Every MLS season turns on a thousand different bearings and an uncountable series of micro events. A trigger as small as a single goal or a seemingly minuscule point can bring down the avalanche and start a turnaround. It may look insignificant at the time, but hindsight is a heck of a thing.
The Sounders are about to put that up to the light. Its theory about whether the turnaround is nigh or not will get its biggest test yet this weekend.
The LA Galaxy come to CenturyLink Field on Saturday (12 p.m PT; ESPN/KIRO 97.3 FM/El Rey 1360AM), and the game is undoubtedly a bigger occasion for the home side. The reason is situational. The Sounders are, for the first time, tied for the bottom of the Western Conference with Houston on 17 points. If every team in the league keeps up its current pace, the Sounders will need to bag about 1.5 points per game from here on out just to capture the West’s sixth and final playoff spot.
That won’t be easy. But a shift may be in the offing.
After a difficult June, the Sounders have been significantly better over their last three games, all of which came in different competitions. A mostly B-side managed to grit through 120 minutes against a first choice Real Salt Lake team to advance in the U.S. Open Cup on nervy penalties. Then the first team bagged a road point against Toronto FC despite going down a goal. Finally, a roaring 3-0 win over West Ham in a Tuesday friendly - the franchise’s first ever win over a Premier League side - launched Seattle into the weekend with uncommon vigor.
If the Sounders can get a result against a Galaxy team that’s as dangerous in front of goal as anyone in the league, MLS will know the winds shifted in the Pacific Northwest. And as if to pour gasoline on the fire, the Galaxy’s Mike Magee offered some pointed motivation for Seattle’s players in the form of a comment this week.
“When (Seattle) came into the league, I think that they called us out,” Magee told reporters. “They thought they’d challenge us and it didn’t work out well for them. They’re still trying to be what the Galaxy is. They’re doing a great job. They have great fans and a great team, but I’d say to be honest with you they’re a little jealous.”
Game on.
Part of the reason for the Galaxy’s renaissance in 2016 is because they’ve been so lethal in front of goal. Nobody in the league has as hearty of a goal differential as the Galaxy’s plus-12, and their 30 goals is tied for the league lead. Indeed, seemingly every move legendary Galaxy coach Bruce Arena has made since the team turned over from the Juninho/Beckham/Donovan/Gonzalez tetrarchy days panned out.
Ashley Cole, left for dead by many in Europe after a disastrous stint at AS Roma, has been arguably the best left back in MLS this season. The 36-year-old Steven Gerrard responded to critiques of his fading form in 2015 by scoring a goal and providing five assists since the start of May. After a quiet 2015, Giovani dos Santos has stepped out as one of the league’s most lethal finishers. Jelle van Damme has been one of the league’s bright defensive spots. Even Nigel de Jong has been solid defensively, when he isn’t drawing the collective ire of the league’s fans by swiping at players with horror tackles [he’s suspended this week, by the way].
All in a day’s work for the five-time MLS Cup-winning Arena, whose every touch seems to be the right one.
The Galaxy still rotate around Robbie Keane, perhaps the best Designated Player signing in league history and still the most unpredictable threat in the league in the box. Keane has an unreal eye for space, and even at 36 he’s a devastating force. After missing five matches and all of the month of June at the European Championship with Ireland, Keane scored in the first match of his return in a 2-0 win over Vancouver on July 4.
The difficulty for MLS is that the Galaxy have seemingly found a way to link Keane and Dos Santos, a strike partnership that had difficulty gelling in 2015. Part of that is down to Dos Santos all but removing himself from the buildup and focusing on poaching goals. The Mexico international averages a minuscule 23 passes per match, easily the fewest for any regular outfield starter. But he has seven goals and routinely finds open pockets of space. Between Dos Santos and Keane, opposing defenders are never quite sure where the Galaxy duo is likely to pop up.
But the Sounders have a trump card it can finally shuffle back into the deck. Clint Dempsey has come home.
It’s been six weeks since Sounders fans have seen Dempsey suit up in the Rave Green, and he’ll be a welcome sight when he likely walks back into the starting XI this weekend. Sounders coach Sigi Schmid gave Dempsey a break last weekend to rest up after six matches at the Copa America Centenario, and he’ll almost certainly return to partner with the sizzling hot Jordan Morris up top. Whether that looks like the 4-3-3 the team’s been running all season or a more misshapen 4-4-2 to better suit their skill set.
Either way, seemingly the only injury question mark for this match is captain Brad Evans, who missed last week’s match. Evans trained with the first team on Friday and Schmid said he’s hopeful to get his talisman back on Saturday. Everybody else - barring of course Roman Torres, who’s still a few weeks away from returning from last year’s knee injury - should be available.
And that’s particularly good news for this weekend. A win could do wonders for a team desperately seeking to definitely mark the point at which the season turned around and arrowed straight for the playoffs.
