Perhaps no one was more disappointed to see the June international window arrive than the LA Galaxy, who will try to recapture their May form on Saturday when they host the Portland Timbers (5 pm ET | ESPN, ESPN Deportes).
Southern California’s elder MLS side ended the month stringing arguably their two most impressive performances of 2022 within a five-day period.
On May 25, Kevin Cabral, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez and Dejan Joveljic all scored after halftime in an impressive 3-1 win over rival LAFC in the US Open Cup Fifth Round.
Then on May 29, LA shook off some uneven recent league form to score all their goals in the final half-hour of a 4-1 home rout of Austin FC. Joveljic contributed his second career MLS brace, Chicharito scored again and Efrain Alvarez added a late insurance goal in a game they’ll all be eager to replicate when Portland visits Dignity Health Sports Park.
“We hope we can take back that momentum that we left with the break,” Chicharito said during a press conference Wednesday. “Hopefully we can get three more points with a very good performance like the last two we did here in our stadium. So yeah, we’re very excited.”
Recapturing such an organic force is easier said than done.
“The break helps to rest and to recharge in a way,” Chicharito continued. “But yeah, the challenge now is like, yeah, try to take it back that momentum and that performance and that attitude that we showed in the last two games.”
But to hear Galaxy players tell it, the recent uptick came from a clear source: the sudden, collective realization of their own capabilities given the right mindset.
“I think a switch kind of flipped and we realized, ‘Look, this is how good we can be',” said defender Derrick Williams. “We have to put it in every day. I feel like straight away, since the first training that everyone’s been back, the intensity is there again, and we’re just looking forward to playing now.”
Perhaps there was also a fresh awareness of how quickly things can go sideways.
The Galaxy’s sudden resurgence followed what was arguably their worst spell of league play, which included multi-goal home defeats to FC Dallas and Houston Dynamo FC sandwiched by a draw at Minnesota United FC.
But MLS is littered with tales of eventual MLS Cup champions who enjoyed a second-half surge. Galaxy manager Greg Vanney was on the losing end of one such story, when he managed the 2016 Toronto FC side that fell on penalties to a Seattle Sounders FC squad that caught fire late in the summer.
Maybe now, the table is turning. We’ll start to get more of a sense on Saturday when the Galaxy host a Portland side they defeated 3-1 at Providence Park in early April.
“I think there’s a genuine belief in the group they can do something special if they can keep that intensity high and keep progressing as a group, that there’s no reason why they can’t lift some trophies at the end of this season," Vanney said. “When you have that kind of belief and motivation, then the right type of personalities start to come out within the group.”
