+19
After five years of big spending, the Los Angeles Galaxy have finally won an MLS Cup with Landon Donovan, David Beckham and company. Donovan netted the winner in the 72nd minute.
No Major League Soccer team has ever won three championships in the same season. In fact, from best I can tell,the 1997 DC United team that won the Supporters Shield and MLS Cup and then went on to win the 1998 CONCACAF Champions Cup is the only team to hold three major titles at one time. Side note: That team also lost the 1997 U.S. Open Cup final in a penalty shootout to the Dallas Burn. (Editor's note: Looks like the Galaxy actually held the 2001 U.S. Open Cup and 2002 Supporters' Shield and MLS Cup concurrently, as the 2002 Open Cup was played three days after the MLS Cup.)
Now that the Los Angeles Galaxy have officially become the sixth team in MLS's 16-year history to win both the Supporters' Shield and MLS Cup in the same season, we can start debating whether or not they have a chance to become our league's first ever treble winner. We have this opportunity for debate because of the rather unique nature of CONCACAF Champions League, which actually straddles two regular seasons.
It's full time at the Home Depot Center, and the Los Angeles Galaxy are your 2011 MLS Cup Champions after a 1-0 win against the Houston Dynamo thanks to a Landon Donovan goal. In truth, the match fell somewhat* short of being a spectacle - a terrible pitch (Los Angeles had seen quite a lot of rain in the hours leading up to kickoff) and an incredibly negative attitude by the visitors ensured that there was virtually no life in the match, and the attacking verve LA's star played brought to the field was rather mitigated by the Houston defence for most of the match.
The Galaxy had plenty of chances to go ahead in the first half, most of which fell to backup striker Adam Cristman, who came in for the injured Chad Barrett and made the absolute least of his opportunity to impress, missing two free headers and then not even shooting when played through by Robbie Keane. Houston only had themselves to blame for the hosts' first half dominance, though - they simply couldn't pass the ball, regularly losing possession in midfield and allowing the Galaxy to come at them in waves.
LA were going to break through at some point, given all the chances they'd been presented with, and they really ought to have broken the deadlock through Robbie Keane, who picked up an inch-perfect pass from David Beckham and sent the ball into the back of the net via Tally Hall's left leg. Unfortunately for the Galaxy, Ricardo Salazar had already blown the play dead thanks to an erroneous offside call from the linesman.
Still, a goal was going to come eventually, and it was Landon Donovan who got it after good work by both Beckham and Keane to play him in through the left. Donovan was left racing onto the latter's pass with just Tally Hall to beat, and he finished beautifully, clipping over the keeper with the outside of his right boot to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
Adam Moffat had a chance to level - probably Houston's only real scoring opportunity of the match - but completely muffed a free header (Cristmanned by osmosis?), and the Dynamo would never again threaten the Galaxy's lead. The final few minutes of the match almost saw Beckham cap off a sublime performance with a free kick goal, but Hall responded with an excellent save.
Anyway, after the dust and smoke bombs and paper cups aimed at Donovan's garguatuan forehead finally cleared, the LA Galaxy found themselves in possession of the MLS Cup. It's a well deserved win - they've been the best team in the league all season and got the job done in the playoffs to boot. Congratulations the Bruce Arena and the players for a fantastic season.
Well finally. The Los Angeles Galaxy have been by far the better side so far in the 2011 MLS Cup Final, and they've finally gotten the goal that their play deserves. David Beckham fed Robbie Keane near the edge of the box, and Keane - who actually scored the opener only to see it wrongly disallowed - slipped in Landon Donovan to go one on one with Tally Hall.
Despite being clean through, Donovan's finish wasn't easy, since he was at an acute angle and the ball was on the wrong side of him, but the USA star flicked the ball over Tally Hall with the outside of his right boot. The goalkeeper actually got a hand to it, but he couldn't do more than slow the ball down as it floated into the back of the net. So that's the LA Galaxy 1-0 up over Houston with about fifteen minutes left to play. Can they hold on?
