The five trophies are hard to miss, by placement and sheer number.

Walking into the StubHub Center through the players’ entrance, past the tunnel that leads on to the field, they’re off to your left. The two comet-like statuettes commemorate titles from Major League Soccer’s early years, and the three cups that complete the quintet speak to the LA Galaxy’s staying power.

If such a fleeting thing as success can come to define a club’s ethos, the trophy case represents what the Galaxy have been, and what they have strived for in every season since.

Where it gets more complicated is further down the hallway, where the nameplates in the home locker room have been in heavy rotation for the past 24 months or so.

It’s not as though Los Angeles is that far removed from the glory years. The Galaxy won a record fifth MLS Cup title in 2014, when they sent Landon Donovan into his first retirement on a high and solidified coach Bruce Arena’s reign as one of the most successful spells in league history. They have qualified for the playoffs in every season dating back to 2008.

The question now – more so than perhaps since the moment David Beckham signed in 2007 – is where the club goes from here.

Donovan, despite a brief return last autumn, is gone now, he says for good. Arena has left, too, to take over the US national team in the wake of Jürgen Klinsmann’s dismissal. Robbie Keane, perhaps the most successful import in league history, saw his contact expire at the end of last season, and Steven Gerrard parted ways after a mostly unhappy year-and-a-half spell.

To those still around, the expectation hasn’t changed, even if the highest-profile names have. The focus is now on building from within, leaning on a loaded local talent base and academy system that has long been renowned as one of MLS’s best. The Galaxy were the first team in the league to debut their own in-house minor-league squad, and the philosophy of building from within has spread to the whole organization.

Curt Onalfo, Arena’s longtime deputy, is now in charge, and he’s not about to lower the bar. “We’re going to continue to be who we are, and that’s a team that’s successful and wins games and positions itself, hopefully, by the end of the year, to be a championship team,” he told the Guardian this week.

“The only difference is that in the past we’ve often utilized players in their mid-30s to come off the bench. That’s different now. We’re using players who are younger in those roles. That’s really the only difference. You’ll continue to see a team who is hungry and plays good soccer.”

It’s not as though Onalfo is picking from a bare cupboard.

Mexico international Giovani Dos Santos may not be posting the raw numbers to back up the fanfare that greeted his arrival from La Liga’s Villarreal in 2015, but on his day, the 27-year-old is as gifted as just about any player in Concacaf. Belgian center-back Jelle van Damme was a finalist for the league’s defender of the year in his first season after joining from Standard Liège.

Perhaps no player encapsulates LA’s shifting emphasis like Romain Alessandrini, a 27-year-old French winger who signed from Marseille in January in a designated player slot that had previously been the realm of more celebrated (and older) European stars.

Onalfo, for his part, bristles at the idea that the Galaxy is drastically breaking from the formula that brought it such past success. “Focus on Alessandrini. Focus on Dos Santos. Focus on Van Damme. Focus on [Ashley] Cole,” Onalfo said. “We have stars. [The media] want to spend all your time harping about the depth of our team.

“It’s a smart way – because in the end, guys that have been developed in our system, they don’t cost as much at the beginning. It’s what every club in the world does. That’s your guys’ job, to focus on that kind of stuff. All I’m focused on is getting better each day.”

A rash of early-season injuries have complicated that task. Gyasi Zardes, who for a time was viewed as a budding US national team regular, broke his foot last August and has recently been sidelined with a knee injury. Dos Santos suffered a right leg injury in an early-season match against Portland, and Cole has been dealing with a lingering calf issue.

A further blow came during this international break, when midfielder Sebastian Lletget suffered a foot injury shortly after scoring for USA against Honduras, which will cause him to miss between four and six months.

Taken together, the absences help excuse Los Angeles’ consecutive home losses to open the new campaign, and give more legitimacy to the 2-1 victory at Real Salt Lake that preceded the bye weekend. “I think we’ve played very well,” Onalfo said. “We’ve gone into two of the three games, at least in theory, without five starters. So that means we’ve utilized the depth our team.”

While player turnover has been significant, the coaching change hasn’t been as revolutionary as one might think. Onalfo has known Arena since he was 17 years old, when the veteran coach recruited him to play for the University of Virginia. Onalfo was as an assistant during Arena’s first USA reign from 2002-2006, and he has worked under him while with the Galaxy since 2011.

“Bruce has his own way,” Onalfo said. “He’s great at getting the most out of people. I’ve learned a ton from him. I’ve learned that aspect. There are countless things that I’d say he helps me with. He’s the most influential person in my coaching career, for sure.”

At least one coach on his staff knows well the value of fresh blood and perspectives. Ante Razov was a Sounders assistant last season, when Seattle fired longtime boss Sigi Schmid in July before closing the season on an 8-2-4 clip and winning their first MLS Cup under new coach Brian Schmetzer.

“I think people see the Galaxy as being down a bit,” Razov said. “I think it’s quite the opposite. I think bringing refreshing things and change is not too dissimilar to Seattle. I think the resources that the club has here and the people in place, all of that is going to work really, really well for us.”

To players with the tendency to look on the bright side, the new regime offers a blank slate. Rafael Garcia has been with the Galaxy since 2012, which might not sound like much, but in this locker room makes the 28-year-old midfielder an elder statesman.

Famous names have come and gone, potential challengers risen and fallen, but when the postseason rolls around, the Galaxy have remained. “The Galaxy is known for winning Cups,” Garcia said. “There’s a reason why we have the most in the league. Nothing changes. The personnel might change, but the mentality and the desire to be successful remains the same.”