For the last month, the San Jose Earthquakes have made life miserable for the league's presumed playoff contenders. In six matches against postseason aspirants, the Quakes have taken at least a point in five of them. Now, in their final game of the season, they'll be hoping to continue that trend against their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Galaxy.
It's a game the Galaxy will likely need to win in order to claim the top spot in the West. And even if one of their conference foes edges them out for first place, the Galaxy will want to finish as high as they can in order to earn home-field advantage -- slight as it is -- in the first round of the playoffs.
For San Jose manager Frank Yallop, the term "spoiler" is one he abhors, insisting that his side still has something to play for, even if it just means regaining some pride that was lost earlier in the campaign. But that approach has resulted in some newfound road resilience for San Jose. The Quakes are riding a four-game unbeaten streak away from home, including last weekend's 2-2 tie with Chivas USA.
Said Yallop: "What we're trying to do is just build for next season, you know? That's important for us at this point."
L.A. is more concerned about the present. For the first time since 2005, the Galaxy are in the playoffs, as head coach Bruce Arena has quickly assembled a side that is tough to break down yet has some attacking flair.
"What Arena has done a good job of is just building a team that can play and compete week in, week out, no matter who's missing," said Yallop. "That's the big thing everyone is trying to do, but he's has done a good job of that."
With injuries already ending the season for five of his players, Yallop will likely field the same barebones lineup that he did against Chivas. The only change will be Joe Cannon returning in goal at the expense of Andrew Weber, although for Yallop, keeping with a similar starting XI isn't necessarily a bad thing.
"I don't have a ton of choices, do I? But that unit deserves to get another chance to play together," Yallop said. "I thought they did a good job against Chivas ... I'm excited. I think we look better all around than we did a few months ago."
One player riding the wave of momentum the team has established is defender Brandon McDonald, who similar to Bobby Burling last week, will be playing against the team that let him go earlier in the season. McDonald chipped in with his second career MLS goal against Chivas, and is keen to show off his improved play against his former club.
"Obviously it will be cool to go against your old squad where you used to play, and get a victory and show them that they're missing out on a little bit." said McDonald.
That will mean finding a way to stifle the play of former Quakes hero Landon Donovan as well as Beckham. A published report had Beckham hobbling out of Thursday's practice, although Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena insisted the Englishman was fine.
Assuming that both players are available, it will mark the first time this season that both Donovan and Beckham will face San Jose. But the Quakes will also need to keep an eye on capable players like midfielder Eddie Lewis and forward Edson Buddle, who can administer plenty of damage if given enough time and space.
Yet Donovan and Beckham remain the focal points of the Galaxy attack, and after spending last year with L.A., McDonald has seen firsthand how the duo can shred an opposition defense.
"They're just class all the way around, [Donovan] with his speed and [Beckham] with his ability to pass the ball," said McDonald. "It's going to be kind of hard for us, but I think we can bunker down and hold them."
Jeff Carlisle is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
