Facing an extremely long offseason, the Galaxy decided to go a different route and keep the team in class for a bit longer.
The Galaxy’s 2025 season ended Oct. 18 and instead of departing for a break and vacation, the training sessions have continued in preparation for an end-of-the-year friendly Saturday against Liga MX’s Club America.
“I think the guys have had a great mentality through these three weeks of training, I think we’ve stayed sharp on the things that we like to do as a team,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “It also means, we’re not going to be on 12 weeks of vacation, we’re going to be on seven weeks, so we’ve closed the gap a little bit on the start of next year, keep guys moving and connected to each other.
“Keeping guys around who finished the season with knocks and little things, they’ve been able to get treatment and to take care of themselves over this period because the resources are here, so I think there’s been a ton of positives. But it all starts with the guys having a great mentality and coming out and doing things the right way and that makes all of our jobs a little bit easier.”
The Galaxy’s 2026 season will start early with the CONCACAF Champions Cup, likely in the first week of February, which means training camp will be opening in the middle of January.
“This is the first time in my career that we’ve had a postseason game, normally we’ve trained for a few weeks and been done,” Galaxy forward Christian Ramirez said. “I think it lets you train for something at the end of the three weeks. I think it’s good. Gives us a chance to finish off the year and shorten the offseason.”
The extended training gave the Galaxy a chance to incorporate Riqui Puig back into team training. Puig missed the 2025 season after suffering an ACL injury in the 2024 Western Conference final.
“He’s had three weeks training with the group, so familiarizing ourselves with him has been really useful in this time period,” Vanney said. “You see him moving like Riqui, you see his sharpness and his quickness, things that you’re used to seeing, the movements that he makes in games, you’re seeing him doing it in training and all things he’s looking for and all things that create connections with the players around him. His ability to wiggle out of pressure, stuff like that, the vision, the things that he sees and the passes that he hits, that nobody else really does.
“It creates a familiarity that at least is there that won’t be brand new when we come back in January. It’s been good to have him integrated, personality-wise, but there are still a lot of steps to take.”
Puig will not play Saturday. Vanney said the star midfielder is still not in full, 11-on-11 training, but said “when we get back, he will be ready for all of it.
“If we were building toward a real playoff run right now, would we be pushing him further? Maybe. But that’s not where we are right now, so then it’s spending a little bit more time in each of these steps only builds a better foundation for when it’s really go time and go time also means games, game after game. There’s a lot more stress.”
The game is also one of preparation for America, which will kick off its Liga MX playoffs Nov. 26 against Monterrey.
“I want to see no injuries, good concentration and try to get attention to detail, connect with each other and try to look as close to we were at the end of the season, in terms of our form and guys playing together,” Vanney said. “They’re a very good team. It’ll cause us to think a little bit, when you go on vacation, your mind goes away from the game and you get dull and this is another game that will just keep us sharp.”
CLUB AMERICA at GALAXY
When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Dignity Health Sports Park