We'll have live coverage of LA Galaxy vs. Houston Dynamo in our MLS Cup Final 2011 StoryStream. For more on the two teams, check out Houston Dynamo blog Dynamo Theory and Los Angeles Galaxy blog LAG Confidential. For more on the entire world of soccer, check out SB Nation Soccer.
Well, the Houston Dynamo should have just gone ahead in the match, and Adam Moffet knows he messed that one up. After Robbie Keane's disallowed goal, there've been a few good chances at both ends of the pitch, but none has been better than Moffat's, who took advantage of a great cross from Calen Carr after an LA Galaxy giveaway, rising above the defence to reach the ball... and headed well wide.
We've had 70 minutes of this match, and it's been about as captivating as Carlos Tevez's face (which the pitch is actually emulating but with even more pockmarks). Hopefully someone will score a goal soon, because I don't think anyone would be very happy with extra time. It'll probably be the Galaxy, but the Dynamo aren't quite a spent force just yet.
We'll have live coverage of LA Galaxy vs. Houston Dynamo in our MLS Cup Final 2011 StoryStream. For more on the two teams, check out Houston Dynamo blog Dynamo Theory and Los Angeles Galaxy blog LAG Confidential. For more on the entire world of soccer, check out SB Nation Soccer.
Robbie Keane has scored - and been cheated out of - the 2011 MLS Cup Final's opening goal. David Beckham played an inch-perfect ball to the Ireland forward, and Keane's lethal finishing instincts kick in, burying a shot past Tally Hall to make it 1-0. But that goal counts in moral term only - Ricardo Salazar had already blown his whistle for offside, despite Keane being level when the ball was played. That's a terrible, terrible decision, and if the LA Galaxy don't win this game they are going to absolutely flip out over it.
Anyway, the Houston Dynamo have looked a little better in attack despite deserving to be behind, and they're starting to put Josh Saunders's goal under some pressure. Whether or not they can sustain it is an open question, but this is far better than the horror show they've been putting on for the rest of the match.
We'll have live coverage of LA Galaxy vs. Houston Dynamo in our MLS Cup Final 2011 StoryStream. For more on the two teams, check out Houston Dynamo blog Dynamo Theory and Los Angeles Galaxy blog LAG Confidential. For more on the entire world of soccer, check out SB Nation Soccer.
We're off and running in the second half, and Robbie Keane has decided to make Adam Cristman feel good at himself by completely messing up a clear-cut scoring opportunity. The LA Galaxy are extremely fortunate when Luiz Camargo gets in the way of a pass only for the ball to ricochet off the midfielder, behind the Houston Dynamo defence and straight to Keane. The former Tottenham Hotspur man's got plenty of time and space, but slightly miss-hits the ball and it flashes a little way wide of Tally Hall's far post. Whoops.
Other interesting things that have happened so far... the Dynamo have managed to string three passes together twice in six minutes, Geoff Cameron is still on the pitch and still doesn't look quite right, and David Beckham doesn't get yellow carded for a fairly brutal tackle on Danny Cruz. Yep, it's still 0-0.
We'll have live coverage of LA Galaxy vs. Houston Dynamo in our MLS Cup Final 2011 StoryStream. For more on the two teams, check out Houston Dynamo blog Dynamo Theory and Los Angeles Galaxy blog LAG Confidential. For more on the entire world of soccer, check out SB Nation Soccer.
Well I could call that a good half of football, but I'm not that good at lying. Major League Soccer's showpiece game, the MLS Cup Final between the LA Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo has been, frankly, shocking. Part of that can be explained by the torrential downpour that Los Angeles received prior to the match, but most of it's on the players, who - aside from some of the Galaxy's superstars - look overwhelmed by the affair. And they weren't that good to begin with.
