October 31, 2009 FALL CLASICO Chivas-Galaxy might be best matchup of the MLS postseason
LASoccerNews staff report
Former University of Maryland teammates AJ DeLaGarza (right) and Omar Gonzalez will anchor the Galaxy defense against Chivas USA. Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images
“Is This The Year?”
That’s the question both the LA Galaxy and Chivas USA are asking themselves on the eve of the 2009 MLS Cup playoffs, where the two stadium-mates will meet in a two-game, total-goals semifinal SuperClasico beginning Sunday (2:00 p.m.) at the Home Depot Center. Chivas will host the opening match, with the Galaxy on the home bench for the November 8 (4:30 p.m.) finale.
Both teams have big postseason monkeys to shake off their backs, and appear to be in prime position to do just that. The top-seeded Galaxy (12-6-12 in the regular season, with 48 points) are in the playoffs for the first time since 2005, and bear little resemblance to the defensively inept side that surrendered a jaw-dropping 62 goals on the way to a league-worst 8-13-9 record last season. Chivas USA (13-11-6, 45), who finished fourth in the MLS West, are making their fourth straight playoff run, but the first without the crippling array of late-season injuries that robbed them of their firepower and ensured a quick exit from the previous three postseasons.
By every objective standard, starting with the seedings, the Galaxy appear to be in the driver’s seat for this series. While Chivas USA had every chance – including two games in hand – to snatch the top spot in the conference over the last two weeks of the season, they instead swooned to a 0-2-1 finish, folding against quality competition (Chicago and Houston), while doing no better than a 2-2 draw with Western Conference bottom-feeders San Jose. The Galaxy, meanwhile, threw it into overdrive over the last two months of the season, posting shutouts in seven of their last 10 games and closing out the regular season with a three-game unbeaten streak (2-0-1), including a 1-0 win over the Fire and scoreless draw against Houston.
Then there is the fact that, even in years when they have struggled against the rest of the league, the Galaxy have owned Chivas USA at the HDC. The last time Chivas beat the Galaxy was 2007. This season, the Goats have yet to score a goal against LA, losing the three-game regular season SuperClasico 0-2-1.
But this is the playoffs, and anything can happen. (Just ask New York Red Bulls fans about last year’s MLS Cup final.) And the HDC housemates are a lot more closely matched than it would first appear.
Start with the fact that both gave up only 31 goals over their 30 MLS matches, tying them with defending champions Columbus for the league’s stingiest defense. The Galaxy did it with an inspired blend of youth (Maryland alums Omar Gonzalez and AJ DeLaGarza, plus 2008 Rookie of the Year Sean Franklin) and experience (Gregg Berhalter, Tony Sanneh), in front of a solid ‘keeper in Jamaican Donovan Ricketts (1.03 g.a.a., 9 SO). Chivas USA relied on veteran netminder Zach Thornton, the 1998 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year who put together a career season in his 38th year, posting 12 shutouts and finishing with a 0.87 goals-against average – just .05 off the league record held by Houston’s Pat Onstad. Thornton is fronted by a formidable backline anchored by Colombian Yamith Cuesta, US international Jonathan Bornstein and veteran Carey Talley, with legendary Mexican defender Claudio Suarez on the bench. This defensive array made Chivas USA all but unbeatable at home through the regular season (9-3-3). Even though two of those three losses were to the Galaxy, the combined score for both games was 2-0.
Any team with Landon Donovan and David Beckham has to have the edge at midfield, at least on the offensive end. But Beckham can be inconsistent – not to mention fragile – and needs effective target players to really take a game in hand. Donovan, who scored 12 of the Galaxy’s 36 goals despite missing five games for national team duty, fills that bill. Forwards Edson Buddle (5 goals), Alan Gordon (3 goals, 3 assists) and Jovan Kirovski (2 goals, 1 assist) have been less reliable in front of goal, although Buddle was one of the Galaxy’s two goal scorers against Chivas this season. The other was Beckham.
The Galaxy midfield also will probably miss defensive-minded Stefani Miglioranzi, an effective play-breaker when not hobbled by his still-healing groin strain.
Chivas USA also has a question mark in midfield, and it’s a big one – Sacha Kljestan. The 2006 Rookie of the Year finalist has been an impact player for both Chivas USA and the US National Team, but has not been at his best this season. Although he has five goals to his credit, his primary strength has always been as a playmaker, and in 2009 he has managed only three assists. Although part of the falloff in numbers might be traced to the team’s uncharacteristic abundance of riches at forward, the Red and White have missed the top-of-his-game Kljestan’s ability to transition the ball smoothly and effectively from the backline into the goal area.
Paulo Nagamura (4 goals, 2 assists) has had a good two-way campaign for Chivas in the middle, and rookie Michael Lahoud has developed into a canny attacking midfielder and regular in the Chivas lineup over the course of the season. Mexican League veteran Jesus Padilla (1 goal in 11 games) provides an energetic presence on the right flank, and shows the potential to replace, if necessary, some of Kljestan’s lost spark out of midfield. Veteran Jesse Marsch has been sidelined by a concussion, but has been upgraded to probable for Sunday.
After seeing his team’s playoff dreams dashed by injuries -- most notably to forwards Ante Razov (2006, ’07, ’08) and Maykel Galindo (2007, ’08) – Chivas USA coach Preki can be forgiven for tinkering with his roster until the last transfer window closed. And while the occasional miscommunication highlights the fact that team chemistry is still a work in progress, Brazilian Maicon Santos (1 goal, 1 assist) has developed an increasingly productive rapport with both running mate Justin Braun (3 goals, 2 assists) and Padilla. Team Golden Boot winner Eduardo Lillingston, who scored most of his eight goals in the first half of the season, is a potent weapon off the bench, and Galindo (4 goals, 2 assists) is as healthy as he has ever been at this point in the season, and has been useful as both a starter and substitute.
