MLS finally gets the coast vs. coast Cup matchup that has been building for years, but LA loses biggest star to injury
It's almost hard to believe that an MLS Cup Final between New York and Los Angeles has never happened – until now, as anticipation builds for this Saturday's showdown between the New York Red Bulls and LA Galaxy.
Consider the list of stars who have played for the four clubs in MLS's two biggest markets: David Beckham, Thierry Henry, David Villa, Andrea Pirlo, Carlos Vela, Frank Lampard, Gareth Bale, Tyler Adams and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, among others. Outside of Inter Miami making it this far, this is likely the next best alternative – even though there is one significant setback that will take off some of the luster.
Riqui Puig, arguably the best player in this year's playoffs, tore his ACL and played through it to deliver the game-winning moment for the Galaxy in the Western Conference finals. While LA are still favored to win, thanks to their deep and well-balanced roster, this match loses some of the flair and electricity it would have had if both teams were at full strength.
GOAL recaps the Conference finals, and offers a brief look ahead to MLS Cup 2024.
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The Red Bulls have recorded three-straight road wins to clinch a berth in MLS Cup 2024 – their first since 2008. It's been a ridiculously impressive run, and they've embraced every single part of it, too. Call it an underdog story, call it unexpected. For RBNY, it seems they knew they could make it this far.
Defeating Orlando City 1-0 Saturday night, they certified their right to be competing in this year's championship game – proving any and all doubters wrong.
“No one actually believed in us, but we did it. But the job is not finished,” Red Bulls midfielder Emil Forsberg said postgame.
The Sweden international – with the "why not us" mentality – was a crucial part of their Round One series victory over the Columbus Crew, and was absolutely unstoppable against Orlando. However, to best the , they needed everyone – including an unexpected goal-scoring hero in Andres Reyes.
“I’m very proud of the whole group. It’s amazing the last couple of weeks, and now we have a big one. We’re not done,” Red Bulls coach Sandro Schwarz said after the win.
The club won just two of their final 20 matches across all competitions during the regular season, but they've flipped a new page during this playoff run. Now, they look reinvented, and are fueled by the outside voices telling them they're not good enough.
Now, though, they have their biggest test yet in the Galaxy. Yet they're confident they can go and win – Forsberg said it after the match:
“Whoever we get, we’re going to go there and win."
AdvertisementOrlando's last best chance?
Orlando had it all in the bag, but couldn't deliver in front of a sold out crowd at Inter&Co Stadium Saturday. On paper, were the better team, as they've had a strong defense and four strong attacking options in Facundo Torres, Ramiro Enrique, Luis Muriel, and Duncan McGuire.
Despite all of their firepower, Orlando squandered chance after chance in the first half and couldn't find openings in the second half. While Oscar Pareja deserves credit for bringing the team to the Conference Finals, questions should rightfully be asked about how this team should proceed following another playoff disappointment.
Eyes will likely be on Muriel, who hasn't lived up to expectations since his arrival. Potentially finding a way to move on and find more balance for a team that deserves to continuing progressing each season.
ImagnLA Galaxy's turnaround is remarkable
Just last season, there were large sections of Dignity Health Sports Park empty, as several fans were unhappy with the direction of the club and protested as a result.
Thankfully for the Galaxy faithful, the team actually listened to its fans and fought hard to deliver the franchise back to its best. LA's turnaround this season, going from the second-worst team in MLS to one of the league's elite teams – and on the precipice of winning it all – should be a blueprint for all struggling teams: scout well, sign well, coach well and the league's parity will allow you to contend. And the fans were on all full blast as a result Saturday. The Galaxy needed it.
Seattle have won. For a 30-minute stretch in the second half, the visitors had LA on the ropes, finding ways to consistently penetrate through its defense. Unfortunately, they did not have the quality to capitalize and failed to score. The Albert Rusnak miss midway through the second half will haunt the club throughout the offseason.
Still, it all came down to quality. And in Puig's final moment of this season, and likely large portions of 2025, he delivered a moment of incredible skill to put LA into Saturday's MLS Cup final. Time will tell if Gabriel Pec and Joseph Paintsil – LA's two other Designated Players – or Dejan Joveljic can match that effort this weekend.
Seattle needs an infusion of youth in attack
If the Sounders can inject some youth in attacking positions, they could be the early favorites to lift the 2025 MLS Cup – their defense is that good.
The team was to reliant on Jordan Morris and Rusnak, and neither have the pace to fully take advantage of the counter attacks the team's strong defense creates. Georgi Minoungou showed a ton of promise in the Conference Final and deserves to be rotation player next season, but the team still needs a proven, DP-level talent at wing to take them back to the MLS Cup.
Despite the loss, this was arguably Brian Schmetzer's best coaching job – and that even includes the CONCACAF Champions League win in 2022. It's time to take things a step further.