Houston had a few early chances, but since then it's been all LA. Unfortunately for the hosts, they're fielding a woefully incompetent striker in Adam Christman, who's been given three great chances to score and been utterly bobbins. David Beckham has dropped the ball on his head twice and Robbie Keane has also put him clean through, but he's been able to do absolutely nothing with the opportunities he's been presented with.
Of course, relying on all the chances falling to a striker with the scoring touched of a beached whale isn't exactly the best defensive strategy on Houston's part (neither is passing to the dudes in white shirts, as a matter of fact). LA aren't playing that well, but the Dynamo have been a disaster. Things could get even worse if Geoff Cameron, who picked up a knee injury late on, can't continue - we'll see if he comes out for the restart.
It's 0-0, but right now there only looks like one winner. And it sure isn't 'the viewers'.
We'll have live coverage of LA Galaxy vs. Houston Dynamo in our MLS Cup Final 2011 StoryStream. For more on the two teams, check out Houston Dynamo blog Dynamo Theory and Los Angeles Galaxy blog LAG Confidential. For more on the entire world of soccer, check out SB Nation Soccer.
The Los Angeles Galaxy come close again, and Robbie Keane is at the heart of the play, holding possession near the edge of the area before a very clever pass finds Todd Dunivant steaming forward from left back. The defender's low cross looks like it'll find Landon Donovan with a tap in at the back post but Jermaine Taylor gets back just in time to put the ball out for a corner. Said corner results in a goalmouth scramble. It's a bit of a mystery at this point how the game remains level, but it's still 0-0.
It's not all bad news for the Houston Dynamo, though. Just kidding, it is all bad news - center back Geoff Cameron, who appears to be so hyperadrenilated that he can't complete a pass longer than ten yards, went gone down for a while with an injury and doesn't look 100%. If the Galaxy were carving up their guests with Cameron at full health, things could get ugly if he's playing hurt.
We'll have live coverage of LA Galaxy vs. Houston Dynamo in our MLS Cup Final 2011 StoryStream. For more on the two teams, check out Houston Dynamo blog Dynamo Theory and Los Angeles Galaxy blog LAG Confidential. For more on the entire world of soccer, check out SB Nation Soccer.
Another good David Beckham cross (this tome from open play) has once again been wasted by Adam Cristman. Landon Donovan, surging down the right, turned Jermaine Taylor inside out before laying the ball off to Beckham, whose cute chip to the back post found Cristman in space. Once again, his free head went well high and wide.
And then, amazingly, Cristman gets another chance and fluffs his lines again, Geoff Cameron tries to play out of the back with an absolutely awful pass, and Donovan latches on and quickly feeds Ireland international Robbie Keane in the center of the pitch. Keane thinks quickly and releases Cristman, but the striker gets caught up and can't get a shot away in time. He ought to have scored there, too.
A snarkier commentator than I might point out that the LA Galaxy may well have found the perfect replacement for Chad Barrett, but I'll just tell you the game remains 0-0 and leave it at that.
We'll have live coverage of LA Galaxy vs. Houston Dynamo in our MLS Cup Final 2011 StoryStream. For more on the two teams, check out Houston Dynamo blog Dynamo Theory and Los Angeles Galaxy blog LAG Confidential. For more on the entire world of soccer, check out SB Nation Soccer.
The LA Galaxy have replied to that early semi-scare by mounting an interesting attack of their own, which eventually breaks down when a cross from the left is cut out. However, it's the Houston Dynamo with the next shot - Corey Ashe managed to weave his way through the entire midfield (beating David Beckham one on one something like fifty eight times in the process) before scuffing a tame shot that Josh Saunders could easily retrieve.
After Saunders gathered, the Galaxy promptly marched right back up the pitch, with Sean Franklin and Landon Donovan combining to earn a corner, and from said corner Adam Cristman found himself with a free header six yards out. Fortunately for the Dynamo, he made a mess of it, heading well wide. That was really appalling defending from Houston, who've got to do better on set pieces when Beckham is the one delivering them. They do a beter job on the next couple of dead balls, but Bobbie Boswell has picked up a yellow card in the process after a deliberate handball.
