CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy have played nearly lights-out defense since the start of the MLS Cup Playoffs, presented by AT&T.
It has the club on the verge of another MLS Cup title game appearance, if they can again clamp down on Clint Dempsey, Obafemi Martins and the Seattle Sounders’ dynamic attack in Sunday's second leg of the Western Conference Championship (9:20 pm ET, ESPN, ESPN Deportes in US; TSN.ca, TSN GO, RDS2, mlssoccer.com in Canada; get tickets here) after their 1-0 win over the weekend in the first leg.
The Galaxy have posted three straight shutouts, against two of the finest attacking sides in MLS, and they've done so while rotating center backs – with A.J. DeLaGarza, Leonardo and Tommy Meyer getting starts next to Omar Gonzalez – and alternating DeLaGarza and Dan Gargan at right back. It doesn't matter, they say, who's playing or where they're stationed.
“We have a group of guys that understand how to advance in a two-game competition,” associate head coach Dave Sarachan said following LA's training session Tuesday at StubHub Center. “You have to defend, and that's a collective effort. Clearly, we've been pleased with the depth that we've shown, and we need a goalkeeper to come up big when the moments come, but it is a collective effort.
“It starts with our forward and how they start their line of pressure, it then follows up with our midfielders' shape, and then, of course, our backline. And when the moment come where it takes an individual effort, we've have the concentration that's needed this time of year.”
Defending has been a Galaxy forté during head coach Bruce Arena's tenure. They shared the league lead with D.C. United for fewest goals allowed during the regular season, just 37. And that despite conceding twice late in each of the back-to-back showdowns against Seattle to close the campaign, with both Sounders goals in the final match coming as LA pushed forward in a failed effort to snare the Supporters' Shield.
Those four goals led to sharper focus heading into the playoffs, and the Galaxy posted back-to-back shutouts in the conference semifinals against Real Salt Lake – they relied heavily on goalkeeper Jaime Penedo in the first leg – before limiting Seattle to just three shots on frame Sunday at StubHub.
“[Seattle's goals] certainly reminded us of things that could be done better and to tighten parts of our game, and we've done that,” Gargan said. “I think we can still be a little bit better in certain areas, and we'll address that as we prepare for Sunday.”
Penedo made three huge saves over the weekend, including back-to-back point-blank stops on Dempsey and Martins. The Galaxy otherwise limited the Sounders' stars' effectiveness.
“We were more organized with them,” said Meyer, who Sunday made his first start since mid-September after stepping in when Leonardo suffered a hamstring strain in the 5-0 romp over RSL two weeks earlier. “We knew what they were doing. They were going to counter through Clint and Martins, so we made sure they were dealt with by our back four.”
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The Galaxy say they expect this kind of defensive effort every game, but especially now.
“It's the playoffs,” Gonzalez said. “We know how important away goals are, we know how important not giving up goals is. So it's very important that we defend well as a team.
“We've seen attacking players bust their butts to get back and make plays for us, just to help out the defense. When you have guys making plays like that, it helps everyone out. We've all been on the same page, we've all been playing really well, and we're just taking it one game at a time. We know that we haven't let up a goal, and we just want to go up to Seattle and do the same thing.”
