Had you told the Galaxy in the first half of the season that they would face the Sounders in the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs they would have been nothing short of giddy. After all, Los Angeles was running away from the rest of the league without a loss in their first 12 matches and when they finally did lose it could be easily attributed to Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle's absence while they played for the United States in the World Cup. Meanwhile, Seattle was struggling to get results with an unhappy Freddy Ljungberg causing problems in the dressing room while the team could not find a decent run of form.
Major League Soccer Playoffs: Can Galaxy Run With Speedy Sounders?
Things have surely changed for both clubs.
A couple more losses without Donovan and Buddle were excusable, but when the pair returned to the club, things didn't get better for the Galaxy. They couldn't find any sort of consistency and most worrisome, their once staunch defense was leaking goals left and right. Gregg Berhalter suffered through several different injuries and while Omar Gonzalez continued to play well, he lacked a consistent partner and the entire back line lacked Berhalter's leadership. A 4-1 home loss to Puerto Rico with their first-choice lineup was the low point for the Galaxy and while they showed some improvement in the season's final month, three of their last four wins came against non-playoff teams.
Just as the Galaxy were dipping, Seattle started to fly. Ljungberg was shipped to Chicago, Fredy Montero went on a blazing hot streak to finish with 10 goals and 10 assists and Blaise Nkufo joined the club on a transfer following the World Cup to give the Colombian a bruising partner to run off. With Montero and Nkufo finding their form up top, the wings opened up and Steve Zakuani was only too happy to take advantage, blazing by would-be defenders in the season's final months to finish with 10 goals and six assists for 2010.
Add in the late emergence of Sanna Nyassi and Seattle has themselves an attack that almost feels like they have four forwards at times, but Montero, Nkufo, Zakuani and Nyassi are only able to go forward with reckless abandon like they do because of the work being done behind them, most notably by Osvaldo Alonso and Nathan Sturgis. Alsonso remains one of MLS's best signings, coming to Seattle from USL's Charleston Battery in 2009 and establishing himself as a rangey defensive midfielder with the ability to link from deep. At the same time, Sturgis has stepped forward this season to play like many expected him to back when he was an underage player on the U-21 U.S. National team. The duo make it extremely difficult to break the Sounders down in the center because of the ground they cover and their effectiveness in the tackle playing next to each other deep in Seattle's 4-4-2 that often looks like a 4-2-2-2.
On the flip side is Los Angeles who remains a question mark. The 11 that Seattle goes with on Sunday is pretty much set in stone, but the Galaxy have been moving guys around for the better part of two months and have still yet to figure out how to best play since the return of David Beckham from an Achilles' tendon tear. Beckham has played both centrally and on the right, but with Beckham and Juninho teaming up in the center, Los Angeles lacks the necessary bite defensively. With him on the right,his constant roaming and pinching centrally to see more of the ball unbalances the team and limits Sean Franklin's ability to overlap on runs, one of his best abilities
On the other side of the field, LA head coach Bruce Arena has used both Donovan and Michael Stephens at left midfield and while Stephens gives the Galaxy some much needed pace in the midfield, the rookie's sensational early season play has been more hit or miss in the latter half of the season. Playing Donovan in the midfield also means using Mike Magee, Jovan Kirovski or the 19-year-old Tristan Bowen as Buddle's strike partner, none of whom would start for any other MLS playoff team.
Los Angeles is a team full of question marks, but the fact is that few teams can match the quality of Donovan, Buddle and Beckham in the attack with the different abilities they bring, all of which compliment each other very well. They also have a towering force in the defense in Gonzalez and an ever-improving Franklin, but beyond those five, Los Angeles is painfully thin. Juninho is dependable and Todd Dunivant is a solid left back, but there isn't another stand out and far too many guys who run hot and cold. Toss in Donovan Ricketts, who has found himself mistake prone in the second half of 2010 but is still capable of pulling out some tremendous saves, and it's hard to predict what you will get from Los Angeles.
At their best, Los Angeles is as good as MLS has to offer, but it has been awhile since anyone has seen their best. Meanwhile, Seattle has been churning out strong performance after strong performance for nearly three months now. As unthinkable as it may have seemed in June, Seattle is the proven commodity and Los Angeles is the question mark. The Galaxy have moments of brilliance at their disposal with their star power, but is that enough to overcome where their weakness and Seattle’s strength, foot speed, converge?
Probable Lineups
Los Angeles Galaxy (4-4-2): GK- Donovan Ricketts DF- Todd Dunivant, Omar Gonzalez, AJ DeLaGarza, Sean Franklin MF- Michael Stephens, Juninho, Dema Kovalenko, David Beckham FW- Landon Donovan, Edson Buddle
Seattle Sounders (4-4-2): GK- Kasey Keller DF- Leonardo Gonzalez, Patrick Ianni, Jeff Parke, James Riley MD- Steve Zakuani, Osvaldo Alonso, Nathan Sturgis, Sanna Nyassi FW- Fredy Montero, Blaise Nkufo
Key Matchups
- Franklin vs. Zakuani- As the Sounders have turned it up so has Zakuani who now finds himself a candidate for a MLS Best XI selection thanks to a sizzling finish to the 2010 season. The speedy winger has tormented right backs with his pace, but Franklin is one of the few right backs in the league who can run with Zakuani. If Franklin can get forward enough to make Zakuani defend and keep Zakuani from hurting the Galaxy with his long runs it will go a long way to stifling the Seattle attack.
- Juninho vs. Alonso-Sturgis- Donovan may hold the key to the Galaxy attack, as his 15 assists prove, but it is Juninho who does a lot of the work in the LA midfield. Besides being surprisingly strong in the tackle, his ability to link is what gives the Galaxy any attack to begin with. Alonso and Sturgis lie deep and make it difficult to break Seattle down in the center, but LA needs Juninho to give them a central presence on the ball because if they are shut down in the center, they have little attack thanks to a lack of pace out wide.
- Gonzalez-DeLaGarza vs. Montero-Nkufo- With Gregg Berhalter looking like he will miss the playoff opener due to injury, the Galaxy actually have a duo that better matches up with the Sounders’ strike pair. The back line would be better with their leader, Berhalter, but DeLaGarza is will suited to run with Montero as he drops deeper and moves all around the front, while Gonzalez can use his strength against the burly Nkufo. Montero and Nkufo have been deadly since the Swiss international has adjusted to his new league and while talented, the LA central defense pairing is young and will be hurt by the smallest of mistakes.
History you should know
The Home Depot Center has hardly been a fortress for the Galaxy and Los Angeles has actually been a better team away from home. Los Angeles picked up nine wins, three losses and three draws away from the Home Depot Center and allowed just seven goals on the road compared to 19 at home. Conventional wisdom says LA should play for the draw when they go up to Seattle and try to grab the series with a home win in the second leg, but is that such a good idea for a team that has allowed more than twice as many goals at home?
Head to Head
Los Angeles won both of the regular season match-ups between the Galaxy and Sounders, beating Seattle 4-0 at Qwest Field and 3-1 at the Home Depot Center with both of those coming in the first half of the season.
The Galaxy Will Advance If: A defense that has faltered late in the season shows some cohesion and they can establish some control of the center of the midfield.
The Sounders Will Advance If: Alonso and Sturgis put a halt in the Galaxy attack and make Los Angeles resort to long balls to Buddle alone up top.
Pick: Expect a close series, but the Sounders’ superior speed, especially in the midfield, get them through, 3-2, on aggregate.
Match Card: Sounders-Galaxy Playoffs Game 1
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