OFFICIAL: Ventura County FC aka LA Galaxy II 2026 Season

Shameful result against the worst team in the Western Conference, who is still winless : VCFC scored an early goal on an opportunistic play by Julian Placias, had tons of chances, Colorado had two players sent off but scored the game-tying goal in stoppage time at 9 vs. 11, and won the shootout. A true nightmare to watch.

Julian Placias scored but also missed two golden chances on the same play, overall this was not a convicing performance. Dylan Vanney still lacks consistency but this time it was the opposite of his usual play : I thought he was excellent as a playmaker but could have been better in the final third.

Troy Elgersma had a very good game as a CM, his versatility seems valuable. Sebastian Conlon had again some amazing saves. Maybe you think I'm overhyping him but he's constantly one of our best players and has won us a lot of points this season.

 

🆕 James Rhodes zadba o przyszłość naszej bramki!

🔗 https://t.co/e7xXLVIlWa pic.twitter.com/NLYtDd525K

— ŁKS Łódź (@LKS_Lodz) June 20, 2026

VCFC backup keeper James Rhodes signs for a Polish second division club.

 

Excellent game both in the first and in the second half, but nearly wasted by a miscommunication between Pepe Magana and Sebastian Conlon which lead to the opnening goal, just before haltime. Too bad for Magana who had a superb game overall, his improvement over last year is truly remarkable. I can't count how many great defensive plays he had.

Julian Placias was excellent too, a beautiful assist to Vicente Garcia and a great volley to score the GWG. 3 goals and 3 assists in the last 4 games, his slump seems to be over. Placias is a real target striker who's solid at catching long balls and a great presence inside the box. He's a player to watch for the second part of the season, he could be a good candidate to a first-team contract at the end of 2026.

Speaking of Vicente Garcia, we need to talk (again) about this little magician who is amazing in tight spaces and his ability to always keep the ball even in difficult situations is incredible. On this aspect of the game he seems so much older than he is (he just turned 16 this week).

Here were my three best players but overall everybody had a good game, and that was without Dylan Vanney.

 

2-3 loss at Vancouver 2 yesterday. You could feel VCFC were the better team, but a golazo from nowhere followed by 15 minutes of bad defending (with two more goals conceded) cost our reserves the win.

Chris Rindov got the start and had a very good game overall till that third goal where he was beaten by a simple long ball on a restart. Gabriel Arnold and Brett Phan were solid in the midfield. I've never been super high on Arnold but he has raised his game lately. I'm still amazed I've never heard about Phan before this season, he's really a wizard with his feet in tight spaces, and he's just 17.

Speaking of wizards, Vicente Garcia had a hand on the first goal after an excellent give-and-go with Isak Luna. Striker Kai Aina scored his first professional goal late in the game after an excellent layoff from Julian Placias. Unfortunately for Placias, it was another game where his finishing was lacking. He had too many of those this season.

Next game for VCFC is against LAFC 2, the day after El Trafico.

 

Solid win from VCFC, credit to Julian Placias and Eric Preston for scoring on rebounds on plays they didn't give up. Sebastian Conlon once again had a big hand on the result after making multiple saves.

Pepe Magana is a huge talent he but needs to be safer and more mature. There's not doubt he's very comfortable with the ball, but than can lead to risky plays near his own box. He also lost his nerves on a play far to the action and got a red card. The more I see him, the more I think he'll have an impact with the first team but he'll grow through some pain.

A new player made his debut for VCFC : 19 year old Cameroonian defender Jeremy Djieze, who seems to be an outside back. He reportedly made trials with Lille (France) and LASK (Austria) over the last couple of months. He's coming from the same Academy as Aaron Bibout and Christian Tchouante, and, from the reports I saw, has signed a 3-year deal.

 

VCFC playing Quakes 2 at the moment. Starting lineup includes our former (and former LAFC) player Luis Müller.

Your starting line up for tonight’s match against @earthquakesii ⚽️ #mlsnextpro #siempreadelante #vcfc #prosoccer pic.twitter.com/p0IQY5HeCl

— Ventura County FC (@vcfcpro) July 26, 2026

Always good to see a familiar face 🤩 Luis Müeller is back in the 805 🔥 #mlsnextpro pic.twitter.com/xkq1Ru9Boq

— Ventura County FC (@vcfcpro) July 26, 2026

 

3-0 win against Quakes 2 after winning 2-0 against LAFC 2 last week. VCFC are getting the job done !

First half was shaky on defense (and Enrique Martinez didn't have his best game), but VCFC looked better during the second half, although two goals were a little bit lucky after Quakes 2 mistakes.

Overall, a lot of players did well : the midfield of Vicente Garcia and Brett Phan is obviously too light for the pro level but man, these two are a joy to watch. Garcia is a talent we have heard for years, but Phan is a revelation to me.

Luis Müller, for his return after leaving for Germany a year ago, looked like the Luis Müller who left : too technical and too good for MLS Next Pro (his goal was lucky but his assist to Eric Preston was Reus-esque). He's 25 now and he would have a place as a depth piece) in our team (like Troy Elgersma), but he can't fit if he still counts as an international.

Another player who looked good was recent signing Jeremy Djieze. He was described as an outside back whose preferred position is RB, but in this game he played as a RW and he looked left-footed ! I still need to figure things out.

On defense, once again a solid game from Sebastian Conlon (sorry to repeat myself week after week). Riley Dalgado looked good too, he's clearly in a positive streak. For his first start of the year, Academy defender Mateo McLean was solid too.