With 11 games left, Galaxy seeks momentum in tight playoff race
The Galaxy is in a waiting game for Riqui Puig to get his clearance to make his debut.
While the wait continues, the club is in a sprint toward the end of the season, in an ever-evolving playoff race.
The Galaxy (9-11-3, 30 points) sits in ninth place in the Western Conference heading into Saturday night’s home game against the Vancouver Whitecaps (8-10-6), who are tied on points in 11th place. The top seven teams in the conference will make the playoffs, and to illustrate just how tight the standings are, only six points separate third place (FC Dallas, 36) from the Whitecaps.
“The attitude of the group this week has been great,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “The guys have worked hard … they know the situation. We have a game in hand on most teams, which we don’t even consider, but the fact of it is, we have 11 games, nine of our 11 are against teams in the immediate dogfight with us. You win any of those games, you put that team three points behind you and you keep moving forward and it’s just one at a time.
“We’re not in a bad position. We’ve had a stretch of not the best momentum, but the reality is when we look across the field from us this weekend it’s Vancouver, it’s a one-off sort of final, you’re trying to get yourself one step ahead of them and that’s we do, one at a time.”
Winning and getting those three points has been the problem recently.
The Galaxy has lost six of its last eight games and has dropped six in a row against Western Conference opponents.
“For me, I’ve said this since 2016, in my experience in the league, up until about the last 10 games, you’re positioning yourself for the final stretch,” Vanney said. “The last 10 games of the season is you’re determining where you finish in the table. For me, positions one and two are probably out of the equation as it relates to the Western Conference, but every other position is wide open.
“For us, it’s about finding that stability on the defensive side, getting ourselves into games, stop conceding early goals and doing that the right way and whenever we do that, our record speaks for itself and we can get on the right side of the game.”
The Galaxy will get a bit of a break with Vancouver playing without two of its top scorers in Lucas Cavallini (eight goals) and Brian White (three). Cavallini is out due to yellow-card accumulation and White is out with a rib injury.
Galaxy defender Derrick Williams also will miss the match due to yellow-card accumulation.
As for Puig, Vanney said Friday that he was “hopeful” that he would be cleared.
However, a team official confirmed Friday evening that Puig will not be available. His Visa appointment is now set for Monday, which put him in line to make his debut next Friday against Seattle.
GALAXY VS. VANCOUVER WHITECAPS
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Dignity Health Sports Park
TV/radio: Spectrum SportsNet, 1220 AM