"Everybody needs to be on their toes"; The LA Galaxy is ready to kickoff the 2026 campaign
The 2026 season begins this week and the LA Galaxy is ready for it. Quotes from Edwin Cerrillo and Greg Vanney ahead of a busy start to the season
The rain in Southern California isn’t halting the LA Galaxy’s preparations for its start to the Concacaf Champions Cup and MLS Season. The club will face San Miguelito in Panama on Thursday and open the MLS campaign on Sunday against NYCFC.
“Very excited,” said Edwin Cerrillo about the upcoming season. The 25-year-old joined the presser right after his training session in the rain.
“Obviously, we had a long off-season, a lot to think about, a lot to be motivated for. And I think this year with more experience, just eager to get started.”
LA’s 2025 season is one that the players and coaching staff are moving on from completely. 2026 provides a blank canvas to get back to chasing success rather than being left behind from the start.
“We are doing a lot of running on the field that isn’t always so much fun but we need to put that effort going into Thursday. And again, like I said, play with the chip on our shoulder. We have lots to prove,” said Cerrillo.
The LA Galaxy’s preseason at the Coachella Valley Invitational ended with a 3-3 draw against Real Salt Lake. LA finished with a record of 4-1-1 and a goal difference of +8. Gabriel Pec led the team with three goals in the preseason.
“Right from the beginning. Guys came in fit and focused. So we were able to push them,” said Head Coach Greg Vanney about the preseason preparations.
Vanney noted how the team had its main group of players early and was training together as early as possible. With four games in the span of 10 days, the fitness of the squad is a top priority.
“We’re going to have a busy schedule as we did early last year. And from the start, I think we kind of set the standard. Now, we did set the standard in which we’re going to need everybody, whether we rotate, whether we have different game plans, everybody needs to be on their toes,” Cerrillo told reporters.
“Four games in 10 days is a challenge any time of the season, much less the start of the season when you’re still trying to get your whole group durable… We need to manage it. We need to try to be efficient and smart about how we go about things,” added Vanney.
LA’s coach ruled out Chris Rindov, Issiah Parente, and Erik Thommy for the matches this week and ruled Elijah Wydner questionable.
The upgrades to the defensive sector of the pitch are the most notable tweaks on the roster. Jakob Glesnes and Justin Haak come with a positive reputation in MLS, and LA is banking on them to be a key part of a successful season.
“We knew that was big part of last year, letting goals in too easy, and I think we’re going to come out with the strong mentality of keeping our goal on zero and letting Gabe, Joe and the guys up top do their thing,” said Cerillo
“Defensively… being really proactive and being aggressive in the right ways at the right times, to be able to dictate some of the games with our defensive work, and not always having to do it just with the ball,” said Vanney about the defense.
“It’s just the defending part of it is from front to back, and it’s making sure that in every situation, we have everybody connected and working together inside of the defensive effort. It’s not about an individual player coming and changing us defensively,” added Vanney.
Having a strong defensive structure as a team rather than relying on the talent in the backline is what Vanney wants to see. He’s emphasized this concept of work rate across the pitch during his entire tenure with the club, which has had mixed results.
“It’s going to be about our front guys helping to create clarity for the guys behind them, through their work rate and through their connection defensively. It is going to be about the guys in the back, obviously, having to make individual plays to either recover balls or contain situations,” said Vanney
The Galaxy isn’t only preparing for San Miguelito or NYCFC. Its trying to reset the tone for the entire year. After a 2025 season they’d rather forget, 2026 is a chance to respond. The start of the season is about proving that this team learned from last year and is ready to move forward and get back into contention for trophies.