CARSON, Calif. -- As the LA Galaxy prepared for their fourth MLS Cup title appearance in six years, head coach Bruce Arena didn't want to talk dynasty.
“I don't like to hear it, to be honest with you,” he responded when the “D” word was uttered. “I don't like hearing that. You've got to prove things on the field. If you win something, then you can talk afterward. Talking before doesn't make any sense to me.”
A few days later, Arena and the Galaxy were celebrating their third championship in four years, and if the architect of that success wasn't willing to acknowledge the obvious beforehand, Sunday's 2-1 triumph over New England made a most compelling argument.
“I think in this league, with the [roster and salary-cap] constraints you have, to be able to win three championships in four years is very special,” Arena said after Monday's championship rally in Hermosa Beach. “Whether you label it a dynasty or whatever, it's an accomplishment that may never be achieved again.”
Club president Chris Klein, a former Galaxy midfielder, has no problem using that label.
“You can not talk dynasty all you want,” he said outside the Galaxy locker room Sunday, “but it looks like one to me.”
The Galaxy are 97-48-51 in the regular season during Arena's six full campaigns with the club, with two Supporters' Shields and three Western Conference regular season titles. By winning three MLS Cups in four years, they've matched D.C. United, which established the league's first dynasty during MLS's first four seasons.
It's a different landscape than when United, with Arena in charge the first two seasons before taking command of the US national team, won titles in 1996, 1997 and 1999 and lost to Chicago in the 1998 MLS Cup.
“Our league is, in theory, much better and much more competitive [than it was in the 1990s],” Arena said. “So I think to do that in the modern era says something about that achievement in itself. It's an unbelievable accomplishment for our team.”
Landon Donovan noted in his postgame news conference Sunday that parity has made it difficult to create dynasties in MLS. Aside from D.C. and the Galaxy, only the San Jose Earthquakes/Houston Dynamo, who won three championships from 2003 through 2007, really fit the definition.
“The league does everything in its power to ensure parity, so when you have a team that wins three titles in four years, it's pretty special,” Donovan said. “And so when you put it in that context, it's not like we're Manchester United or Chelsea, who won three out of four years. We're not the [New York] Yankees, who won three out of four years. We're not the [Boston] Celtics or the [Los Angeles] Lakers, who won three out of four. We're a team that has the same rules that everyone else has.
“And that’s a huge credit to Phil [Anschutz, the owner], to [Anschutz Entertainment Group CEO] Dan Beckerman, to Chris Klein and to Bruce Arena for being able to do that. So when you put it in that real context I think it’s a lot more special than just winning three out of four.”
Some believe this Galaxy team, given their dominance in so many games this season, their plus-32 goal difference – second-best in MLS history, to LA's plus-41 in 1998 – and the beauty of their heavy-interchange possession game, might be the best ever to step onto an MLS field.
“Pound for pound, for me, it would be hard to argue it isn't,” said Dave Sarachan, who was an assistant coach with D.C. United in the late '90s. “As far as the quality of the team and the type of soccer this team played, and the level of every position, the star power -- when you add all those ingredients up, it would be in the discussion [as] one of the best, if not the best.
“I don't know how you use the measurement [to compare teams], because all the championship teams had certain quality players. But the way I would say it is the soccer that was played and the entertainment value and the quality of play and what your eye saw, I thought this year was up there.”
However, Arena won't enter that dialogue.
“I don't think I can give an answer to that question [on the best team in MLS history], to be honest with you,” he said. “This is a good team. I don't know how much more I can really expand on it, because I don't think that's ever fair to compare one team to another. Winning a championship is a special achievement for a team, and I wouldn't want to take away from any teams in the past.”
