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Galaxy’s young defenders gain vital on-job experience

April 28, 2023

The Galaxy has undergone an in-season makeover on the defensive backline.

It isn’t common for a team to send out most of its defensive back four with no first-team MLS experience, but this is the path the Galaxy has chosen.

Jalen Neal, 19, has already settled in as a key component from the start of the season. Lucas Calegari, 21, joined from Fluminense and Julian Aude, 20, has recently moved into the starting lineup after coming over from Argentina.

The fourth member, Martin Caceres is the elder of the group at 36.

“When you look at Calegari, he’s 20-21, but he’s also played 70 matches in (Brazil) Série A. … he was an under-20 in Brazil, so he’s got experience. Even though he’s young, he has experience. The second we saw him in training, we’ve seen him in the games, we could tell right off the bat that he’s got a good education for the game,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said.

“Jalen (Neal) has proven himself through preseason and through the early games. … and Julián (Aude) is another guy … I’ve watched Julián for a couple years. I’ve actually seen him play for a couple of years and he’s played through difficult times of Lanús and through good times of Lanús. He’s had to play through some of those tough moments.”

The Galaxy (1-4-3, six points) will visit Orlando City SC on Saturday (4:30 p.m., Apple TV+), looking to build off last week’s 2-0 win over Austin FC.

Cáceres, aside from a two-yellow card game against Houston that led to a one-game suspension against LAFC, has tried to guide the young trio.

“Lucas and Julian are players that have played for important national teams like Brazil and Argentina and you have Jalen who also played international matches with the national team. They have great careers ahead of them,” Caceres said.

The Galaxy added another young defender last week, bringing back former Academy product Mauricio Cuevas.

Cuevas, 20, joined the Galaxy Academy at 16 in 2019. He made his was up to Galaxy II before leaving to join Club NXT, the Belgian-based youth academy of Club Brugge.

“It’s been an ongoing discussion,” Vanney said of the process of signing Cuevas. “We never wanted him to leave to begin with because we liked his game and we like his trajectory, so it’s just an opportunity that made sense for everybody on all sides.

“He gives us more depth, more competition, more future. He and Lucas (Calegari) are both obviously pretty young guys and that gives us two guys we can look toward the future.”

The Galaxy signed Cuevas to a three-year contract through 2025 with two option years through 2027.

Cuevas will likely join the U.S. U-20 national team for the upcoming FIFA World Cup (May 20-June 11).

Costa makes his way back

Like Caceres, Costa sat out the LAFC game, serving a one-game suspension for a red-card incident against the Houston Dynamo. He returned last Saturday against Austin FC and was greeted to loud boos from the fans at Dignity Health Sports Park.

In his limited time (20-plus minutes), he was credited with creating three chances. Vanney believes this is where Costa has to work to regain the fans’ trust.

“He made a silly mistake (against Houston) and that lost some momentum that he was picking up and maybe in that he lost a little bit of trust of some people, whether it’s fans or whatever,” Vanney said. “He’s been around the block a time or two, so he knows that he has to get out there and perform. I thought he put in a great shift and he knows that’s what he has to do game in and game out. Put in the proper shift and his talent will take care of itself.”