Doug McIntyre’s weekly MLS column, 24 Thoughts, parses through the latest insights and inside info from around American soccer.

LOS ANGELES – This installment of 24 Thoughts comes to you from sunny Southern California, where two of the league’s most important teams, the five-time champion LA Galaxy and Supporters Shield race-leading LAFC, have a combined for 9-1-1 record out of the gates in 2019.

LAFC’s blistering start has been historic. With 19 goals through its first six games – including last week’s 4-0 drubbing of then-East leading D.C. United, Bob Bradley’s team is the most prolific of any MLS team through its first six matches per the Elias Sports Bureau.

Across town, the Galaxy have won four of five under new boss Guillermo Barros Schelotto, putting a squad that missed the playoffs the last two seasons back among the league’s elite.

24 Thoughts

1. Before getting too deep into this week’s column, we need to mention Sporting Kansas City’s embarrassing 10-2 (!) aggregate loss to Liga MX power Monterrey in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Champions League. I don’t want to be too reactionary here, but if that scoreline doesn’t result have alarm bells ringing at MLS headquarters in Manhattan, I’m not sure what will.

2. I was in LA to cover the U.S. women’s World Cup team’s tune-up against Belgium and the CONCACAF Gold Cup schedule unveiling, both of which took place at LAFC’s sparkling Banc of California Stadium. I also made sure to pay a visit to the city’s two MLS clubs. Let’s start with the Galaxy and – who else? – Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

3. Zlatan was a smash-hit during his debut campaign in 2018. His 24 goals accounted for more than a third of the Galaxy’s output. This season, the 37-year-old has already scored four times in three appearances. “I feel confident and I feel good,” Ibrahimovic told me after Wednesday’s training session in Carson. “Second year I know more about the league, how it works, the travel. It’s easier now because I know what to expect.”

4. In a rare start on artificial turf, Ibra had a goal and an assist in Vancouver last week. Seeing him on the field at all was a surprise after the big Swede missed two games with a sore Achilles tendon last month. But Ibrahimovic swears that he feels better physically than when he was coming off reconstructive knee surgery a year ago.

“The first season was more like ‘how will my knee go, what is the status, how’s my condition’,” he said. “This season feels like a normal season. I went in without an injury.” How’s his Achilles? “It’s OK. It feels good,” he said. “I worked really hard, I tried to stay in shape. But to be 100-percent is not possible because above [age] 30, your pain just moves, it doesn’t disappear. So I have to deal with that, but is OK. I’m not one that gives up easy.”

View photos Former MLS MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto is in his first season as the Galaxy's head coach. (Frederic J. Brown/Getty) More

5. Schelotto is no stranger to managing big personalities, having previously led Boca Juniors in his native Argentina. Ibrahimovic has clashed with his coaches in the past, most notably then-Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola. How has Schelotto found working with Zlatan? “The same personality he has in the game, he has in training,” Schelotto told Yahoo Sports. “Sometimes in training he complains, he gets angry. But we know him. He’s very competitive, very demanding. I think he’s helping the players in training to grow and to be more competitive. I’m surprised the level he has. It’s wonderful. It’s the same level as [Lionel] Messi, [Cristiano] Ronaldo. He’s 37, he’s older. But I think his level is very high.”

6. It’s no secret that foreign coaches have often struggled to adapt to MLS’s unique peculiarities. Guys like Tata Martino and Patrick Vieira have begun to change that narrative in recent years, in part because they did their homework before signing on. Schelotto has the benefit of having actually played in the league: in 2008 he led the Columbus Crew to its only MLS Cup, taking home league and postseason MVP honors along the way. “I know the league, I know the teams, the rules, everything,” Schelotto said.

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