We'll have live coverage of LA Galaxy vs. Houston Dynamo in our MLS Cup Final 2011 StoryStream. For more on the two teams, check out Houston Dynamo blog Dynamo Theory and Los Angeles Galaxy blog LAG Confidential. For more on the entire world of soccer, check out SB Nation Soccer.
We're off and running at the Home Depot Center where the Los Angeles Galaxy are hosting the Houston Dynamo for the right to the 2011 MLS Cup. So far the match has been a little bit messy - we're seeing lots of fouls in the middle third as both teams refuse to let the midfield break on the transition, but so far neither side (and remember, Houston set piece specialist Brad Davis is out injured) has taken advantage of the chance to sling long passes towards their opponents' box.
It's Houston who have the games first chance after Galaxy center half Omar Gonzalez handles just outside the box. The free kick is directed towards the far post and the ball ends up pinging around Josh Saunders' area for a few seconds before the hosts can hack clear. The Dynamo should probably have done better there. Anyway, it's still 0-0, but it's very early days.
We'll have live coverage of LA Galaxy vs. Houston Dynamo in our MLS Cup Final 2011 StoryStream. For more on the two teams, check out Houston Dynamo blog Dynamo Theory and Los Angeles Galaxy blog LAG Confidential. For more on the entire world of soccer, check out SB Nation Soccer.
The 2011 MLS Cup Final is here, and there's plenty of fun and interesting lineup stuff to discuss. The Los Angeles Galaxy have opted to start Adam Cristman up top in as close to a like for like switch for Chad Barrett as possible. There was speculation that Landon Donovan or Mike Magee would move up top with a midfielder coming into the side, but Bruce Arena has opted to keep his midfield the same. Dominic Kinnear has made a bold move as well, moving Corey Ashe into the midfield in the absence of Brad Davis. Jermaine Taylor and Andrew Hainault will bet the fullbacks. Here are the lineups.
Los Angeles Galaxy lineup (4-4-2): Josh Saunders; Todd Dunivant, Omar Gonzalez, AJ DeLaGarza, Sean Franklin; Mike Magee, Juninho, David Beckham, Landon Donovan; Adam Cristman, Robbie Keane
Houston Dynamo lineup (4-4-2): Tally Hall; Andrew Hainault, Bobby Boswell, Geoff Cameron, Jermaine Taylor; Danny Cruz, Adam Moffat, Luiz Camargo, Corey Ashe; Calen Carr, Brian Ching
ESPN's pre-game show starts at 9:00 pm ET and kickoff is scheduled for 9:25 pm ET. The game can also be seen on Galavision in Spanish, on ESPN in the UK and on TSN in Canada.
We'll have live coverage of LA Galaxy vs. Houston Dynamo in our MLS Cup Final 2011 StoryStream. For more on the two teams, check out Houston Dynamo blog Dynamo Theory and Los Angeles Galaxy blog LAG Confidential. For more on the entire world of soccer, check out SB Nation Soccer.
One way or the other, history is going to be made when the Los Angeles Galaxy play the Houston Dynamo in the 2011 MLS Cup final on Sunday. How much history, and who makes it, is obviously yet to be determined.
A Galaxy win in regulation would be the motherload. That would give the Galaxy 28 regulation wins in all competitions this season, which would set a MLS record. The Galaxy currently share the record with the Seattle Sounders, who set it earlier this season when they beat Real Salt Lake in the second leg of their Western Conference semifinal.
If the Galaxy can get past the Dynamo without needing overtime or shootouts, they will set the record while playing 48 games, two fewer games than the Sounders played. The only other team in MLS history to win as many as 25 all-competition games in regulation is the 2000 Chicago Fire, who won 26 in 44 games.
Historically, teams that have played such a heavy schedule have struggled in the MLS Cup playoffs. The Galaxy would become the first MLS Cup winner to have also played in the CONCACAF Champions League group stage the same season. Of the six other teams who registered at least 24 all-competition regulation wins, only two had a win that included one in the MLS Cup final.
