The LA Galaxy are MLS’s most glamorous team in its second largest market.  It is coached by the most successful American soccer coach of all time, is captained by the most famous American soccer player today, and employs if not the most famous soccer player in the world, certainly the most recognizable.  It also has the 2010 Keeper of the Year and all-star players around the pitch.  And yet the team again has failed to win the MLS Cup, running its championship-less streak now to five years.  Supporters can take solace in the Supporters Shield and CONCACAF Champions League qualification, but for a team with so much star power and so many expectations, last night’s result has to be disappointing.

So where do the Galaxy go from here?

In yesterday’s match, FC Dallas took advantage of a Galaxy back line that was a strength against Seattle the week before, and reduced the defense to watching Ferreira & Co. make plays.  This is still, however, a young unit and the progress they made individually is impressive, especially Omar Gonzalez.  Where there is continued concern is depth.  Former USMNT player Eddie Lewis is retiring and injuries this season forced the team to shuffle its lineup toward the end of the season.  This offseason the club should look to shore up the defenders for the multiple competitions and inevitable injuries.

The elephant in the room are the two most famous LA Galaxy players – David Beckham and Landon Donovan.  Beckham looked to be finally healthy in the Seattle round, running up and down the pitch for all 90 minutes and, while not looking like Manchester United Beckham, still looked and played like a top-class MLS player.  However, he looked stifled by the Dallas defense in yesterday’s match except for some excellent set pieces (although he may have been injured).  He has already said he will play out the final year of his contract next year and will not go out on loan, but a factor to consider is his international duty.  Fabio Capello seems more and more interested in Beckham playing for the national team, and a rugged UEFA schedule at his age could hinder his play in MLS.  So next season, if Beckham does make the national team (and considering some of the call-ups recently England may need him) LA could again be playing with damaged or tired goods.

The second consideration is Landon Donovan.  The face of U.S. soccer is still under contract and is being paid as a designated player, but recent interviews suggest he still wants to play overseas while at the peak of his game.  And who can blame him – his time at Everton was successful for both parties.  But if he does spend some time in England, he like Beckham will also need time on the national team as the US gears up for CONCACAF.  Again, the LA Galaxy could be seeing the Landon Donovan of the end of the season – talented, but tired.

Donovan could be only one of the Galaxy players to be leaving the team.  Young Juninho is only on loan to the Galaxy, and an international cub could make a run at the youngster after a very good season.  And any one of the young defenders, especially Gonzalez, could catch the eye of an overseas club.  But that is the life of any MLS team, and LA has one quality that can help guarantee its competitiveness – a designated player spot/money.  Whether Ronaldinho or another star, the Galaxy are positioned by finance, roster, and location to be a prime destination for the next big name.

So while there are some worries with the Galaxy, they are still in a better position than most MLS clubs to continue their success.  Don’t forget that as long as they have Bruce Arena, they also have one of the best coaches in the game, which is an obvious advantage.  Some shrewed depth signings in the midfield and back line this offseason, as well as maybe another DP, and look for the Galaxy to be competing for the Supporters’ Shield again next season.

In the end, what was most impressive about the LA Galaxy against the Seattle Sounders was also their undoing in the Western Conference finals.  The home team’s back line were spectators for an impressive Dallas attack, the LA superstars played a poor match overall, and the winningest coach in MLS playoff history was outcoached.  Because of this, FC Dallas advances to their first ever MLS Cup and lose the distinction of being the only original MLS club that had not made a Final.

The first half was the opportunity for Kevin Hartman to show his opposing keeper why it was he who deserved to win the Keeper of the Year Award.  The Galaxy attack early on was controlling play as they put up multiple shots on the FC Dallas defense.  Landon Donovan himself had two good chances in the first half, one in the sixteenth minute that was a cross Hartman intercepted and one in the thirty-first minute when Hartman’s dive just knocked the shot away from the far post.  But it was Juninho who may have had the best chance of the half for the home team when in the twenty-first minute he took the ball outside the box unmarked and launched a rocket that Hartman saved via reflex.  At times early on, it looked like the Dallas defense was happy to watch Hartman just try and stop the Galaxy tries.

