The Kansas City Wizards come to The Home Depot Center this weekend tied for third place in the Eastern Conference, but winless in their last five contests. The Los Angeles Galaxy are hoping to continue that trend on Saturday while trying to start a winning streak of their own.
The Galaxy won for just the third time this season on Wednesday against the Chicago Fire, and are hoping to turn around and repeat the trick in the final game of a four-game homestand. Following the win against Chicago the team was sounding like a squad reborn, but knows that a loss will be devastating to team morale.
"If we lose to Kansas City we're back in the same situation we were in last week," said Ante Jazic. "(The win against Chicago) is nice, but it's just the first half. The second half is to play against Kansas City."
The Galaxy are also trying to reestablish the homefield dominance they enjoyed for years at The Home Depot Center. They have lost three times already at home this season and will be looking to reverse that trend with a second consecutive home win.
"We want to be a team that is very, very difficult and when you come into The Home Depot Center you know it's going to be impossible to get three points and nearly impossible to get one," said Kyle Martino, whose play propelled the Galaxy to Wednesday's victory. "We congratulated each other (after the Chicago game), but we didn't want to make it too joyous because we have a job to do on Saturday."
The mentality of the team has certainly changed. A heavy air of tension has seemed to be lifted from the Galaxy camp, and with the anticipation of David Beckham's arrival nearing an end the team can focus on one thing; the game.
"Now we can look forward to the game on Saturday and not dread it," said head coach Frank Yallop. "If we ended up losing or drawing you're not looking forward to the game. We're really looking forward to the game on Saturday where hopefully we can come out with the same attitude and spirit as Wednesday."
Carlos Pavon will have another week of training to acclimate himself to his new teammates and should have a greater impact on Saturday's game. The back line seems to be more steady with the return of Ante Jazic from national team duty and the addition of veteran Chris Klein to the defense.
On the other side of the ball, Kansas City will most likely be without leading scorer Eddie Johnson for yet another game, as the U.S. international just wrapped up Copa America play on Thursday and will be traveling home from Venezuela.
All but one piece of the puzzle seems to be in place for the Galaxy who are trying to make up some ground in the standings. Standing in their way is a team that will be trying to stop the bleeding it has been suffering through. Something will have to give on Saturday, and for Los Angeles, they are hoping it will be the turning point of their season.
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