Taken in combination with their 67 regular-season points -- the second most in a MLS season -- and their +20 goal-difference, this Galaxy team will have made a very compelling case that they are the greatest in MLS history. Of the five other top regular-season point totals for Supporters' Shield winners, only the 1999 DC United team went on to also win the MLS Cup. That United team, though, claimed just 57 points. The 1998 Galaxy team that owns the record for most points in a regular season didn't even advance to the MLS Cup final.
Regardless of who wins on Sunday, there will be a new record holder for most MLS Cup wins by a coach. The Dynamo's Dominic Kinnear and the Galaxy's Bruce Arena are both tied with the San Jose Earthquakes' Frank Yallop and the Seattle Sounders Sigi Schmid with two MLS Cup wins apiece.
This is already Arena's record fourth MLS Cup finals appearance as a head coach. Kinnear is actually coaching in his fifth MLS Cup final, but two of those were as an assistant with the Earthquakes. He and Arena are the only two MLS coaches in history to have led the same team to the finals three times. Arena led DC United to three straight finals appearances (1996-1998).
Eddie Robinson can also tie the record for most MLS Cup wins by a player. After playing on two Cup winners in San Jose and two more with the Dynamo, this would be his fifth title, tying former teammates Jeff Agoos and Brian Mullan. While it wouldn't be a record, the fact that the Dynamo's Brian Ching and the Galaxy's Landon Donovan are both playing for their fourth MLS championship is impressive. Robinson, Ching and Donovan all played on the 2003 Cup-winning Earthquakes, which also included Galaxy defender Todd Dunivant.
Whoever wins on Sunday will also move to within one win of United's four all-time wins. The Dynamo, Galaxy and Earthquakes are currently tied for second place all time with two MLS Cup wins.
In the league's relatively short 16-year history, we have never been treated to a MLS Cup final quite like this one. The combined histories of these teams is barely even rivaled by any other matchup. Now, let's home the game can live up to the history.
For the latest updates and analysis of the MLS Cup final, be sure to follow this StoryStream.
The 2011 MLS Cup might as well double as a San Jose Earthquakes reunion. The connection between the Quakes and the Houston Dynamo is obvious. After all, the Earthquakes moved from San Jose to Houston, giving MLS the Dynamo. Now that Dynamo team is in MLS Cup with Dominic Kinnear as head coach and Brian Ching at forward, the same roles they had back when the team was still in San Jose.
Meanwhile, Landon Donovan and Todd Dunivant, were members of the old Quakes before they moved to Houston and teamed with Kinnear and Ching to bring two MLS Cup titles to San Jose. Now they're standouts for the Los Angeles Galaxy, who will take on the Dynamo in this year's MLS Cup.
Don't think the fans in San Jose don't realize all of their former players in MLS Cup this year either. Sure, San Jose got an expansion team after and got to revive the Earthquakes name, but their team was still in Houston. That team in Houston won two MLS Cup titles and Quakes fans have always looked at the Dynamo as the team that got away and the team that should be theirs. At the same time, the Galaxy are the Quakes' biggest rivals.
Neither the Galaxy nor the Dynamo are among the most beloved teams in the league, but they're the two most hated teams in San Jose. Good luck to those in the Bay Area trying not to pull their hair out or break things while watching the final.
No surprise here, but David Beckham will play in the MLS Cup final on Sunday. He had missed training on Thursday and Friday for what Los Angeles Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena called a cold, but Arena repeatedly insisted he would play on Sunday. That seemed to be confirmed when Beckham trained on Saturday, making it abundantly clear that he will be out there for the Galaxy as they try to win their first MLS Cup since 2005.
Whether Beckham really had a cold or not is up for questioning. That a cold would keep him out of two days of training before the biggest match of the year does seem unlikely. Adding in that Beckham has battled a bad back all season and it's much more likely that Beckham had some problems with his back and calling it a cold was just a bit of gamesmanship by Arena. Whatever the truth is, the Galaxy will take to the field with Beckham on Sunday and really that is all that matter.
