CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy had been unbeatable for nearly two months, putting together a 10-game spell without defeat while crushing several foes and finally climbing even with Seattle atop the Supporters' Shield and Western Conference standings.
A win or a tie at FC Dallas last weekend, and LA (17-6-9) would need only a victory in Sunday's showdown with the Sounders (19-10-3) to claim the Shield for an unprecedented fifth time (8:15 pm ET; ESPN2), but they weren't at their sharpest and let an early lead slip away in a 2-1 defeat that left them trailing Seattle on the tiebreaker.
But it might have been the best thing for the Galaxy, Landon Donovan said, a needed wakeup call going into the most crucial month and a half of the season.
Not everyone thinks so.
Head coach Bruce Arena suggested it was Donovan who needed “to wake up a little bit; he's been experiencing the riches of his retirement” with the gifts rivals are bestowing on the Galaxy legend before matches. But LA will undoubtedly have superior focus heading into a home-and-home series with the Sounders that will determine the Shield plus seeding and matchups for the Western postseason.
“It's good to have a wakeup call,” Donovan reiterated following Wednesday's training session at StubHub Center. “Obviously, we would have liked to have had a wakeup call and still get a point out of the game or won the game, but it's not the worst thing to lose a game and have to rebound.
“I think our team has always been good at that since we've been here with Bruce. I don't think we've had many two- or three-game losing streaks. So, generally, when things go wrong, we look at it honestly, we see what we could have done better and then we improve. And that's what we're going to do this week.”
Donovan is correct. The Galaxy, who had Thursday off and begin the real work for match preparation on Friday morning, have strung losses together just eight times since Arena took charge in August 2008 – four of them in 2012, when they repeated at MLS Cup champs after a bumpy regular season – and have lost three in a row just once, in May 2012.
Right back Dan Gargan said he agrees “wholeheartedly” with Donovan.
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“We had a lesson when we [lost, 7-0, in a July friendly against] Manchester United – that was the game before we went up to Seattle [and won 3-0] the last time – and those are eye-openers for teams,” Gargan said. “I think the two goals we had scored against us [at Dallas] were preventable goals. This time of the season, these types of teams, they can score goals.
“We're going to play from here on out all talented teams that are all dangerous, and they'll punish you if you take breaks. It's good to get those reminders, definitely now as opposed to in the playoffs. It's a good refresher.”
The Galaxy can't afford to lose at all to the Sounders, who would clinch with a victory Sunday or in the Oct. 25 season finale in Seattle.
“We have to win this game, no matter what,” defender A.J. DeLaGarza said. “We wanted to win this game no matter what, whether we got a point or not in Dallas or a win in Dallas. It just makes it harder now. We need to get four points in two games.”
