A trio of squad portraits—the last three Galaxy teams to win MLS Cup—hang on the wall behind Chris Klein’s desk at the StubHub Center, daily reminders of a not-so-distant era when the Galaxy had the best team in the league. But it’s been four years since the Galaxy won the last of its championships, the club is struggling retain its identity, and two alien forces—Zlatan Ibrahimovic and an unfamiliar air of uncertainty—have descended on Carson.



The Galaxy is no longer the league’s lone power. Teams like Atlanta United, NYCFC, Toronto FC, and the Galaxy’s new crosstown rival, LAFC, have redefined how to build a premier team in MLS, and the Galaxy are suddenly in a struggle to catch up to that new reality.



Klein, however, seemed relaxed when talking about the Galaxy’s place in this new MLS .



“Are we chasing or are we being chased?” the Galaxy president said earlier this summer, as he reflected on...