Can LA Galaxy's Marco Reus help wake MLS' sleeping giant?

CARSON, Calif. -- Willkommen to MLS , Marco Reus .

Days after LA Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney stated that he would need "miracles" to finalize Reus' documentation before the weekend, the former Germany international provided a marvel of his own after debuting in the 62nd minute of Saturday's match against Atlanta United.

Backed by a vociferous sold-out home crowd of 25,174 at Dignity Health Sports Park, the 35-year-old winger made a meteoric impact that highlighted he's not just in California for a pleasant west coast vacation at the end of his career.

Rapidly elevating an encounter that had struggled to catch fire, Reus was noticeably incisive with his decision-making. After providing a clever assist for Riqui Puig to open the scoring in the 76th minute, Reus then sent the stadium into a frenzy with a goal of his own in the 84th to secure a dramatic 2-0 victory.

"[I'll] enjoy the days, the summer and all that stuff, but ... I'm not here to enjoy too much of the sun," Reus had told ESPN ahead of the game. "I'm here to be successful with the team, and of course, to try to bring the Championship back to the Galaxy."

With the team currently sitting on top of MLS' Western Conference, dreams of snapping an agonizing 10-year title drought for the league's all-time leading champions could soon materialize. Guided by a youthful core of attacking players that have yet to reach the peak of their abilities, the Galaxy had only lost five times in its previous 26 matches of the 2024 regular season and, during that run, only two other teams in MLS surpassed its 50-goal tally.

So could Reus could be the extraterrestrial game-changer that helps the Galaxy's stars align and win its first MLS Cup in a decade? You wouldn't blame optimistic fans for believing that more miracles may lie ahead: standing near the statues of Galaxy legends like Landon Donovan and David Beckham, supporter Alex Martinez told ESPN before kick-off: "It's a big signing. It's definitely going to boost the team."

The evidence from Saturday's win is a clear indication of that.

"I have a lot of energy in my tank"

Reus is here to play. Yes he is another aging European superstar taking a final paycheck in MLS before retirement, but the weekend's performance showed his ambition.

"First of all, I want to prove myself, still," Reus told ESPN. "I'm 35 years old, but I think I have a lot of energy in my tank, and of course, we want to bring the Championship home. I mean, this is the big goal for this club. Like I said, it was 10 years ago. It's a long time."

Stoically analyzing the Atlanta game from the bench --- and later close to the net while warming up in front of a fan that lifted a homemade "Willkommen Reus" sign --- the German knew exactly what to do. In a tight game at 0-0, Reus entered the field and turned it into a chessboard, finding new avenues and ways to distribute and manipulate the ball up the field.

When asked before the match what he believed was his best talent, the winger highlighted a trait that was on full display in his debut. "Maybe [my] vision," he said. "It's always important to think about one or two steps earlier in different situations."

Galaxy general manager Will Kuntz admitted that the winger has everything you need up front. "His quality is obvious when you watch him play," he said. "I think he's got positional versatility; he's obviously got huge game experience. He's been a goal scorer, a goal creator, somebody who's dangerous on the ball."

Most concerning for future opponents is that Reus wasn't fully fit against Atlanta. After the win, the veteran admitted that he was "dead [tired] after a couple of minutes," and yet, he still picked up an assist and goal without much trouble.

"He came in and he brought class, composure, intelligence obviously, quality, a lot of things," coach Vanney said after the game. "In a way, he made things look a little bit easy at times, where it's just smooth, in the flow and the rhythm of the game, and just picking things out."

This is significant for a Galaxy side that hasn't exactly had things come easy in recent years. Saturday's party-like atmosphere and 2024 in general have been a welcome change of pace for the group that were once seen as fading giants in MLS, no longer able to keep pace with new franchises such as their crosstown rivals LAFC .

The Galaxy are now title-contenders with Reus in their squad. But it's also important to note that it wasn't so long ago when they were not only struggling on the field, but also the worst team in MLS.

Bouncing back

Technically speaking, 2014's MLS Cup wasn't the last trophy that the Galaxy won --- if we're counting unofficial titles. The Wooden Spoon, an award created by the Independent Supporters Council of North America (ISC), is given at the end of each season to supporters of the MLS team that finishes at the bottom of the overall standings.

"This is a trophy that no one wants, and it should be that way," ISC President Jeremy Wright said in 2016.

With a paltry total of eight wins from 34 matches in the 2017 season, and a dead-last position in MLS' standings, supporters of the Galaxy were sent the Wooden Spoon . For an organization that proudly boasts itself to be the most successful in MLS, 2017 was a year to forget and the 8W-18L-8D record was cemented as its lowest in franchise.