But it was Dallas that struck first.  The Galaxy had clogged the middle of the pitch to try and prevent David Ferreira from making any plays.  But in the twenty-sixth minute, the MVP candidate took a pass from Atiba Harris and, as Omar Gonzalez and the LA defense watched, scored the first goal of the match.  Not surprisingly, the Dallas attack went through Ferreira, and not surprisingly he created some magnificent goals all night.

The story of the second half was pretty consistent – the Galaxy threatened and tried to put together good chances, but Dallas would clog passing lanes and prevent open chances for the home team.  Dallas would counter and Ferreira would find a teammate left unmarked by the defense who would then either score or just miss the chance.  The second goal was scored by George John from a Brek Shea pass, his first goal of the year and an excellent goal.  Chavez scored the backbreaking goal in the seventy-third minute, but it could have easily been Chavez in the forty-ninth, Ferreira in the fifty-third, or Harris in the sixty-first.  But in the end, the story line is the Galaxy defense just did not have an answer for David Ferreira, and as he has all season he made his opponent pay.  The team with the 36 year old keeper no one wanted and the 5’5″ midfielder is going to play Colorado for the 2010 MLS Cup, and it was well deserved.

One note – in the eighty-third minute Eddie Lewis was substituted off for the final time, and he has played his last MLS match.  Congratulations to him on an incredible career.

The story of the MLS playoffs coming into Sunday night was the futility of being a higher seed.  None of the higher seeds had advanced and the playoffs were seemingly wide-open for a new champion.  Then LA took the pitch against Seattle, and they showed the league who should be the favorites for the MLS Cup.  After an upset win in Seattle last Sunday, they took care of business at home and beat the Sounders 2-1, 3-1 on aggregate.

How did LA succeed where others failed?  It was more than possibly having the best players.  Here is a breakdown of how Los Angeles won their series where the other clubs could not:

1.  Neutralize your opponents best player(s)

This is easier said than done, but it is critical in the playoffs that the opposing team’s star not be allowed to dictate play.  This was Real Salt Lake’s downfall – David Ferreira set-up every FC Dallas goal and RSL’s vaunted defense could not find an answer for him.  Thus they lost 3-2 on aggregate.  Meanwhile, the Galaxy’s defense were able to neuter Fredy Montero, who needed a big series to help Seattle beat LA for the first time this season.  Credit goes to DeLaGarza especially shutting down chance after chance for Montero and the Sounders’ forwards, although Montero himself struggled leading up to and during the match.

2.  Your veterans play like its 1999

A major reason for the success of LA in the second leg was the resurgent play of Eddie Lewis.  The retiring defender not only played a strong backline but created scoring chances in the first half of last night’s match.  His cross into the box in the 19th minute was kicked out, setting up the Beckham corner that Buddle headed in for the first goal.  And a great example of a true veteran playing like a younger player was David Beckham.  Besides the glorious corner kicks he played hard all ninety minutes in the first leg and was all over the pitch.  His former EPL counterpart, Thierry Henry, did not have the same impact for New York when they needed his scoring ability.

3.  Defense wins championships

Seattle was not a doormat in this series, and especially in the first leg created some good scoring chances.  However, credit goes to the Galaxy defense for sticking to the gameplan.  DeLaGarza slides into the middle, and he muddles up the middle despite his unfamiliarity with the role.  The key for the Galaxy was not allowing the creation of shots, and instead forcing the Sounders players to create their own chances.  What resulted was Montero et al just putting the ball on net, making it even easier for Ricketts to make saves and minimize Seattle’s opportunities.  The ten shots in the first leg were misleading – Seattle had maybe 3 or 4 great chances.

4.  Details, details, details

The difference in the second leg was LA executing on set pieces, while Seattle could not defend them.  The first goal was a Buddle header where he was not physically marked on the kick.  While it was not an easy goal, it was too easy of a goal.  The second was even worse – Omar Gonzalez beat the offside trap on the corner kick and was unmarked completely by the defense.  At halftime, Sigi Schmid said the two things his team needed to focus on was defending corner kicks and completing passes.  When that is your focus for the second half, you may have already lost.

