The LA Galaxy close out their season against one of the Western Conference’s strongest teams.
A certainly awful year gives way to a post-season full of speculation and uncertainty as the front office looks to rebuild.
Fan Appreciation Night. The last game of the season. A night some fans have been waiting for since the season opener.
The 2025 MLS season comes to an end for the LA Galaxy, finally putting an end to the worst regular season in club history.
They’ll end their year at home against Minnesota United, the fourth-best team in the Western Conference, on Saturday, October 18th. This will also be Minnesota’s last regular season game before they go on to host their opening playoff fixture.
United arrive to Carson in mixed-form. They took a big win away to San Diego FC on September 13th before dropping out of the U.S. Open Cup Semi-Final against Austin FC and taking a big 3-0 loss to Chicago Fire FC at home on September 20th. They’ve tied and won since then, securing their home playoff berth.
For their part, the Galaxy have managed to recover from their 16-game winless streak at the beginning of the year just enough to get off of the absolute bottom of the league.
A win and some favorable fixtures in other fixtures could see the Galaxy rise as high as 25th out of 30 teams.
A win might be a difficult result for the Galaxy, as Minnesota United will have their full team available for selection after the international break. They’ll also be looking to end the regular season on the best possible note to take some positive energy into their do-or-die playoff matches.
United’s typical defense-first setup will force the Galaxy to be positionally disciplined to protect against any counters. It will likely be reminiscent of their last game against FC Dallas, at least after Logan Farrington’s 16th minute red card.
The Galaxy do enjoy controlling most of the ball, but lapses in defense as seen in Dallas’s equalizer last week, are deadly against a Minnesota United team that is famously efficient.
It will be interesting to see which lineup Greg Vanney starts the match with.
18 year-old Harbor Miller has become something of a regular in Vanney’s teams, but was recently unavailable for selection for U-20 USMNT duty. Mauricio Cuevas played at the left wing spot in his place and contributed to a largely dominant first half for the Galaxy, as well as providing a crucial cross to set up the game-winning goal.
It’ll be anyone’s call as to whether Vanney decides to give Miller one last start or stick with the lineup that worked last time out. He’ll likely be considering how to put out the most disciplined lineup against Minnesota, making it likely that Diego Fagundez will be involved in some capacity.
Fagundez is one goal and one assist away from becoming the fourth member of the iconic 80-80 club in MLS. There’s a very real chance that Saturday’s match will be the Uruguayan’s last to hit the landmark in a Galaxy jersey as he is about to hit his option year.
We likely won’t know about the Galaxy’s option decisions for the next few weeks at the earliest, but there’s no doubt that the off-season rumor mill is already in full-force.
A report from Ball Watching: a St. Louis CITY SC Podcast, claimed today that sources have revealed that Galaxy General Manager Will Kuntz has taken an interview with the St. Louis City SC.
Seeing this, Josh Guesman of Corner of the Galaxy got in touch with a Galaxy source with knowledge of the situation who confirmed that Kuntz had in fact NOT interviewed with the Missouri team and has no desire to leave the LA Galaxy.
The off-season silliness has only just begun. It’ll be an interesting couple of months as the front office decides which players stay, go, and join as the attempt to move on from an awful 2025 season.
Los Angeles Sports Nation and Nuestra Galaxia Fútbolera will be covering it all to keep you up to date on all things LA Galaxy.
PHOTO: Matt Blewett-Imagn Images, Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images
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