CARSON, Calif. — Six months ago, the LA Galaxy stood atop Major League Soccer — champions, winners. A roster shimmering with attacking talent and tactical cohesion had lifted the MLS Cup in December 2024, riding the high of what it feels like to reach the mountaintop in any sport. Now, 16 games into the 2025 campaign, they’ve yet to win a single league match.
At 0-4-12, the Galaxy are winless — not just in form, but in spirit. And while the stat line is damning, what’s unraveling in Los Angeles isn’t just about gameplan or talent. It’s the quiet devastation that losing brings. The longer it stretches, the heavier it gets.
“Each one of these games, there are some similarities to it and there’s some differences to it,” head coach Greg Vanney said after yet another narrow 1-0 loss Wednesday night at home against San Jose. “The similarities I think are the guys come out they fight and they work and they compete. Inside of that you look at the opposition and you go, they are not better than us. It comes down to execution.”
“The sheer number of man-up rushes or attacks that we have squandered over the course of the night becomes the difference in the game,” Vanney added after the match against the Quakes. “We had more than enough opportunities to open that game up and be on top… and we just never got there.”
There’s no panic in Vanney’s voice. Just exhaustion — from watching the same game play out on repeat. One lapse. One missed runner. One break not taken. And the result, again, slips away.
But he also speaks to something deeper: fear. Not of lacking skill, but of what failure might mean after months without a win.
“Sometimes we chose ourselves when we needed to choose our teammate,” Vanney said. “And if we choose our teammate, I think we have a much better-looking goal. And again, I think that comes down to guys wanting to win so bad—they want to take responsibility.”
Where instinct once took over, players now freeze. That split-second of overthinking — of trying to do too much, or not enough — becomes fatal. These are elite professionals. It’s not that they’ve forgotten how to play. But the longer the losing streak goes, the harder it becomes to play freely.
That’s the true cost of losing — not just the points left on the table, but the doubt that seeps in with each missed opportunity.
“I subscribe to the things you can control as much as possible,” Vanney said. “Which is our performances, our efforts, our execution — ideally the things we can get better at on the training field.”
But even that control slips as pressure mounts.
“You hope that inside of being more proactive and being the aggressor in certain situations that you get things to go your way — that wasn’t tonight, and it hasn’t been much of this season.”
Vanney won’t blame luck, even as he admits the breaks haven’t come. “We just need something to deflect off somebody and go in the goal,” he said. “Just something. We are not getting those types of things. Everything for us is a battle.”
Those moments used to break their way. Last year, a deflection here, a perfect touch there, and the Galaxy found a goal. Now? The same moments tilt against them. Similar players, same system — but now, one second too late, one decision too slow.
But he’s quick to clarify: “You can’t get caught up in hoping luck is going to go your way.”
That kind of thinking only distracts from the real issue — this isn’t about misfortune. It’s about a team drowning in its own expectations.
Star midfielder Riqui Puig’s absence was a blow, yes, and offseason cap constraints forced the Galaxy to part with several role players. But the spine of the team — Paintsil, Pec, Reus, Yoshida — remains intact and is back. The Galaxy still have talent. They still create chances. And yet, they still can’t win.
This isn’t a team getting outclassed — it’s one that looks a step behind. Just late enough to be punished. Just uncertain enough to hesitate. That’s the mental toll of losing: it convinces you you’re never quite in control, no matter how close the match.
“If I was going out and going, ‘Jesus, we are just getting hammered every game or we are just losing,’ then I would be adapting a lot of things,” Vanney said. “But it really comes down to execution.”
“The moments that we are looking for are there in these last 4–5 games — take New York out of the equation — the moments are there for us to get results.”
The LA Galaxy don’t need a new roster. They need belief. But that’s the cruelest part — belief only comes with wins. And wins don’t come unless you already have belief.
The reigning champs are fighting something far more elusive than tactics or matchups: momentum, doubt, time. Until they break through, each match will only feel heavier than the last.
