CARSON, Calif. – Marco Reus has only been an LA Galaxy player for a matter of months, having arrived on a free transfer over the summer at the conclusion of his illustrious tenure at Borussia Dortmund.
The German playmaker knew about the history of his new club, though, and quickly grasped a fundamental aspect of life at the five-time MLS Cup champions.
“I really knew it before, that the club is really special, a little bit different than maybe the others, because so many big players played here before, and they always try to win this trophy,” Reus told reporters at Dignity Health Sports Park on Thursday afternoon as he and his side seek to end LA’s decade-long title drought for Saturday’s MLS Cup final vs. the New York Red Bulls (4 pm ET | Apple TV - Free; FOX, FOX Deportes; TSN, RDS).
“This identity of the club is to win trophies, and it's 10 years [since their last league championship]. So it's time for us to get it back and to win this f---ing trophy for the city and for the club.”
10 years in the making
No one in the league has won more of these occasions than the Gs, nor has anyone reached this lofty stage as often; Saturday marks the Galaxy’s 10th cup final. To have fallen off as far as they have, and for as long as they have, since Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane & Co. claimed the 2014 title at this same venue, is a source of grinding frustration for the club and its supporters.
When Joseph Paintsil arrived from Belgian side Genk earlier this year, he says no one had to provide a tutorial on the Galaxy’s rich past — it was presented to him immediately online.
“It’s always on the social media. Social media will always tell you whatever is happening,” the Ghanaian winger said. “When you open your Twitter, when you open your IG, there's a lot of fans, and there's a lot of people that always tell you, for you to know that this is really dear to them.
“When I came, the only, the first thing that I heard, was the 10 years’ gap and all these kinds of things.”
Others in MLS might scoff at the idea of LA bearing a burden in that sense — particularly RBNY, who along with FC Dallas and the New England Revolution are the last of the league’s 10 founding clubs yet to hoist this particular piece of hardware.
But the weight of expectations is real, perhaps for Greg Vanney most of all. The Gs’ head coach was a standout defender on the fearsome sides of the Galaxy’s first decade, but tasted only heartbreak in MLS Cup, where he was on the losing end in 1996, ‘99 and 2001, and moved on to French club SC Bastia before they finally broke through in 2002.
“This is home for me. So I'm honored to be here. I came back because I felt like I wanted the opportunity to try to help this club back to the legacy that was created from the very first year, where the club was competing for championships from 1996 and many since then,” Vanney, a UCLA product, said this week.
“This is my fourth [MLS Cup] with this club, and I've lost three before, so the goal is to try to change that narrative a little bit more. But ultimately the goal was to bring this club back to the top, where I think it belongs, and obviously, where the expectation is,” he continued. “And also to work with this group of players and all the players that I've had come through during these last four years, to give them an opportunity to be in this moment and cement their legacy at this club. Because there's a lot of big names who've played for this club, most of whom have won championships, and this is the opportunity for this group to create that legacy for themselves.”
Legacy on the line
That word, ‘legacy,’ is on the lips of many in navy blue and gold. There’s an old soccer saying that finals are to be won, not played. And after all the entertaining, free-flowing football they’ve produced this season, the Gs are fully prepared to win ugly if that’s what's required against rugged RBNY.
“I want to leave a legacy myself, and I know it's not only me, also with the collective players and the people who govern the LA Galaxy. Everybody wants to win this trophy because it's been 10 years,” said Paintsil. “Me writing my name with this on Saturday means a lot to me, and I have to do it no matter what, even if I'm bleeding, even if I'm injured, even if I need to use my head, I have to do it.
“No matter how we need to play the game, it doesn't need to be nice, it doesn't need to be great. The only important thing is, we just need to win.”
Diego Fagúndez was on the other side in that 2014 final in Carson, a key homegrown attacker for the Revs. A full decade on, the Galaxy veteran is understandably one of several who feel a sense of fate this week.
“It's been 10 years since they won, and then the last one they won, they beat me in the final here,” Fagúndez, a luxury depth option for Vanney considering he’d be an everyday starter on many other MLS teams, said with a smile on Thursday. “So I believe in destiny, and I came to this team for a reason, and hopefully it's to win a Cup.
“That's what we all want. We know we've had ups and downs this year, and at the end of the day, we’re one game away. And everyone needs to step up.”
