Three major storylines heading into the LA Galaxy's opening match of the MLS season against Inter Miami

The LA Galaxy opens their season against Lionel Messi's Inter Miami to start the 2024 MLS campaign. Here are the storylines that can be at the forefront of Sunday night's highly anticipated matchup

It is finally here; the most anticipated season-opening match in the LA Galaxy’s 27-year history. The SoCal club will host Inter Miami at Dignity Health Sports Park on Sunday night to close out the first week of MLS action.

Soccer legend Lionel Messi and fellow greats Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alaba will embark on their first road game of the season. The Galaxy’s successful offseason on paper will be put to the test immediately on primetime with many eyes focused on the match in Carson.

There are so many different storylines that can be pulled out from this match alone. I’ll be focusing on those that especially matter about the LA Galaxy and what people could look back on five years down the road. After a disastrous 2023 season, the LA Galaxy is under a microscope to track its progress back to the top of MLS.

Debuts of Paintsil and Pec

It is night and day when comparing the start of this season for the LA Galaxy to last year. Instead of missing two Designated Players due to injury, the Galaxy fanbase is excited to witness two new attacking reinforcements to begin one of the most important MLS campaigns in LA Galaxy history.

General manager Will Kuntz has been busy this offseason with 15 players departing the club and seven players set to begin their LA Galaxy careers this season.

The LA Galaxy’s acquisition of Brazilian prospect Gabriel Pec and Genk star Joesph Paintsil as DP’s bolsters the club’s attacking options down the wing. Vanney's system is keen on having wingers add verticality and make runs in behind to disrupt the shape of the opponent’s backline. With reportedly a combined cost of around $19.5 million, the Galaxy is banking on them making the club’s attack among the best in MLS.

Right before their introductory press confrence on Friday afternoon, the Galaxy announced both DP wingers will be available for selection for Sunday night’s game against Inter Miami.

In the case of Painstil, he already held a tourist visa as he was called up to Ghana’s squad when they faced the U.S. Men’s National Team back in October. Kuntz mentioned that because of this and the help of parent company AEG, they were able to convert his tourist visa into a P-1 visa in a short amount of time.

“I’m here to play for the badge, for the team, and the supporters,” said Paintsil during his press confrence. The Ghanaian made it clear that he welcomed and wanted the move to LA Galaxy when he first heard the proposal. With the offer coming during his time with Ghana at AFCON, the move took some time to go through and iron out details.

Painstil told me that the Galaxy’s tactical system and style of play from the wingers is similar to what Genk operated under. He highlighted how he’ll be looking to attack space and create chances when the ball is at his feet. There is no need to worry about his fitness as he’s coming off playing a couple of games with Genk at the midway point of the European season.

At the age of 26, Paintsil is a win-now move for the LA Galaxy. He’s raises the ceiling of the LA Galaxy like no other DP since Zlatan Ibrahimovic was at the club.

Pec made his move to the Galaxy following Brazil’s 1-0 loss to Argentina which resulted in 'The Selecao' not qualifying for the upcoming Olympic games. Pec appeared in multiple games for the squad and recorded two assists during the tournament.

His 14 goals and eight assists for Brazilian side Vasco da Gama last season was the breakout moment of his career. He not only got the attention of Brazil’s youth team but also on the LA Galaxy radar.

It would’ve been easy to stay in Brazil and have a good career with Vasco where he became a fan favorite. Instead, Pec chose to come to LA and be part of the Galaxy’s project.

“This last year was the best season of his career, with goals, assists, and playing a lot of games. And what made me come to the Galaxy was the history of the club, as it is a very big club, a club that has always fought for titles here in the MLS,” Pec told reporters.

The 23-year-old Brazilian brought up the pedigree of the club multiple times and admitted that it played a major role in deciding on the next stage of his career.

It’s been reported that he’s the most expensive purchase in LA Galaxy history at around $10.5 million. The Galaxy sees how much potential and upside he has - a large investment like that needs to bring an MLS Cup title. No matter what happens during his LA Galaxy career, the young Brazilian will be in the record books for the club’s entire history.

