Without a shadow of a doubt, Bruce Arena’s LA Galaxy are still one of the elite sides in Major League Soccer. Over the years, the likes of David Beckham, Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane have graced the StubHub Center turf and all three men have been integral to their success in recent times.
Whilst Beckham is gone, Keane and Donovan are still there – and they have an ex-Premier League star for company. At 36 years old, Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard is still churning out box-to-box runs; and Galaxy supporters believe that the Keane/Gerrard combination could pay dividends in the postseason, although some have criticised the former England international in recent weeks…
During their earlier years, both men played together at Liverpool; albeit briefly as Keane was quickly shunted out of the club. However, that familiarity could give Galaxy the edge when push comes to shove. Both men have been there and done it all on the big stage and Arena will turn to his experienced professionals as the race for the MLS Cup begins to heat up.
As of September 27th, Los Angeles are 7/2 to win the title at the end of the campaign and Betway punters still considering who to bet on should certainly take a second glance at the Galaxy in the coming weeks. Offensively, they’ve scored goals – a tally bettered only by Patrick Vieira’s New York City FC. In terms of the Western Conference, nobody comes close to the Galaxy’s offensive prowess…
Furthermore, Arena’s men have lost just five matches all season; three fewer than Western Conference leaders FC Dallas. Unfortunately, Los Angeles have recorded too many draws – but this is mainly down to the fact that most sides put ten men behind the ball when they visit the StubHub Center. However, on the other side of the coin, you could also argue that the Galaxy must improve on breaking tricky defensive units down.
In previous years, the MLS has been easy to predict but it is now more competitive than ever before. With both New York sides fighting it out with Toronto FC at the top of the East, we could be ready to see a genuine inter-city battle on one half of the draw whilst Galaxy go toe-to-toe with Dallas for supremacy in the West. Right now, Oscar Pareja’s men are in the ascendency but it would be foolish to rule Los Angeles out. After all, they tend to raise their game when it is crunch time.
Watch this space, Los Angeles Galaxy will be there or thereabouts at the business end of the season once again…
