Giovani dos Santos says the LA Galaxy "have paid the price" after losing some top players in the offseason, but remains confident they can overcome a slow start.
The Galaxy have lost five of their seven games to open the MLS season, including a 3-0 home defeat to the Seattle Sounders on Sunday.
The struggles come after the Galaxy parted ways with longtime striker Robbie Keane, midfielders Steven Gerrard and Mike Magee, defender A. J. DeLaGarza and coach Bruce Arena.
But Dos Santos, in his third season in Los Angeles, said in an interview with ESPN Mexico that he expects the team to recover quickly.
"I have felt really good this season even though things haven't turned out the way we thought," he said. "But physically I am doing well and I think that soon everything will start falling into place.
"The league has improved a lot, it is more competitive and this season we have paid the price for the changes we have made. We lost a lot of important players."
Dos Santos decided to move to the U.S. in 2015 after securing a transfer from Villarreal. He will make $5.5 million this season, the sixth-most in the league, and he said he has no plans to leave.
"I think I will be at the Galaxy for a long time. I am happy here," he said. "This is my home, people treat me so well here and I feel protected by my teammates, the coaching staff, the fans. I hope to be here for many years."
Dos Santos is one of a very few Mexico internationals currently playing in MLS, but he encouraged others to join him, including his brother Jonathan dos Santos, still at Villarreal, and striker Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez of Bayer Leverkusen.
"I am trying to convince Jonathan to come join me," he said. "Chicharito is a great player, he would add a lot to MLS. If he played for an opposing side it would be an emotional duel. I hope one day that a player of his caliber could be here."
Dos Santos missed Mexico's most recent World Cup qualifiers with a hamstring injury, but he is likely to be called upon this summer, when El Tri compete in both the FIFA Confederations Cup and the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
But those events both come after a crucial World Cup qualifier on June 11 against the U.S. -- now managed by his former Galaxy boss Arena.
"The United States is the big rival in the zone and it should be a great match," Dos Santos said. "Bruce knows the philosophy of the American players very well, he is a winning coach and he has the experience to win games that matter. He has helped the United States team make a shift.
"El Tri has a great responsibility on their shoulders. Each match is key, we must win all of them. With this generation of players we have the potential to reach goals that have never been reached. We are hopeful that Confederations Cup can be an important moment for the national team."