CARSON — The 2016 Galaxy team was one built on depth, but by the second half of the season and the late stages of the playoffs, the team was stretched to the limit.

It all added up to a Western Conference semifinals exit via penalty kicks in Colorado.

Now comes an off-season where the Galaxy will likely be faced with some tough decisions.

“In sports, there’s only team standing at the end, and to think that it is always going to be us is a way too early death,” Galaxy coach and general manager Bruce Arena said. “You have to appreciate the fact that sometimes you fall short.”

The Galaxy took a 1-0 lead into the second leg of their series with Colorado. The Rapids scored the equalizer in the first half and the Galaxy never mounted much of a challenge from there.

“We had a chance to get another goal here at home, which would have made a big difference,” Arena said. “Battling the way we did, a lot of you didn’t know, but we had a bunch of players on the field playing injured. Robbie Keane went in and was injured 10 minutes into the game, (Baggio) Husidic played with an injured calf, Jelle (Van Damme) with his knee (injured late in game), (Landon) Donovan and we were really hanging on for our lives and to get another 30 minutes and penalties was tough.

“We came up short.”

Now the Galaxy is faced with the task of retooling the roster.

First is Arena’s status. His contract is reportedly up after signing an extension following the 2014 season. He said Wednesday he “expects to be here next year.”

The status of two of the Galaxy’s Designated Players will be the first big decision. Robbie Keane and Steven Gerrard, both 36, are both reportedly at the end of their contracts. Keane, who is scheduled to address his future in the coming weeks, is probably the best Designated Player the league has seen, with 83 goals since arriving in 2011.

Gerrard struggled through injuries this season.

“I haven’t spoken to those players and I think we need to let them have time to think about what they want to do with their future,” Arena said. “I’m sure both will at the proper time discuss their future.”

Arena did point to the success of the back line that included Van Damme, Ashley Cole, Daniel Steres and Robbie Rogers, along with goalkeeper Brian Rowe.

Change is almost certain for the Galaxy with the 2017 Expansion Draft taking place Dec. 13. Each existing club must protect 11 players.

Another interesting decision coming for the Galaxy is the status of Landon Donovan. The star came out of retirement in September and, after a cautious start, ended up starting the final four games.

Arena said he was hopeful Gerrard and Keane would return and he added it is “50-50” on whether Donovan returns.

Donovan said Wednesday he wasn’t ready to make a decision on his future.

“I came back with a little bit of a different perspective,” Donovan said. “Where you can appreciate and enjoy the process more. I’m proud of the work that went in from the whole team and it was enjoyable to me.”

The Galaxy season was heavily influenced by injuries as Gerrard, Keane and forward Gyasi Zardes missed several weeks. There was also the mid-season exit of Nigel De Jong to Turkey that interrupted the chemistry on the field.

“Those are tough,” Arena said of the absences. “Gerrard misses half a year, Keane, Zardes … (Sebastian) Lletget has to get moved (to a new position). We started losing our attacking options throughout the year. It was a mess.

“There were some encouraging things, but you can’t lose your top players as many games as we lost and expect to be consistent on the field and produce the kind of points that we want to produce. We finished sixth in points (52) in the league. Having done all that with so many inconsistencies to our team during the year, it is not the worst.”

Still, Arena knows where the improvements can be made and sounded confident it will be done.

“There are things we know we have to better at,” he said. “We’ll handle it. There’s going to be changes. We can get better.”