La Galaxy were good. Emphasis on “were”. Since 1996, when they first appeared in the MLS, LA Galaxy won the MLS Cup 5 times, won the U.S. Open Cup 2 times and were crowned the CONCACAF Champions League champions in 2000. However, since Beckham and Donovan left the team it all went downhill. And while Galaxy were not terrible right after Beckham left, their descent started in 2015. Looking at the last 2 seasons, Galaxy were terrible, finishing 11th in the West in 2017 and 7th last season. With a 13-12-9 record, Galaxy finished 13th in the overall table. This year LA Galaxy enter the new season with a new coach, who will come in with high expectations.
Head Coach: Guillermo Barros Schelotto
Former professional soccer player and the new LA Galaxy coach is in my opinion among the candidates to win coach of the year in the upcoming season of MLS. In his 7 yearlong coaching careers, he has coached Lanus, Palermo and Boca Juniors, with whom he won Primera Division twice in a row (2016/17 and 2017/18). In addition, he celebrated the Copa Sudamericana with Lanus in 2013, which was the first time Lanus won the mentioned Cup. With his spectacular coaching skills, Guillermo Barros Schelotto has been called to coach LA Galaxy in hopes to return them to the former glory.
Transfers
[su_table url=”” responsive=”no” class=””]
| Date | Name | Moving from | Moving to | Mode of Transfer |
| January 25, 2019 | Uriel Antuna | Manchester City | LA Galaxy | Loan |
| December 18, 2018 | Juninho | Tijuana | LA Galaxy | Free |
| December 20, 2018 | Matt Lampson | Minnesota United | LA Galaxy | Re-Entry Draft |
| February 7, 2019 | Diego Polenta | Nacional | LA Galaxy | Transfer |
| January 21, 2019 | Ashley Cole | LA Galaxy | Derby County | Free |
| January 29, 2019 | João Pedro | LA Galaxy | Tondela | Loan |
| January 14, 2019 | Brian Sylvestre | LA Galaxy | Forward Madison | Free |
[/su_table]
Expectations for the 2019 season
It seems LA Galaxy knew it’s time for a change on a fundamental level with the new coach in Guillermo Barros Schelotto. Still, there have not been enough changes in my opinion. Through the 2-month preseason, LA Galaxy failed to make any important changes excluding the fact they added Guillermo Barros Schelotto as the new head coach. Maybe we will be looking at new and improved LA Galaxy sometime in the future, however this season I expect them to struggle once again.
