Los Angeles Galaxy vs Kansas City, March 14th, 2026, Match Thread

I think that the mantra of focusing on your game and only your game is kind of peak Pep, so Barca and BMunch, early City.
There's been a lot written in recent years about how that has changed at City (as well as BMunch and Barca, etc), which tracks with PV's determination to create an MLS-lite version of Barca, 2011.

 

I mean it fits with what we saw on the field and what PV would say. We saw us try to bang our head against the wall playing "our style." And PV said a lot "we're going to play our way" or something to that extent.

Not saying it doesn't suck, but the signs were all there.

 

Yeah, I almost want to give him a free pass for an entire year for that move. Didn't we actually get a fee for him as well? Incredible. I figured that last contract he signed here was going to hamstring us for another year, or at best, see us paying half his wages while he smoothed out his hair somewhere else.

Perfectly symbolic of PV's egoism and narcissism.

 

Yes we did get a fee from Chivas, thank god they wanted to get their old players back. And he's played just 21 games in the last year. Only 8 of those in the current season, and none in this year's clausura. He's also only scored 2 goals (both came in his first 3 appearances early in the 2025 clausura). He's been a complete disaster for them.

 

Also, free pass because I don't think we had the cap space or roster positions open until he helped unload Pulido, Rosero, and the 16

 

I thought Davis tried very hard not to speak poorly about PV, but his comments are hard to take any other way.

Agree it fits with what we saw and what many of us complained about. Focusing on the positive, there are many positive statements coming from the players about Wiki and he has the team playing reasonably well considering the roster is not finished and he's only been here for about a minute. Still very early, but Wiki could be a positive change.

Wiki, LBJ, moving Maun up higher, DJ being crazy efficient in front of goal, Pulskamp doing his best to keep the team in games. Back line isn't totally awful. All positives so far.

One game, but LBJ was very impressive. Best 6 in KC since prime Ilie.

 

I thought of prime Ilie, as well. Having someone that calm and seeing the game so well from that role is a massive plus.
Manu is a good player from that deeper role, but he's a great player when he has a bit more freedom higher up.
Dejan's efficency is insane, isn't it?
Given that Puig hasn't played, at all, since LAG sold him, they have to be kicking themselves, a lot, about moving him.
MLS best 9s: Dejan, Musa, Surridge?

 

Puig is arguably a better and more important player for LA than Joveljic was. I think even with injuries in hindsight, they weren't sacrificing him.

I think it's Paintsil or Pec that was the wrong choice to keep, probably Paintsil. Both have been decent at worst though.

There was just no good solution for them to keep 4 DPs like that. They're not Miami.

 

The biggest issue for them was just the fact that Joveljic was out of contract and the others weren't.

 

I have always rated him as anMLS "top 5" striker, which is why I was so excited when SKC signed him. He's worth the price of admission.

 

They knew when they sold his rights that Puig wasn't going to play that season, at least not until late in the year. They had no way to know there would be two straight years, though.
That said, i would take either Paintsil or Pec, as well

 

If he was out of contract, why did we pay $4m to LAG?

 

I think he had one year left and his contract was up in 2025. However, they couldn't make him a DP like he deserved, and rather than letting him walk on a free at the end of the season, they sold him early for a reasonable sum. We were then able to offer him a DP contract that reflected his value, and he seems mostly quite happy about it (though he does still seem to be a softy for LAG).

 

Yes, I misremembered. The issue was the fact that Joveljic turned 26 last year, meaning he could no longer qualify as a U22 player on the Galaxy's roster and they didn't have an open DP slot to use to move him up to a DP to fit his existing salary.

 

I am very glad they coudln't work it out. He's such a massive force for good