All season long, the backbone of the Los Angeles Galaxy has been their defense. And if L.A. is to claim its third MLS Cup in team history, their backline is going to have to once again put the breaks on a high-octane offense, in this case that of Real Salt Lake.
RSL possess as varied an attack as any in MLS. It's a team with searing pace in the form of Robbie Findley and Yura Movsisyan, while the midfield contains a near-perfect blend of physicality and creativity.
"Watching their games over the last couple of weeks in the playoffs, and watching their last game a little bit more closely against Chicago, I think they've been putting in some of their best performances of the year now," said Galaxy defender Gregg Berhalter during a conference call with reporters. "That's going to be one of our major concerns, that they're in great form."
The same can be said for the Galaxy defense, although the playoffs didn't necessarily start out that way. L.A.'s backline looked downright rickety during their first leg 2-2 draw with Chivas USA in the first round. The team struggled to stop the Red-and-White in transition, and committed some basic errors that led to goals.
But for Berhalter, the problems had less to do with physical mistakes and more with getting their collective heads straightened out.
Berhalter said, "Part of the first playoff game was kind of settling guys down, and letting guys realize, 'Listen, this is just another soccer game, one of many you'll play in your career. It's not the end of the world. We should enjoy it, have fun, and play like we've played all year.'
"There was no reason to play any differently. Once we got that through our head, once we all took a deep breath, we started playing the soccer that we can play."
Indeed. L.A. followed up the first leg with a gritty 1-0 victory that was similar to many of their other wins this season. That effort was followed up by an equally tense 2-0 overtime triumph against Houston in the Western Conference final that put the Galaxy in position to celebrate their first MLS Cup in four years.
In those last two games, the team blunted the influence of some speedy forwards in Chivas USA's Maykel Galindo and Houston's Dominic Oduro. These types of players had caused the Galaxy problems in the past. But Oduro in particular was completely shackled, whether it was dispossessing him with his back to goal, or goading him into a series of offside calls.
The challenge posed by Movsisyan and Findley should be tougher, however. Findley's well-timed runs off the ball should be especially difficult to stifle.
"They're probably some of the best forwards in the league," said Berhalter of Real's frontline tandem. "They've proven that all year. We're going to have to work hard as a group with a lot of communication, a lot of movement, and we're going to have to put a good effort in."
Of course the defensive responsibility won't just be up to Berhalter and his fellow defenders. Stopping the RSL midfield will pose its own set of unique challenges, with Kyle Beckerman and Javier Morales guaranteed to receive some special attention from the Galaxy defense.
But Berhalter added that coming out on top this Sunday will not only require big hearts, but cool heads, just like in the last two games.
"The key to it is just relaxing, and treating it just like another game."
Jeff Carlisle is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
