without Puig, Joveljić and Paintsil, teams will try to take away the space that he had last season.
Could roster depth be a concern?
Along with the 34-game regular-season marathon, the Galaxy will also be competing in Leagues Cup and CONCACAF Champions Cup, which begins in March. Gone are Joveljić, Mark Delgado, Jalen Neal, Gaston Brugman and Martín Cáceres, all who played important roles in the championship run. The Galaxy added defender Mathias “Zanka” Jorgensen, midfielders Wynder and Sanabria, forwards Ramirez and Matheus Nascimento. Plus, defender Ascel Essengue has been moved up from Galaxy II. Sanabria and Nascimento will be playing catch-up after arriving late. With the extended absences of Puig and Paintsil and with the crowded fixture list, the Galaxy will have to lean on a lot of pieces to navigate through the season. There’s also the possibility of summer departures with Pec’s and Julian Aude’s name on the radar of teams in Europe and South America. The Galaxy always had a replacement ready for an injury last season (Fagundez for Puig, John Nelson for Julian Aude).
Who starts at goalkeeper?
At the start of preseason, Vanney said he was going to have to make a tough decision at goalkeeper with returning starter John McCarthy, last year’s backup Novak Mićović and newly acquired CJ Marcinkowski. In preseason, Mićović’s time has been with the expected starting backline. McCarthy is the final year of a two-year contract. Mićović is younger and has shown flashes in his limited time last year and again in the preseason. He is under contract through 2026. Friday, Vanney said the decision has been made, but didn’t share it with the media. The guess here is that Mićović takes over in goal.