MLS
Pressure on winless LA Galaxy ahead of ‘El Trafico’
Greg Vanney’s side have yet to record a win all season amid high levels of unrest from Galaxy fans as they welcome LAFC this Sunday.
All is not well at LA Galaxy. The side from Carson have yet to record a win in their opening six games of the 2023 MLS season and languish in the penultimate position of the Western Conference having just secured three points all season.
To add to the misery at the club, Galaxy fans are portesting and carrying out a series of boycotts as they call for the resignation of president Chris Klein.
Members of the LA Riot Squad, Angel City Brigade, Galaxy Outlawz, Galaxians and Ghost Ultras Galaxy have protested outside the stadium at home games voicing their anger and demanding the departure of Chris Klein who took over in 2013 citing a lack of ambition.
“The stadium is dead,” said commentator Taylor Twellman during the game at Dignity Health Sports Park. “It feels like a preseason game here,” he added, due to the lack of support throughout.
“The problem we have is that the board does not see that there is an issue and that is where the division is, they do not understand the fundamentals of the fans, they have no idea what matters to us. If we were winning, we would be proud,” Galaxy supporter and head of the LA Riot Squad Andrew Alesana told the LA Times en Español in the first game of the 2023 season against Vancouver.
There are concerns that Sunday’s clash at Dignity Health Sports Park against city rivals LAFC on 16 April 16 will be dominated by the ‘black and gold’ colours of visiting fans should Galaxy fans persist with their protest in the El Tráfico of the season.
On the field Galaxy problems too
“That was unacceptable, and it was disrespectful to our brand and to who we want to be.”
These were the strong words from LA Galaxy boss Greg Vanney recently as the head coach looks to rectify the team’s poor start to the season with the visit of high flying LAFC on Sunday. Never before in an MLS campaign after six games have the Galaxy scored as few as three, with their haul of three points equalling the worst ever start to a season (1997).
LAFC, meanwhile are riding high as the 2023 MLS Cup champions are unbeaten in the new MLS season and cruised to a place in the Concacaf Champions League semi-final where they are favourites to progress against Philadelphia Union.
The good news for Galaxy amid all the gloom is the possible return of Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez who made his position clear about Sunday’s game when speaking to the media earlier this week: “I love this club and If I’m alone in the stadium or not, I’ll still keep giving my all for the team”.