On Sunday, the Los Angeles Galaxy will play the Houston Dynamo for the 2011 MLS Cup. The Galaxy were the Supporters' Shield winners this season. Although the venue is officially a neutral site that was announced months ago, it also happens to be the Home Depot Center, which is of course the Galaxy's home stadium. Needless to say, the Galaxy are comfortable favorites, are playing at home, and have a chance to cap off one of the best MLS seasons in history.
But what if the underdog Dynamo win Sunday? Will that be bad for MLS?
Houston finished the regular season second in the Eastern Conference, which is pretty good, but tied for sixth in the overall table, which is not as impressive. Although they won on the road against the Philadelphia Union and Sporting Kansas City in the playoffs this year, they didn't get their first road win until September 24, and only had two road wins all season. There is no question that they benefited from playing in the Eastern Conference, since it was considerably weaker and they would have been a wild card with an additional game to play to advance if they were in the West. Added to that is the general distaste many had following the Colorado Rapids' MLS Cup win last season, as the final playoff qualifer whose style could charitably be considered "gritty."
Fans of the league remain divided by the many-headed hydra system the league office has been trying to use ever since it's existence. At the far spectrum are those who don't believe MLS should have a playoff system, period. Within the playoff system itself, on the one hand, there are those who believe MLS Cup should be seeded in a way that the top two regular season finishers, regardless of conference, can only meet in the final. These two approaches come from an understanding of soccer that is more influenced by European soccer leagues, which of course do not feature conferences or divisions and use a single table to rank all teams. In contrast, the conference system is clearly understood to be a defining feature of all major team professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. The regular season is considered in these other sports to be the precursor to the main event, the playoffs, which culminate in a championship game or series for the remaining participants.
Clearly, these are two oppositional approaches, and while MLS has conformed mostly to the latter, it makes for dissatisfaction among many North American soccer fans, who understand the model in Europe that crowns the regular season champion as the true champion. But to general sports fans here in the U.S. and Canada, that proposition seems absurd, as the playoffs are the primary method of determining a champion.
As a result, the stakes of a Dynamo victory Sunday are divided. As a league that clearly craves a certain measure of respect globally, the MLS Cup playoffs often looks to foreigners (especially in Europe) as a strange system. Of course, that detracts from the fact that other domestic leagues around the globe that in fact use a playoff system, which include the top leagues in Mexico and South Korea. Thus, the dominant model that is favored by the top leagues in England, Spain, and Italy is not the only way to crown a champion.
In MLS history, the Supporters' Shield winner has won the MLS Cup five times in fifteen years. The last team to accomplish the double was the Columbus Crew in 2008. It certainly seems like the Galaxy are poised to join that group. But is it a bad thing if the Dynamo win instead? In the end, no. Although many will continue to be upset by a system that gives teams other than the top finisher the chance to be crowned champion, the fact remains that the Galaxy is certainly in charge of its destiny, as long as they can get a result against a less-fancied Houston side.
Sure, a playoff tournament, series, or even single game provides a small sample size that may not reward the side that appears to be more deserving, but the same could be said for a season-ending injury to a key player. Nobody would grant Real Salt Lake the Supporters' Shield because Javier Morales was hurt most of the year and they therefore could not reach their full potential, or the New York Red Bulls the same because they look like the best team "on paper" but never on the field. The Galaxy won games all season and deserved the Supporters' Shield. If the Dynamo win the MLS Cup, they accomplished the goals of the system and should not be denigrated for beating a supposedly superior team.
Oscar De La Hoya's name has been in the news for less than positive things recently. We've also been told repeatedly that Sunday's MLS Cup is being played between two teams that are owned by AEG.
On Wednesday, De La Hoya got himself in some much more positive news, while also reminding people that he's actually an equity owner in the Houston Dynamo, when the team announced that the "Golden Boy" would be chartering a bus to take supporters to the game on Sunday.
