Western Conference Semi Finals: Galaxy vs Rapids Preview by Chris Brown
The Western Conference Semi-Finals kick off this weekend and Colorado Rapids travel to Carsen, California to take on LA Galaxy in the first leg of a two leg tie.
Jared Watts defending Robbie Keane in Colorado’s 1-0 win on March 12th. (Photo Credit: Corbin Elliott)
Colorado secured a first round bye in the MLS Cup playoffs by finishing second in the Western Conference, while third place LA defeated Real Salt Lake 3-1 on Wednesday night to progress out of the one game knock-out round. An opening goal from Alan Gordon was quickly cancelled out when Emmanuel Boateng brought down (sort of…) Real’s Javier Morales in the penalty area and Joao Plata capitalized by putting his penalty past Brian Rowe. Boateng made up for the penalty by scoring the game’s final two goals to give LA the victory.
Rapids and Galaxy have already played three times this season. On March 12th, Colorado hosted LA in the Rapids 2016 home opener. Both teams cancelled each other out that evening, still rusty from the long offseason, until a last gasp, 95th minute, Marco Pappa stunner gave the Rapids the win.
The second match saw Colorado go on the road against LA on June 22nd and the match finished level at 0-0. Colorado had the better chances on the evening but Brian Rowe expertly saved golden chances from Marlon Hairston and Kevin Doyle. LA had chances through Nigel De Jong and Emmanuel Boateng, but current Rapids backup keeper Zac MacMath was able to keep them out. The draw kept Colorado unbeaten in 11 straight MLS matches, a total they would extend to 15 before finally losing New York City FC on July 30th.
The two Western Conference rivals met again on August 11th, once again at the StubHub Center and once again, they drew, though the 1-1 score line was much more enjoyable to watch than the previous draw. After a scoreless first half Shkelzen Gashi scored this stunner to put Colorado up in the 51st minute, only for Daniel Steres to equalize in the 62nd minute. LA had the better chances, but Tim Howard (and the Rapid Post) was able to keep the Galaxy from taking all three points.
And now the season has wound down to the Conference semi-finals. These two sides know each other well, the two legs will be fiercely competitive, but only one side can advance to the final four.
Galaxy vs. Rapids is an interesting match up for several reasons, but the greatest reason for a raised eyebrow is also the most clichéd and the most obvious. (I promised myself, I would never resort to this but it can’t be helped… Here we go…) LA vs Colorado is textbook David vs Goliath. (I feel cheap and dirty!) It is though, a hundred times over.
Colorado finished dead last in the Western Conference last year, scoring just 33 times in 34 games and hopes for this season weren’t far from the basement that Colorado rented for 2015. A handful of offseason acquisitions gave the team some hope, but this is a team that has overachieved this year. Jermaine Jones was a great pickup, but the dreadlocked midfielder has only played in nine games this season. Tim Howard started playing for Colorado on July 4th and has been fantastic for the Rapids, but goalkeepers can’t score enough goals for a team to finish second in the Supporter’s Shield standings. Marco Pappa has been hit or miss and though Michael Azira and Shkelzen Gashi have been superb additions, this is a team that has been successful by being greater than the sum of its parts. (Was that a second cliché!?!)
The Galaxy on the other hand are, well, the freaking GALAXY! This is a side that has Steven Gerrard, Giovani Dos Santos, Ashley Cole, Gyasi Zardes, Robbie Keane and Landon Donovan on their payroll. They’re the Yankees of the MLS and they’re by far the most successful MLS team of the past 10 years, having won three of the past four MLS Cups. Did you know the annual award given to the best player in MLS is named after LA Galaxy’s Landon Donovan? Yeah, they’re impressive. Winning is one of those things you get better at the more you do it, and LA are used to success.
The clearest example of the difference between these two clubs is their coaches.
Pablo Mastroeni’s third season has been a renaissance for the Rapids. (Photo Credit: Corbin Elliott)
Pablo Mastroeni has been the Rapids head coach for the past three seasons but is probably best-known for his time as a player (or his ever changing hairstyles). Mastroeni was a defensive midfielder who played professionally from 1998 – 2013. He played 65 times for the US Men’s National Team, even being part of the squad that won the Gold Cup in 2005, and spent the majority of his career playing for the Rapids. Mastroeni is a club legend and captained Colorado to their one and only MLS Cup victory in 2010 before finishing his career with (you guessed it) LA Galaxy in 2013. Mastroeni’s first two seasons coaching Colorado were rough, but 2016 has been drastically different than his first two in charge, which has seen him lead Colorado to this point in the season. Which brings us to Mastroeni’s touchline opponent for Sunday’s matchup…
Bruce Arena. The Bill Belichick of MLS and the most successful coach in the history of the league. Bruce Arena boasts a pretty good, okay-ish, meh, somewhat respectable resume. The league is 20 years old and Arena has won the MLS Cup five times. Three times with LA and twice with D.C. United. That’s right, 25% of the MLS Cups ever won are sitting on this guys mantle. He’s been the MLS Coach of the Year three times (97, 09, 11) and has been to seven MLS Cup finals. The Brooklyn native was also the coach of the US Men’s National Team for the 96 Olympics and lead the US to the World Cup in 2002 and 2006. Soccer’s version of “the hoodie” also has two Gold Cup victories and was the head coach of the 2005 Gold Cup winning side that Pablo Mastroeni played on. He was also the last coach Mastroeni played for as Pablo finished his career in LA in 2013.
David vs Goliath indeed. This matchup is Master vs Student, Vader vs Skywalker, Tyson vs Douglas, Eminem vs Drake, Anyone vs the Jacksonville Jaguars… Get the point?
Though Colorado has the better record and the higher seed, the chips are stacked in favor of the Galaxy. On paper this is a matchup that LA should win. They have the better players, the more experienced coach and the winning pedigree.
2016’s previous three LA/Colorado match ups hint that these two legs will be tight and hard fought. (Photo Credit: Debby von Winckelmann)
There are some interesting wild cards to keep an eye on though. For LA, Landon Donovan is back and he’s playing like Landon Donovan again. Donovan started the Galaxy’s last match and though Colorado and LA have played three times this season, the MVP award’s namesake hasn’t played in any of those matches. For Colorado, Jermaine Jones made his return to action in the final regular season match against Houston. Jones didn’t play in any of the previous three Rapid/Galaxy matchups either. Donovan and Jones know each other well, having played together for the USMNT but both players are new additions to this season’s rivalry. Both players have proven over the course of their careers that they can take a team on their shoulders to win and both may be called on to do so over the two legs these teams are about to play.
These two legs will reveal a lot about both teams as the Conference Finals loom. Whichever team walks away with victory the MLS Cup will still be three games away. No matter which side goes on, the next two games will be entertaining and a worthy qualifier for a potential champion.