The Fire has been lit

Riqui Puig is a player who welcomes the pressure and will use anything for motivation to perform at the top level. His career has been nothing but pressure since his days at Barcelona’s La Masia academy and now as the face of the LA Galaxy franchise.

In the build-up to last year’s match against LAFC at the Rose Bowl, Puig was at the center of attention. The Spaniard was called a Payaso (clown in Spanish) by LAFC’s Giorgio Chiellini following a win in the U.S. Open Cup. He was then criticized on ESPN Deportes by actor Jamie Camil for his celebration in that match.

Puig turned that criticism and negative attention into motivation for arguably his best performance in an LA Galaxy uniform. He dominated the midfield, scored a goal in front of the largest crowd in MLS history, and silenced those who loudly criticized him.

As is custom, the pundits on MLSSoccer.com released their annual predictions of where teams will finish in the standings. They ranged from 4th to 13th place finishes for the Galaxy with one notable prediction from Sacha Kljestan. The former LA Galaxy player and teammate of Puig picked the squad to finish the season in 11th place. Puig reacted on social media calling out Kljestan’s predictions with laughing emojis.

In a recent episode of Offside with Taylor Twellman, Kljestan explained in further depth his reasoning for why he doesn’t rate his former club highly heading into the 2024 season. Aside from the flaws he sees in the team, Kljestan compared the Galaxy to a ’90s actor who is trying to make a comeback and thinks they are cool but they’re not.

Puig brought up these predictions briefly during Friday’s media availability saying, “The other day I was reading some journalist rankings about where the Galaxy would finish, that also had former teammates that were [at the Galaxy], and I think they are lacking respect.”

“I think you need to have more respect for the Galaxy, to the players, and especially before [starting the season] you need to have confidence in this team,” said Puig.

The Spaniard is confident in the group and told reporters he expects the club to be fighting to be a top-three team. With lots of money spent this offseason and Puig’s desire to win, this expectation is reasonable.

As soon as the game starts on Sunday night, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Puig be the catalyst for LA. The opportunity to compete against his former Barcelona teammates and put on a show for a large audience around the country and the world doesn’t come around often. A motivated Puig is capable of stealing all the headlines to cap off the first week of MLS action.

Defensive test right off the bat

Going up against two of the best attackers of their generation isn’t the easiest situation for the Galaxy defense. The backline allowed a league-high 67 goals in 2023 as the club failed to make the MLS Cup playoffs. It’s been no surprise to hear how much emphasis there has been on defense during preseason training.

John McCarthy will likely get the start in goal as he impressed during the preseason with quality saves and command of the backline. Maya Yoshida expressed he likes McCarthy’s personality and thought he had good preseason performances. 

McCarthy is no stranger to the Messi effect. He started in LAFC’s 3-1 loss against Miami last season at BMO Stadium. He’ll look to get a win against his former club and kick off the campaign with a clean sheet to show LA made the right decision to name him the starter.

LA’s full backs will be key to providing pace to the defense and part of LA’s buildup. Miki Yamane played as an inverted full back during the preseason. Yamane will make his MLS debut and begin a new chapter of his career. After winning everything in Japanese soccer, his venture with the Galaxy could be the biggest test of his career.

Julián Aude grew up idolizing Messi like many Argentine players his age. He ended the preseason with a great solo goal and showed he’s capable of being a starter after a rocky first season. A good performance on Sunday night can go a long way in building confidence for his sophomore season in MLS.

The experience in the backline comes in central defense with Yoshida and Martín Cáceres. The pair of defenders played in World Cups and in Europe for the majority of their careers - they’re used to these big pressure games. The two actually played together at Southampton for one game back in 2017, so this partnership isn’t really brand new.

Cáceres suffered an avulsion fracture that kept him out for the majority of the 2023 MLS season and will make his return to MLS play. He’ll be up against his compatriot and former World Cup teammate Luis Suarez.

Everyone will be watching how the LA Galaxy defense holds up and responds to being on the pitch against the greatest player of all time. Improvement on the backline is a must for success all season long.