The Los Angeles Galaxy were supposed to be here. They were the Supporters' Shield winners as the top team in the regular season. They bid to host MLS Cup at the Home Depot Center with the idea of seeing the Galaxy raise the MLS Cup trophy at their home stadium. It is the last year of David Beckham's contract and the idea of the high-priced trio of Beckham, Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane holding that trophy has been running through the heads of the Galaxy brass for months now. Here in the MLS Cup final is where the Galaxy were supposed to be.
The Houston Dynamo, well, they most certainly were not supposed to be here. They won just twice away from home all regular season and needed a late season push just to get away from the danger zone of missing the playoffs. Their big midseason signing, Carlos Costly, has fallen well short of expectations and there isn't a single player on the Dynamo that was a preseason pick for MLS Best XI, but here they are, the Eastern Conference's representative in the MLS Cup final.
Even with Houston in the final though, it's not the Dynamo team that was supposed to be here. The Dynamo team that was supposed to be in the final included Brad Davis, the man who had the season of his life and became the MLS MVP frontrunner. If the Dynamo were to make it this far, it was going to be on his back, but he went down in the Eastern Conference final. Even with Davis out, Houston managed to win and now they head to the MLS Cup final without him, preparing for a match that (shocker here) they're not supposed to win.
Everything has gone the Galaxy's way this season. Be the best team in the regular season? Check. Advance to the knockout stages of the CONCACAF Champions League? Check. Make it to the MLS Cup fina? Check. Now there's one thing left to do and that's win MLS Cup. It's something they'll be favored to do, partly because their aforementioned trio of superstars, but also partly because of their impenetrable defense.
Los Angeles allowed the fewest goals in the league this season. Omar Gonzalez and Todd Dunivant were named to MLS' Best XI. Sean Franklin may be the best right back in MLS and A.J. DeLaGarza has done his part and then some. Cracking the Galaxy defense is tough enough to as is, but how is the Dynamo supposed to crack it without Davis?
Set pieces will be the best bet for Houston. They've been the Dynamo's bread and butter all year and while they won't have Davis whipping the ball in, Adam Moffatt did a pretty good Davis impression in the Eastern Conference final and Andre Hainault, Geoff Cameron, Brian Ching and Bobby Boswell are as good in the air as ever.
Even so, this final has Galaxy written all over it. They have the red-hot Josh Saunders in goal, the best defense in the league, Beckham, Donovan, Juninho and the streaking Mike Magee in the midfield and Keane in front. It's tough to find a place on the field where the Dynamo have an edge, plus LA will be right at home at the Home Depot Center. Then again, the Dynamo weren't even supposed to be here, but they are. Why not go out and win a title they're not supposed to win and spoil the Galaxy's party?
CONCACAF Champions League 2012-13: LA Galaxy's MLS Cup Win Is Good News For Seattle Sounders
It's been a few years since we had to worry about what happens to the CONCACAF Champions League berths if one team qualifies in multiple ways, but we got our answer on Monday when the berths of the 2012-13 tournament were announced. As suspected, the Seattle Sounders will join the Los Angeles Galaxy in going straight through to the group stage.
There was some slight confusion on what would happen if the Galaxy claimed both the Supporters' Shield and the MLS Cup, both of which come along with automatic group stage berths. The last time one team won the Shield and MLS Cup in 2008, the regular season's second-place team went straight through to the group stage. But that year, the Houston Dynamo had not qualified any other way. This year, the second-place team was the Sounders, who had already qualified after winning the U.S. Open Cup.
The two preliminary round spots will go the the Houston Dynamo, who qualified via winning the Eastern Conference crown, and Real Salt Lake, who earned qualification via their finishing third in the regular season. RSL's qualification was assured when the Galaxy advanced to the MLS Cup final.
Nov 21 2:18p by Jeremiah Oshan - 0 comments