Rene Trejo, a long-time supporter from East L.A. who was grilling at the parking lot tailgate with his family before Saturday's game, grimaced when discussing the 2017 season with ESPN. "You go through those moments and you're like [exasperated sigh], another loss, another bad season," he said. "It felt rough."

Regardless of the long list of high-profile transfers added -- like Gio dos Santos, Ashley Cole, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez and Douglas Costa -- the Galaxy strategy prioritized headline-grabbing stars over on-field substance.

What followed was a playoff absence in five of its last seven seasons. The team lacked cohesion and chemistry and from 2017-2023 the Galaxy was the second-worst team in MLS for goals allowed in the regular season, with 399 let in through 223 games (via TruMedia/StatsPerform). Through that period, it failed to claim a victory in 145 matches, meaning that 65% of its regular season games ended without a win.

Along with poor results that had the Galaxy rotating through a handful of coaches, within their higher ups, there was legitimate roster mismanagement that led to a fine of $1 million in late 2022. By early 2023, boiling point was reached through a boycott from supporters that eventually led to the firing of president Chris Klein .

"Yeah, last season was definitely a rough, rough one," Jose, a Galaxy fan from Westminster at Saturday's tailgate who was eating with friends, told ESPN. "But as time goes on, you just got to hope for the best."

Things look much different in 2024.

Coupled with bringing Kuntz into the front office, the Galaxy shifted to look for more low-key but highly effective signings ahead of the current season. That has meant doing plenty of homework, but the inclusion of younger faces such as Gabriel Pec and Joseph Paintsil has found an attacking harmony with other up-and-coming figures such as roaming midfielder Puig and goal-scoring striker Dejan Joveljic .

And while the signing of Reus seems to be a return to old ways, what's different now is that he won't be the singular focus like many previous stars. Reus, despite his otherworldly magic on Saturday, is happy to be another piece of the Galaxy puzzle.

Helping wake "a sleeping giant"

Instead of basking in the glory of his impressive debut, Reus, clearly a team player, was blunt in Saturday's post-match news conference about his preference for assisting over scoring. "I mean, I'm an offensive player, so that [scoring] is always my target to help the team, but it's not my first choice," he said. "Most of the time I like to give assists to my teammates."

That statement is a testament to the new type of player the Galaxy are aiming for. Gone are the days of the egocentric Ibrahimovic, someone who referred to himself in the third person after scoring in his own Galaxy debut, declaring in 2018: "I gave them Zlatan."

Granted, it may not be fair to compare the hunger of a goal scorer and the penchant of wanting to support as a wide midfielder, but Reus seems genuine in his desire to be an equal part of Galaxy's group. Regardless of being in his mid-30s, he doesn't want the lessons to be a one-way street either.

"I'm here to help my teammates to [get] better every, every single day," he added. "But of course, to learn from my team as well, from my coaching staff, and to bring new energy into this team.

During the limited time he's had training with the squad, it's apparent that the veteran has already quickly helped tighten things up.

"In training, we feel more intense and more concentration, which is very good," Galaxy defender Maya Yoshida told the media before Saturday's game. "Sometimes we are too casual, for example, conceding the two set-pieces last week against Seattle, that's the kind of things we need to improve. He [Reus] can lift all the levels up to the next level."

If you read between the lines, there's a recognition that he may also be a rotational figure and not a go-to starter. Whether it be due to his age, his occasional injuries, or the fact that the Galaxy were actually doing quite well before he arrived, Reus might sometimes be a bench option like he was on Saturday. But that's OK.

"At this point in the year, nobody's feeling 100%," Kuntz told ESPN. "It [Reus' arrival] allows us to maybe make some substitutions in games, whether that's Marco coming in or Marco coming off, it lets the group stay kind of maximally fresh as we come down the stretch run, and then gives us a whole bunch of different weapons, the ability to change how we want to set up from game to game or even half to half."

The good news for Galaxy fans who are eager to confine the dark days of the recent past to history is that Reus has already shown he can support the Galaxy through a cameo role if needed. In just a small window of time, the visionary winger created moments out of nothing against Atlanta, completely turning the game on its head. If one is allowed to call a recent UEFA Champions League finalist a "secret weapon," that may be appropriate in this sense.

"It's been a long time, I think, too long since we lifted a trophy here. That is something that we really want to do, and we think Marco can be an ultimate piece for us," Kuntz said. "My conversation with Marco was like: 'Look, essentially you can come here and wake a sleeping giant.'"

Doing so would require some more miracle moments, but Reus will always make sure to highlight the fellow pieces of the puzzle around him. "I'm here to bring the Championship home," he said. "And together, of course. Together with my teammates."