CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy have streaked to the top of the Supporters' Shield race, grabbing the No. 1 spot last weekend for the first time since opening day. If they can close out the campaign with some semblance of their form from the past two months, they're likely to claim a record fifth regular season championship.
That's certainly the goal, but it's somewhat unspoken among members of the Galaxy.
“Haven't given it any thought, to be honest with you,” LA head coach Bruce Arena said ahead of Friday's California Clasico showdown at San Jose (11 pm ET, UniMás). “I think we can talk about that sometime in October. I think it's a little premature at this point.”
It might be a bit early, but Arena's players are tar377435980" tabindex="0">geting the club’s first Shie377435981" tabindex="0">ld since the nearly wire377435982" tabindex="0">-to-wire run to the MLS Cup title in 2011, and they've clearly been the class of the league this summer.
The Galaxy (13-7-7) have won four straight MLS matches, six of their last seven and eight of their last 10, failing to score fewer than three goals just three times since June 20, in losses on June 27 at San Jose and on July 25 at Houston and in a 2-1 triumph at Dallas two weekends ago.
They've got 46 points, one more than Western Conference rival Vancouver, which has played one fewer game, and two in front of East leader D.C377435983" tabindex="0">. United. Only the Whitecaps (14-9-3) have a higher points-per-game average – 1.73 to 1.70 – and Vancouver perhaps has an easier road the rest of the way, with five of their remaining eight games coming against teams currently with losing records and five of eight at home.
The Galaxy, who were seventh in the West and seven points off the lead on May 20, play four of their last seven on the road and face just three teams – Montreal and solid rivals Real Salt Lake and Seattle – with losing records.
D.C. (13-9-5), Sporting Kansas City (11-6-7) and the New York Red Bulls (11-7-6) remain firmly in the race, with a few others in position should they cobble a few victories together. It's possible the Shield could be determined on the season’s final day, when the Galaxy play at Sporting KC in the Oct. 25 regular season finale.
“It's very important, obviously,” defender Robbie Rogers said. “The Supporters' Shield is a huge accomplishment for any club. Last year we [went down to the final weekend before finishing second to] Seattle. Really, it's focus on every week and every game and try to put ourselves in a good position to go into the playoffs.
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“It would be an amazing accomplishment, but I think if you ask anyone, we'd rather win MLS Cup. That being said, it's still go into every weekend and to prove we're the best team in the league. We want to prove to ourselves and to everyone else.”
The Galaxy also won Shields in 1998, in 2002, when they won their first MLS Cup title, and in 2010, and they've been runners-up four times. They eliminated the Shield winner en route to Cup championships in 2012 and last year.
“We want to win everything we compete for,” said midfielder Steven Gerrard, who is in his first season in a league where regular season records don't determine the champion. “We know what our main goal is, but we want to try and have as many trophies in the cabinet as possible.
“It's a different approach for me, but I have to adapt [and] that's certainly the format in this league. I still want to finish first, gain as many points as possible to try and gain any advantage we can in the playoffs. We try to win as many trophies as possible and finish as high as possible.”
The Shield carries different weight, Arena noted, since expansion forced MLS to abandon a balanced schedule following the 2011 season, when LA went 19-5-10 and won the Shield by four points over Seattle. Western Conference teams this year arguably play tougher schedules than teams in the East – every Western club would be in playoff territory in the East right now, based on points.
“The regular season's odd because of the unbalanced schedule, the awkward travel teams have, the different conditions,” Arena said. “Regular season is survival of the fittest. The Supporters' Shield is probably survival of the fittest. We've played a number of games during international breaks, which is crazy.
“I don't know what [winning the Shield] says. It's not a balanced competition right now, so it's difficult to articulate what that actually means.
The Galaxy's chief goal is the finish first or second in the West, to receive a bye into the conference semifinals. Winning on the road against San Jose (10-10-5) in Friday’s MLS Heineken Rivalry Week matchup would help.
“I think we still have a long ways to go regardless of the outcome of this game,” Rogers said. “There's still six more games [after Friday's], and a lot can happen. We're just looking at this as another game that we need to continue to improve and work hard and get three points, because it's very tight in the West and tight in the Supporters' Shield [race].
“It's important to win in conference on the road, but we have a lot of season left.”
