A season ticket member benefit offers holders a chance to see their favorite players up-close, get autographs, and maybe even find out why the team struggles in certain areas on game-day.
Open Training is an exclusive chance for season ticket holders to watch an LA Galaxy first team training session and get a glimpse of how the team prepares for matches during the week.
I got a chance to go this past Tuesday, October 7th, and watch the team prepare for their second consecutive game against FC Dallas on Saturday, October 11th.
It was a privilege to spend a weekday morning enjoying the cool coastal weather in Carson, but the real treat was getting to peek behind the curtain and appreciate the work you don’t get to see on match days.
Assistant coach Tom Williams was the first man out setting up cones and agility poles on the pitch. He was shortly followed by assistant Dan Calichman, who took up head coach duties while Greg Vanney served a suspension during the match against Sporting Kansas City.
The players then came out to applause from the fans.
It probably wouldn’t be difficult to guess that Riqui Puig received the loudest cheers. Supporters definitely felt lucky to catch an extremely-rare glimpse of Riqui Puig in action in 2025.
It seemed like Puig himself felt lucky to be out there. It looked like he was making up for lost time as he was constantly going out of his way to find a ball and juggle or dribble it.
An open training perk that fans might not immediately consider is the chance to gauge how available or not players will be for the next game.
The MLS Player Availability Report does a decent enough job of listing which players aren’t available from week to week, but it doesn’t give any insight as to how close a player might be to return to action.
Fans who get the chance to attend open training can get a much better idea by paying attention to how much each player participates in practice.
Most of the team were able to fully participate in training. They can be considered the most available group with no doubt that they’ll be available for selection on Saturday.
Other players like Lucas Sanabria and Marco Reus can be considered part of the nursery group. They weren’t seen at training at all, revealing that their injuries are more advanced and prohibit them from doing much more than resting at home.
In between those two groups are players like Maya Yoshida and Christian Ramirez. They both warmed up with the team but were then separated to do solo work as they slowly began their returns to training.
Yoshida may have since returned to training with the group as there is now a chance for him to be available on Saturday night. Josh Guesman shared that the captain will be evaluated on Friday before the team makes a decision.
Fans at open training will have also noticed a fourth group of players who are training with the team but aren’t quite ready to participate in all activities. Riqui Puig and Matheus Nascimento warmed up, did some agility training, and participated in group passing sequences before leaving the team to get some shots in on their own.
Another thing eagled-eyed supporters might notice from watching open training is that the team didn’t spend any time working on set-piece routines.
One of the main criticisms of Greg Vanney’s teams are their inability to either score or defend dead-ball situations.
This was especially glaring after the recent Campeones Cup Final, where the Galaxy lost after leading in the 84th minute after conceding from set pieces three times in the final 10 minutes.
It is worth remembering that last Tuesday was but one of an entire year’s worth of practices.
An isolated case of them not practicing them doesn’t mean they haven’t worked hard on improving set pieces at all this year, but it is interesting that fans didn’t get to see their team work on one of their critical vulnerabilities in recent seasons.
One of the highlights of open training is definitely the opportunity to get close to the players and receive autographs or share a laugh.
It was great to see most of the team go down the entire line of fans (which was quite long on Tuesday) and give an autograph to everyone they could.
Open training is a perk that offers something for every fan. From footy lovers who want to appreciate and analyze training at the highest level to kids excited to meet their heroes, it’s a special experience to learn from and enjoy.
PHOTO: Andrew Hernandez//LAXSportsNation
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