RENTON — Once upon a time, the LA Galaxy were the premier team in MLS. At their height, they were arguably the league’s only true dynasty, winning two Supporters’ Shields, three MLS Cups and qualifying for one more final from 2009-2014.
But the last decade or so has dulled the shine quite a bit. Since their fifth all-time MLS Cup win in 2014, the only trophy the Galaxy have won is the 2017 Wooden Spoon, which goes to the team with the league’s worst record. They’ve missed the playoffs entirely in five seasons and until this year had not advanced beyond the conference semifinals at all.
The Galaxy have roared back to relevance this year. Buoyed by one of the most expensive offseasons in MLS history when they spent about $20 million to acquire wingers Joseph Paintsill and Gabriel Pec, they enjoyed a 28-point improvement on last season, finished a tiebreaker shy of claiming the top seed in the Western Conference and have blitzed through the first two rounds of the playoffs, beating their opponents by a collective score of 15-3.
Make no mistake, they are the favorites against the Seattle Sounders, who seem to be almost relishing the opportunity to play spoiler.
“I think we we all know who everyone wants to win and who everyone expects to win,” Sounders midfielder Obed Vargas told reporters following Tuesday’s training session. “We take that as motivation. We have full confidence in ourselves.”
To some degree, that confidence actually comes from the relative lack of outside expectations. Given the Sounders’ history of success, the “underdog” label doesn’t quite fit. This is, after all, a roster that still has a lot of players from their last MLS Cup win in 2019 and is barely changed from the squad that won Concacaf Champions League in 2022.
But there is a sense that they’re almost playing with house money after upsetting LAFC in the previous round.
“I don’t use the word underdog,” Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said.
“But we can play free. The pressure’s on them. The pressure was on LAFC. When you’re the favorite, the pressure — that subtle pressure — is on you.
“They’re a confident team, but are they a little over confident? What happens the first time we go down and punch them in the nose or score a goal or we come close or somebody tackles someone? What do they do? What’s their reaction? The pressure’s on them, it’s not on us. That’s how we play free.”
As good as the Galaxy have been, the Sounders have their own reasons to feel confident. They were the league’s best defense during the regular season, have allowed just three goals in their past seven games, and have outscored their opponents 17-5 during their current 10-game unbeaten streak.
They also have a history of performing in matches like this one. This will be the sixth Western Conference final Stefan Frei has played in since joining the Sounders in 2014. He’s also played in four MLS Cup finals, a U.S. Open Cup final, a Leagues Cup final and a CCL final. He’s gone 8-4 in those matches.
“This is an opportunity to play for a trophy,” Frei said. “That’s the only reason why we play this game.”
While the Galaxy’s trophy case may be similar, no current players have helped stock it.
Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney knows all too well about the Sounders’ ability to perform in big moments, having coached against Schmetzer in three MLS Cup finals. Including those matches, he’s gone just 4-10-3 against Schmetzer in his coaching career.
“They’re a well coached team,” Vanney said during the Galaxy’s postmatch press conference on Sunday. “They’re gritty, they have a group that’s playoff experienced that knows how to go into tough environments and get results. We have a ton of respect for them and what they’re capable of doing. As much as anything it’s the gritty determination and the understanding of how to win in big moments.
“Sometimes that’s not teachable. They’ve learned it as a collective and it’s the club culture that they’ve developed. It doesn’t matter if it’s Obed Vargas at 20 years old or João Paulo. That’s something they have that we’re continuing to strive for as and comes with putting championships under your belt.”
There’s no question who should be favored in this game. The Galaxy are in form and have the star power. Between Pec, Paintsill, Riqui Puig and Dejan Joveljic, they have a quartet of players who have combined for 68 goals and 52 assists in the regular season and playoffs.
But in three previous meetings against the Sounders, the Galaxy are just 1-1-1 and have arguably been outplayed in each of them. In a season in which the Galaxy have averaged 2.23 goals per match, they scored just two in three games against the Sounders and were twice held below 1.0 xG.
One of the big reasons the Galaxy have struggled to get untracked against the Sounders is the play of Vargas.
In a year where he’s firmly established as one of the top young players in MLS and made his senior national team debut, Vargas said he’s looking forward to measuring himself against another very good team.
“These are the games that that show us what we got, show us what we’re made of,” Vargas said. “If we want to be champions, we have to beat the best teams.”
