Crunch Time Focus: LA Galaxy Eyes Complete Performances in Leagues Cup
Greg Vanney and Diego Fagundez comment on the importance of closing out games under this new Leagues Cup format
Every point matters in Leagues Cup. The new format for the 2025 season requires teams to be winners and close out games in order to be at the top of the respective league table. To be contenders, the LA Galaxy needs to show that part of its game.
The first night of action saw the Columbus Crew go from on course to getting all three points with a two-goal lead in the second half to walking away with just one after Toluca tied the match and won the penalty shootout.
“If we want to be serious contenders in this tournament, we have to find ways, once we get on top of games, to make sure that we close out games. That we make mature decisions, that we understand how to play for a result, and not just, not just play the game,” said LA Galaxy Head Coach Vanney during Wednesday afternoon’s presser.
The Galaxy has lost out on points due to the inability to close out matches. The road trips to San Diego, St. Louis, and Philadelphia are examples where the Galaxy got the lead but failed to head back home with all three points. Home matches against Orlando and LAFC have also fallen under that criteria.
“What's important for us is making sure that we go ahead and win games, that we score our chances, that we finish out games. Because I think that's the key part,” said Fagundez to reporters.
“I think you saw yesterday's games. There are games that people should be finishing off, and they don't. And then now, now you're behind schedule. So for us, the first game is huge for us, and the most important thing is winning it, getting three points, and then from there, take it game by game,” he added.
Leagues Cup provides a blank slate for the Galaxy - one it must take advantage of in order to get a trophy and spot in next season’s Concacaf Champions Cup.
“I think that's one of the things you see from the teams that come from Liga MX is there's a savviness there about how they approach the game and how they find results. Even sometimes, I would say that we watch some of the teams and they don't necessarily play or have their best day, but they're finding a way to get some result out of the game that was maybe better than their performance on the day,” said Vanney.
The Galaxy needs to avoid having late-game meltdowns to be one of the top teams in the MLS league table. Achieving this will be a small sign of growth and would help LA make a possible run at winning the tournament.
Xolos come into Leagues Cup in search of their first win in this tournament. New manager Sebastian Abreu has been in charge for just three games, and his side sit 10th in the Liga MX table. It’s a small sample size of games, but Vanney has an idea of what his squad might deal with on Thursday night.
“Watching them play has been, has been interesting. They've been really compact defensively, they haven't really been extending themselves too much in terms of their pressure around the field, and they've really stayed together, almost conceded the first sort of zone, first and second zones on the field, and really stayed compact defending their half the field,” said Vanney.
“I look forward to it, because these games are always they're always challenging, the approaches tactically are always interesting, and the opposition and the players that we play against are not guys that we see all the time, and so those guys will bring new challenges to our players. So I look forward to that,” he added.