Galactic Notebook: Early Coachella Takeaways
What's stood out so far the Coachella Valley Invitational, who's making a good impression,
The Coachella Valley Invitational is underway for the LA Galaxy with promising results. The LA Galaxy has two ties in their matches in the desert against Austin FC and Charlotte FC, but their performances have been stellar when the first team is on the pitch.
When the LA Galaxy staters are on the pitch, it is clear to see they have the mark of champions. The starting rotation is playing with a solid intensity and making the most of their limited time on the pitch to set the tone.
Diego Fagundez, who recorded an assist in the Galaxy’s 2-2 draw against Charlotte FC on Sunday, told reporters that the team’s mentality is already locked in for this upcoming campaign.
“I think we were even doing it here in preseason,” said Fagundez about setting the tone in the preseason.
"We know what kind of team we want to be, what kind of team we want to be, and how we want to play, and that's what we're trying to do. And then when the 23rd comes, where we're going to make sure that's where we’re going to put the best 11 players out there that can make the game,” he added.
Many people around the club credit LA’s opening game against Intet Miami as the game that set the tone for the season and on the trajectory to become champions. That mindset is present with many players who are looking to tap into that focus and mentality weeks before the MLS regular season starts - that’s what’s stood out the most in Coachella.
MVPEC
Gabriel Pec is undoubtedly the player in the best form at the CVI. He’s come into preseason, bringing his quick pace, spectacular technical ability, and top-notch dribbling to his preseason opponents.
“He's been outstanding in the early parts of the three [preseason] games that he's played so far, he's been, like, really good,” said Vanney following the draw with Charlotte FC. “[Pec is] difficult to defend, and we've done a good job in preseason of finding ways to get him on the ball in one-on-ones and 2v1 and situations where he can he can cause problems”.
The Galaxy needs Pec to play at this level - especially at the start of the season. Vanney told reporters that Paintsil was out dealing with an injury and that the club would get a timeline of his injury soon.
GiveMeSport.com’s Tom Bogert reported on X on Monday morning that the Ghanaian winger will miss approximately 6-8 weeks with a quad injury.
Vanney’s squads have always been reliant on wingers to have major production in the attack. The Galaxy were successful last year because both Paintsil and Pec were elite at creating danger and scoring goals. With Paintsil out, most of the load will fall on Pec to create something in the wide positions.
The early preseason matches have shown that Pec is more than capable of running the show. The Galaxy’s dependence on the Brazilian now is going to be one of the main sources of attack as players get healthy and new players begin to acclimate with the team. With that heavy usage and his proven production levels in MLS, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in MVP talks early this season.
Wynder’s acclimation
One of the breakout performers from the CVI is Elijah Wydner and his progression at the MLS level. The 2024 USL Championship Young Player of the Year is making positive strides in preseason and a good first impression for fans and the coaching staff.
“I like [Wynder’s] profile, and he's a different type of midfielder than we're used to seeing in our group,” said Vanney to the media. “His capacity to cover ground, his range as a player, his physical qualities are really good.”
The 21-year-old midfielder adds an engine to the Galaxy midfield. His physical frame adds more strength in the trenches, and he covers a lot of ground with an excellent work rate. As Vanney said, his profile is very unique and gives a different dimension to the trenches with him on the pitch.
The main criticism from Vanney was that Wynder needs to develop how he reads the game and limit his “overthinking.” He still needs time to adjust to the system and trust what he sees developing on the pitch.
“We're giving him a lot more things to read and to think about, in relationship to his teammates, and cues to for him to identify on his positioning and when to show up,” said Vanney.
“And so with each game, I think he's getting less out of the paralysis by analysis and getting to a little bit more fluid and where he's not overthinking inside the game.”
Improving that aspect of his game will take time to build chemistry and learn more about the patterns of play in the system. Nonetheless, there are a lot of good moments from Wydner that show he could be a key player in 2025 as the midfield goes through changes this season.
Mićović in pole position?
One of the key storylines of the preseason is how likely are we to see a change at goalkeeper this season. The Galaxy currently has four starting-caliber goalkeepers on the roster (John McCarthy, Novak Micovic, JT Marcinkowski and Brady Scott), which is a rare sight to see in MLS.
If you pay close attention, it is clear that there is a high likelihood that McCarthy may not be the starter for this upcoming campaign.
“We're obviously grateful for John [McCarthy] for what he did for us last year. But, like everybody, it's the start of a new season, and it's a new competition,” said Vanney following LA’s 2-2 to Austin.
Vanney also mentioned that he has a vision for how he wants the position to be played and praised Micovic’s performances during last season. The Serbian ‘keeper started in LA’s two matches in Coachella, while McCarthy played with backups against Austin and got no minutes against Charlotte. Also worth noting, Micovic changed his number to “1” - mostly given to the starting goalkeeper on the team.
Given Vanney’s words about it becoming a new season and allotting starting minutes for Micovic in the preseason, it feels like the Serbian is currently in pole position at the top of the depth chart.
There are still games to go in the preseason, but keep an eye on this developing position battle. It’ll be interesting to see how gets the majority of the minutes to close out the CVI.