CARSON, California — Like Roman gladiators marching into the Coliseum to do battle, the LA Galaxy sauntered in the Home Depot Center for their final training session, full of swagger and more than ready for their knockout MLS playoff game against the Vancouver Whitecaps on Thursday.
“I think we’ve got that confidence and character back that we showed last year,” David Beckham boldly stated. "And we needed to, because as defending champions people were looking at us and want to beat us every single game.”
So just how do the Whitecaps plan on finding a way to beat LA? Well, if their recent road encounter versus Real Salt Lake is any indication of things to come, expect another Muhammad Ali inspired rope-a-dope performance.
Soaking up the pressure and counter attacking worked wonders at times early on in this season for Martin Rennie’s side, a group that hasn’t won a road game since July 4. But when asked about his plan of attack, Rennie offered up a very coy and Trojan horse like response
“Whether we open up and attack and leave ourselves wide open that remains to be seen," Rennie said. "We will be for sure in the game and that’s the main thing for us is to be in the game in the 93rd or 94th minute and have a chance to win.”
Now to counter that point, the Galaxy are more than capable of dealing with the counter attack, a plan many road teams have employed at the Home Depot Center this season.
“Recently we’ve been on a good run and they’ve been a little indifferent,” Robbie Keane pointed out. “If you look of late, the way (the Whitecaps have) changed their shape, they are quite hard to beat as a group. So I think with the players we have, we have to be clever to try and break them down in the way they’ve been playing.”
Truth be told, the Whitecaps are a huge underdog, a role they will gladly play in their first ever MLS playoff game. Over two seasons, the Whitecaps are 0-for-3 against the Galaxy in Southern California, getting outscored 8-0 along the way. So with terrible stats like that, why do the visitors feel they have a shot in this one game winner-take-all affair?
"That’s got to be the belief in our group that we can go out and do something like this,” Whitecaps captain Jay DeMerit said. “It starts with the belief that these types of things can happen in a one off. We will look to disrupt them and we will look to make sure we are testing everything they have.”
With battle lines drawn, handicapping this playoff payoff is pretty easy. The smart money would be on the Galaxy. But before laying down your wager, don’t be so quick to count out the Whitecaps. Because don’t forget, the Roman Empire did eventually fall, and most Hollywood blockbusters have a surprise ending.
Cmac’s keys for a Caps’ win
– Contain, composure and counter
No shock here, as the Whitecaps need to get men behind the ball and then capitalize on whatever chances they get against the Galaxy
– Don’t run a "foul”
With David Beckham’s able to strike a dead ball, the Whitecaps can’t give up too many, if any, free kicks around the 18-yard box.
– Every dog has its day
Use the underdog label as motivation, the "us against the world" mentality because no one is picking the Caps to win.