What’s this? A three-match win streak for Atlanta United?
Atlanta plays its final game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium before the World Cup break on Saturday as it faces the LA Galaxy, who are making their first trip to the Benz since 2019. For more on the Galaxy, I connected with Edgar Zuniga (X) from News Across the Galaxy (X).
Last year was a difficult season for the Galaxy as they failed to make the playoffs after winning MLS Cup the year before. Things got off to another bad start in January as Riqui Puig ended up tearing his ACL again. That said, they’re 3-4-4 right now. What’s the mood of LA fans at the moment?
Most fans are upset with Greg Vanney and, to some degree, with GM Will Kuntz. With Vanney, there’s his reluctance…stubbornness to adapt to a new tactical scheme that isn’t designed with Riqui Puig in mind. This is why Joseph Paintsil and Gabriel Pec have been struggling to put up the same numbers they did before Puig got hurt. Also, they have differing motivations at the moment to pad their stats. Paintsil is coming off injury and is desperate to make the final 23 for Ghana’s World Cup roster. Pec, who seemed destined for Europe at the end of ’24, is now trying to force everything, rarely passes to his teammates, looks like he lost a step, and his shots don’t carry the same weight behind them.
At the center of it is Vanney, who hasn’t done much to reshape things to make the most of the tools at his disposal. Kuntz is also being criticized for some of the acquisitions—or lack thereof—that Galaxy have made in the last 18 months or so. Despite the effectiveness of João Klauss before his injury, paying him DP money, when he barely qualifies as a DP player anymore, reeked of desperation. Now, the club has almost no wiggle room with their finances. So, fans are upset and already looking for change under a new manager and maybe even a new GM.
We talk about German players like Thomas Muller and Timo Werner coming to MLS, but we can’t forget about Marco Reus, who’s on 4g/3a right now. He suffered a foot injury against Vancouver, though. What is his prognosis for Saturday’s game—will Greg Vanney rest him at home or will Reus make the trip?
I would say that Reus would probably be listed as questionable headed into this weekend. We won’t know for sure until late Thursday or Friday, leading up to the match. Reus has already lodged a lot of minutes this season, mostly due to the congested scheduling of MLS and CONCACAF Champions Cup matches. So, Vanney is in a bind with a gimpy Reus. He’s arguably been the most important player for Galaxy, overall, this season, but he also doesn’t seem to be as durable as he once was.
I thought João Klauss was a good signing for the Galaxy. How do you expect his first year with the club will go when it’s all said and done?
Once it was confirmed that Puig would be missing another season, Galaxy fans expected the club to search for a suitable replacement at midfield. When it was announced that the club had signed Klauss to a DP contract, there was a lot of confusion and disbelief. Galaxy had just announced they had extended the loan of 22- year-old forward Matheus Nascimento (from Botafogo) for another six months. Vanney rarely uses two forwards up top, so where would Nascimento fit into this? In the end, it really didn’t matter because he ended up with an injury that took up so much time, he only figured in a limited role for the first five matches of ’26. His loan expires at the end of June and Galaxy doesn’t have another forward.
As far as Klauss is concerned, his foot injury and subsequent surgery have him out until after the World Cup break. If he can return to playing with the same drive and urgency that made him a favorite with fans almost immediately, I can see him being an important figure as Galaxy pushes for one of the last playoff spots. But, if his injury history is any indication, he’s one bad bump away from the IL again.