On Monday morning the Los Angeles Galaxy were looking at two away fixtures against two teams sitting in playoff positions in the Western Conference. The prospect of coming away with zero points from the two contests wasn't too far-fetched considering their early season form, and that certainly would have put the Green-and-Gold's unblemished mark of making the postseason in every single MLS season in extreme jeopardy.
The Galaxy have avoided that fate, and with three points on offer Saturday against Colorado, the playoff race out west is suddenly heating up in the first days after the All-Star break. What's even more impressive about the Galaxy's recent success is that they aren't even playing their best soccer, yet have still managed to climb back into the playoff race.
"Actually, the last few games we haven't played particularly well in Columbus and Houston, but we got two pretty good results," said Galaxy head coach Frank Yallop. "That is a good sign. (Saturday's) game is a tough one and I expect us to come out fighting and scraping like we have in recent games. If we can get our football going then we should play well."
The one area of the field that Los Angeles has fared well in is the defense. The Galaxy have allowed just six goals since Yallop took over and have posted six clean sheets in the same span. It's the offensive side of the ball where L.A. is struggling a bit. According to Pete Vagenas, that's all just part of adjusting to the new system that Yallop employed upon his arrival.
"We need to continue to stick to the basics; the foundation of all good teams are their defenses," said Vagenas. "It is something that we have to start with and we have proven that we can hold teams to not too many chances.
"But again, it is still everyone getting used to Frank's new style. We have different players, a lot of young guys in, so it takes a bit of familiarity to get the offense rolling."
One new player who wasted no time getting things started offensively was Santino Quaranta. Just 11 minutes into his Galaxy debut, the 22-year-old forward acquired earlier in the week scored the game-winner for his new team. But that was one of the few chances the Galaxy generated the entire game in Houston.
"Some games you have lots of possession, but are not dangerous when you go forward," said Yallop about his team's apparent lack of punch Wednesday night. "Some games, you don't seem to possess the ball very well but you seem quite dangerous going to goal."
Colorado was punchless as well on Wednesday night, beaten 4-1 for the second consecutive game, this time by Real Salt Lake. The Galaxy don't expect the same listless team to show up on Saturday though.
"In MLS any team can beat any team, so we know that we have got to be on top of our game," said Yallop. "I expect Colorado to come out fighting after losing two games in a row. I expect them to come out hard early in the game. I expect us to play better than we did."
The Galaxy are 4-2-4 under Yallop, and have quietly moved within striking distance of the playoffs. Every Western Conference match is really a six-point affair for the remainder of the season.
A victory pulls L.A. just two points behind Colorado, who currently sit in third place. A loss leaves them eight points back with 10 games to go. The playoffs might not officially start for another two months, but in Los Angeles, the Galaxy are already fighting for their playoff lives.
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
