LA Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney isn’t a stranger to the heartbreak of MLS Decision Day.
Rewind back to 2021, Vanney’s first season at the helm of the G’s, where a 3-3 draw with Minnesota United on Decision Day wasn’t enough to send the Galaxy into the playoffs.
LA climbed back after going down by two goals and brought Dignity Health Sports Park alive with hope of clinching postseason soccer. It was a Julian Araujo own goal that gave Minnesota hope again, and it was the difference between preparing for a game next week and cleaning out the locker room the next day.
A win and the Galaxy were into the playoffs. But the tie at home combined with scores elsewhere eliminated the Galaxy that day.
This Saturday’s match on the road to Real Salt Lake has similar circumstances to 2021. A win means LA will make the postseason for the first time since 2024. A draw or loss means the Galaxy will be scoreboard watching to see if other teams help LA get across the playoff line.
I asked Vanney, now in his sixth season with the club, if that game had come to his mind while preparing for this weekend’s match.
He grinned as the memories of that day came back to his mind and gave a sincere response.
“Reflection is always there. Yeah, that season we were we spent the entire season in the playoffs until like the last three minutes. Some of that was our own doing and not taking care of business on our end,” said Vanney, looking back on that moment.
As LA was searching for a winner, a no-call on obvious handball in the Kansas City – Salt Lake game meant the Galaxy didn’t have a stroke of luck go its way that night.
That is what sticks out the most in Vanney’s mind when looking back on the 2021 season and in preparation for Saturday’s match.
“No penalty call and PRO apologizing. It should have been a penalty. All that good stuff. But that’s why you got to take care of your stuff and not sit around and hope that somebody else is taking care of it for you,” said Vanney.
“At the end of the day, you hope that your team executes better on the day and can put you (in the playoffs). So we want to do it on our own. We don’t want to have to rely on anybody else on that day because we had to rely on somebody and it didn’t work.”
Traveling to Utah isn’t an easy task for the LA Galaxy.
The G’s have a 3W-1D-6L record against RSL in Utah. Goal differential isn’t great in that stretch, with -8 across those 10 games.
“They’ve always been teams that are typically pretty good in possession, so they force you to work hard on the defensive side,” said Vanney about RSL’s home-field advantage.
“Physical capability, soccer capability, and conditions support, all those things play into making it a tough place to get to play,” he added.
RSL’s America First Field sits 4,450 feet above sea level and is one of the highest-elevation stadiums in MLS. The thinner air forces visiting players to expend more energy and can alter the dynamics of ball flight. Salt Lake is one of the few teams in MLS that has a genuine homefield advantage that teams across the league can’t replicate at their training grounds.
The Galaxy is aware of the need to control this game and win. This isn’t a team that’s growing into itself. LA is a team with talented veterans, in-prime players, and a roster on paper that is among the best in the West.
“We have an extraordinary squad, full of talent and great players…The key is to keep our confidence,” said Pablo Ruiz, who spent eight years with Salt Late.
“For the Galaxy, the expectation is always to be higher up, because history demands it… the main thing now is just making the playoffs,” added Ruiz.
Vanney can prepare the tactical game plan and motivate the players in his own way. But this is where the team leaders must take the reins once the ball is moving in Salt Lake.
“We have quality, we have personality, we have leadership inside of it,” said Vanney about his squad.
“We’ve got to take care of business because otherwise it’s all for naught. But if we do, I think we become a very dangerous team entering the playoffs as things are really coming together,” added Vanney.
It’s one thing to speak with confidence; it’s another thing to prove it when the pressure is on.
LA’s got that chance to show it’s a genuinely dangerous team if it can win in Utah with ease. The Galaxy has learned its lesson about relying on other teams in 2021, and now it’s facing a similar test all these years later.