MLS: 3 teams to have surprised thus far

2. LA Galaxy

A team that features a front three of Aleksandar Katai, Javier Hernandez and Cristian Pavon, with a central midfield of Joe Corona, Sebastien Lletget and Jonathan dos Santos should be competing for a playoff place and then some. And yet, as has so often been the case with the Los Angeles Galaxy in recent seasons, the team has been far less than the sum of its parts.

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Two games in and the Galaxy have looked rather dire in both. If not for a moment of magic from both Pavon and David Bingham, they would still be searching for their first goal of the season, and while Pavon’s moment of brilliance was sublime, it is hardly a sustainable way to win football matches throughout the season.

And then they fell to the lowly Vancouver Whitecaps, the worst team in the Western Conference in 2019. Not only that, but Hernandez, the man tasked with replacing Zlatan Ibrahimovic, had a poor game and refused to speak to media after the match, and the team conjured just one shot on target all game.

The Galaxy are in a tailspin before the season has hardly begun. Even for them and their history of underwhelming their talent, this might be the most disappointing season in a long time. Something needs to change, and fast.