Fan discontent grows as LA Galaxy losing streak hits six games

It appears the LA Galaxy season is reaching — or has reached — its tipping point, at least among supporters.

The Galaxy lost 4-0 to California Clasico rival San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday, at home no less. If fans had been present, it’s the kind of result that would have probably seen the faithful booing their own team off the field. As it was, the silence at Dignity Health Sports Park was less tranquil than looming over a struggling team.

As Corner of the Galaxy pointed out, the losing streak is the longest for the club since 2007 and the joint-second longest in the Galaxy’s history.

Galaxy fans have high standards, in line with the club’s reputation in MLS as a standard-bearer. Sometimes, that means supporters are upset when a game is lost, or if a player is not playing at the standard expected, or the team is not playing the style that is preferred.

But in the aftermath of Wednesday’s rivalry loss, the groundswell of opinion is not good for the Galaxy, and discontent is surging, understandably so.

Most notably, several supporter groups, including Angel City Brigade, the Galaxy Outlawz and the Galaxians, signed off on an open letter released Thursday calling for unspecified change to be made at the club.

It’s worth noting the LA Riot Squad’s account also retweeted the letter, which may be an endorsement of the position.

And while supporter groups don’t necessarily speak for all fans, I think their position is pretty much universal at this point. The salient point that yes, this is a challenging season, no question, with a bizarre schedule and weird transfer windows, but the other teams in MLS have to deal with it too, and all of them (except D.C. United, who recently fired their longtime coach) are dealing with it better than the Galaxy seems pretty fair.

It’s also notable the criticism is not centered on one individual here. Chicharito, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Dennis te Kloese, Chris Klein and Dan Beckerman are all getting slammed, and evidence is mounting that it’s a team effort to struggle this much. If LA had been a juggernaut but were getting a bunch of bad breaks this year and this year alone, then fine, the leadership could have some capital to use in a bumpy period, but they aren’t a powerhouse right now. They haven’t been for over five years at this point.

Patience appears to be running out at this point among the fanbase. Will that lead to any drastic changes for the team or for the club?

The Galaxy still have six more games (plus the postponed game against the Colorado Rapids that may or may not take place at some point) to play this year. Will any changes take place before the end of the season, or will supporters need to bear it for now? The tipping point appears to be here, and the Galaxy organization have some big choices to make in the coming weeks and months.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.