5.  Your coach out-coaches the other coach

I mentioned in a post last week how Schellas Hynmand out-coached Jason Kreis in the first leg of the FC Dallas/Real Salt Lake simply by making the right substitutions at the right time – Jeff Cunningham in the first half and Eric Avila in the second half.  I’ve mentioned ad naseum the DeLaGarza shift and starting Eddie Lewis, but Bruce Arena in his series out-coached Sigi Schmid.  His strategy in the first leg of the series snuffed out any Seattle momentum going into the second leg.  His club overcame a sluggish end of the season to put on a clinic in the playoffs.  Schmid, meanwhile, will go into the offseason being questioned why he didn’t play a more up-tempo match in LA or start Jaqua.

For all the talk of the LA Galaxy slumping towards the playoffs, Bruce Arena’s club showed no signs of rust as they dominated a resilient Sounders team in the first leg of the Galaxy/Sounders playoff matchup.  The difference in the match was an amazing and surprising Edson Buddle goal in the 38th minute that caught Kasey Keller off his line and caught ESPN2′s JP Dellacamera and John Harkes by surprise.  But the story of the match was defense, in particular how LA handled Seattle’s strikers and allowed very few legitimate chances on goal.  Veterans Eddie Lewis and Omar Gonzalez led the way for a defense that helped Fredy Montero disappear in the second half and left Seattle desperately seeking a decent shot most of the match.

But before delving into the match itself, I want to touch on the incredible atmosphere in Seattle tonight.  As much discussion as there has been on MLS Talk about crowds and lack of people watching MLS matches on TV, the crowd tonight was Don Garber’s dream.  The place looked full and was very loud; although we should not expect any less from the excellent Seattle fans it was great to have an atmosphere in the playoffs that match the occasion.  I suspect we will see highlights of this match in many MLS promotional videos.

Both clubs came out seemingly tight, with both committing and creating turnovers that the other club used to create goal-scoring opportunities.  The pace of the half was excellent; both clubs went up and down the pitch and rarely did they keep the ball in midfield.  Seattle actually could have set the tone early as Zakuani finished off an Alonso shot that Ricketts had blocked, but Zakuani was ruled offsides.  If it would have counted, it could have drastically changed the outcome of the match as LA would not have been able to deploy its successful defensive strategy.

It was Edson Buddle that broke the scoreless tie in the 38th minute, a goal that could already be the best in the MLS playoffs this year.  The U.S. men’s national team striker collected a pass well outside the box, then turned and blasted a rainbow shot that went past the outstretched arm of Keller and into the top corner of the net.  While Keller was a bit off his line, the shot would have been near impossible to stop anyway, as it was perfectly hit.  The Most Valuable Player candidate showed why he made the final three for the award with the shot, and I suspect will make the ESPN rotation of highlights in a busy American sports day.

The second half was a repeat of this first for Seattle – numerous times the Sounders were able to advance towards the Galaxy net but could not find the quality or creative shot to tie the match.  In fact, looking at my notes for the match, there were very few obvious opportunities for the Sounders in the second half except for an occasional shot that was offsides.  A ton of credit should go to Arena’s gameplan but also the play of the Galaxy backline – Eddie Lewis, Sean Franklin, Omar Gonzalez, and DeLaGarza.  Because of them, Montero was an absolute non-factor in the second half and Nkufo, Zakuani, and later Jaqua were unable to create chances in the penalty area.  Even later on the match when desperation set in for the home side and Galaxy had a tired Beckham playing practically rightback (according to John Harkes), they still had no great chances on goal.

So Seattle has a huge task next week as they travel to Los Angeles down a goal.  They need to find a way to solve the Galaxy defense, something they were absolutely unable to do tonight.  However, considering the Galaxy’s form coming into the playoffs the number one seed is definitely fallible.

Share your thoughts on the match in the comments section or on Twitter @roberthayjr.

Episode 55 features an interview with US midfielder Eddie Lewis who after playing nine season in England has returned home to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy. Also Chris Webb from United Mania joins host Kartik Krishnaiyer for a free flowing discussion which topics include United’s US Open Cup triumph, Marcello Gallardo’s injuries, United’s playoff prospects the continued success of USL clubs in the CONCACAF Champions League, the fallout from the failure of team USA at the Olympics and critquing Bob Bradley’s player selections for CONCACAF qualifers. Chris also mentions a name of who could be the next big thing for the US team. You won’t want to miss that, as it is a name not on most fans radar.

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