CARSON, Calif. – Reports from Seattle have Osvaldo Alonso recuperating from the hamstring injury he suffered nearly two weeks ago, but his availability for Sunday's first leg of the Western Conference Championship series of the MLS Cup Playoffs, presented by AT&T (5 pm ET; ESPN, get tickets here), remains in doubt.
That would seemingly be a huge plus for the LA Galaxy, as important as Alonso is to the Sounders. Landon Donovan begs to differ.
“Ozzie makes them a very good team,” Donovan said following the Galaxy's training session Thursday at StubHub Center, where Sunday afternoon's showdown will be played. “He is unquestionably their engine, and he's really their leader. When you take him off the field, they're affected pretty severely, we know that.”
Which team will the series?
Alonso's absence would make it simpler for central midfielders Marcelo Sarvas and Juninho, so pivotal to the Galaxy's possession game and league-best defense, to dictate the game's terms, feed the league's No. 1 attack on the wings and up front and deny the Sounders the ability to create space for Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins to exploit.
LA blasted the Sounders, 3-0, in their home leg at this stage two years ago, then absorbed a couple of goals in Seattle before pulling out a 4-2 aggregate win en route to their second successive MLS Cup title. They'd like to do something like that again this year, and Alonso's absence wouldn't hurt.
That's not what the Galaxy want.
“We hope he plays,” Donovan said. “We know he hasn't trained all week, so it's looking less and less likely that he will play, but we're going to prepare as if he's playing, and we want him to play.
“If we're going to win, we want to beat the best team.”
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The Galaxy are capable of playing their first-choice lineup – Dan Gargan is fully fit at right back – but might not have center back Leonardo, who exited the 5-0 rout of Real Salt Lake two weeks ago in the conference semifinal second leg after going down with a hamstring injury in the 35th minute.
Leonardo hasn't trained fully since, and if Arena decides to play A.J. DeLaGarza at right back rather than next to Omar Gonzalez, Tommy Meyer is the best bet to step in for Leonardo.
Veteran left back Todd Dunivant might be available for the first time since tearing a groin muscle in early September, but James Riley is dealing with nagging hamstring and calf injuries, fallout from the meniscus tear that sidelined him from March until September, he said.
