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Galaxy not looking to rest on their championship season

February 21, 2025

CARSON — One look at the calendar and it wouldn’t appear as if the Galaxy had enough time to celebrate their MLS Cup championship and recover from last year’s grind of a season.

Diego Fagundez said he did.

“The monkey is finally off of my back,” he said of winning his first MLS Cup. “Like I said last year, we’re here for another ring.

“I think everybody is going to come after us, I think we showed in preseason that know matter who you are, we’re going to fight and take care of business and I think Sunday is a big statement. We did that with (Inter) Miami last year (in the season opener) and this year the same thing.”

Sunday will be the start of Fagundez’s 15th MLS season, his second full season with the Galaxy. It will also be the first season since 2015 that the Galaxy will start as defending MLS champions.

Last year’s run to the franchise’s sixth MLS Cup title was its first since 2014.

With Riqui Puig sidelined after tearing his ACL in the Western Conference final, Gabriel Pec could see his role expand even more. Joseph Paintsil will also be sidelined early as he recovers from a groin injury. That will also mean another expanded role for a player like Fagundez. He filled in last season as Puig was sidelined with a groin injury.

“Now that I have it (the ring), there’s another mindset that I said to myself that I want another one,” Fagundez said. “That’s what we’re working hard for. I feel really good. Coming in from preseason, only having six weeks off, I thought I did the right things to prepare myself.

“It kind of helps when you don’t have to work as hard to get there. You’re kind of already in that mindset. I didn’t really stop. I want to have a big year this year and I said to myself, ‘This could be your year.’ There’s a lot of missing pieces, so it’s time for players to step up and I said to myself that it’s my time to step up and help as much as I can.”

Ahead of this season, some faces have been moved out (Dejan Joveljić, Jalen Neal, Mark Delgado and Gaston Brugman) and some new pieces have been brought in (forward Christian Ramirez, midfielders Elijah Wynder and Lucas Sanabria and forward Matheus Nascimento), but the challenge of repeating is great.

No team has repeated in MLS since the Bruce Arena-coached Galaxy in 2011 and 2012.

“Initially, coming in and being champions, it’s going to be about committing to the new process and starting again,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “The challenges are going to be different in terms of how teams approach us. It’s going to be a different road to success this year.

“We have to continue to build off of the things that we learned about each other and about who we are last year. Integrate some of the new guys and manage each game and each situations appropriately. The challenges are the same every year, it doesn’t, you just have manage them as they come and find the solutions. I think we learned a lot about each other and about ourselves.

“We matured as the season went on. The starting point (this season) in preseason was higher than it was last year because we had more guys who were aware of our system and aware of their roles and responsibilities and have also created relationships on the field that weren’t in the same place last year as they are now. So we need to continue to mature as a team, we need to help integrate the new players into what we’re doing and help them build relationships with guys that have been here to establish timing, rhythm as we start a new journey and new process.”

The biggest challenge will be playing without Puig, who recently returned to L.A. after time home in Barcelona.

“It’s been great to have him around,” Vanney said of Puig. “There’s two parts to this: He has to focus on the things that are going to get him back on the field and if he’s around here all of the time, then he’s using resources for the training room. It’s finding the balance between getting him exactly where he needs to be to make sure he’s taking the steps that he needs to come back at the right time and the right way.

“But the second is having him around the group. His presence is unique and special. He has a great way connecting with players on and off the field and they love to have him around.”

The Galaxy made the big jump from 13th place in 2023 to MLS Cup champions. This season’s schedule will include CONCACAF Champions League play, starting next month, and the Leagues Cup in the summer.

“Everyone will want to beat us every single game,” defender and captain Maya Yoshida said. “We still have to be hungry to accomplish something. We’ve had good preparation so far. I feel much better than year before because we’ve already made our base last season. I’m pretty confident so far.”

Orange County Register

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Galaxy not looking to rest on their championship season

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