CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy revisit their chamber of horrors, otherwise known as the road in MLS, when the five-time MLS Cup champions take on the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday at BC Place (7 p.m., Time Warner Cable SportsNet, Time Warner Cable Deportes) in British Columbia.
The Galaxy, to put it mildly, have struggled away from StubHub Center in recent years.
Since the 2013 regular season the Galaxy are just 8-24-16 away from home and have been outscored 84-54. They won only twice in 17 away tries last season (2-9-6) and were just 3-6-6 the previous year.
The Galaxy lost their lone road contest this season, 1-0 to Colorado, on a goal deep into stoppage time.
Two of LA’s newest players, Nigel de Jong and Jelle Van Damme, both of whom have playing experience in some of the most hostile environments in Europe, believe the answer to the team’s road woes is simple.
“At the end of the day it’s mentality,” De Jong said. “It doesn’t matter how good you are, it’s a mentality to win. It gives you the extra edge of a home team.
“We have that 12th man behind us and the right mentality when we’re at home. We have to have that when we’re away.”
Van Damme also said the mentality must be different on the road – “Playing away games they have the advantage you like at home,” he said. – and believes winning on the road can be more satisfying than winning at home.
“It can be more special,” he said. “It’s always nice to win at home, but I think it’s even better to win away.”
Vancouver hasn’t been a particularly enjoyable destination for the Galaxy, who haven’t won there since 2013. The Whitecaps also swept last season’s two-game series, including a 1-0 victory on June 6 that marked their first-ever victory at StubHub Center.
Vancouver (2-2), in a three-way tie with the Galaxy (2-1) and San Jose for third in the Western Conference behind Sporting Kansas City and FC Dallas, is led by Pedro Morales, the league’s top goal scorer with four and one of three Whitecaps named to MLS’ Team of the Week on Monday. The others were midfielder Andrew Jacobson (who actually played center back with Tim Parker and Kendall Watson away on international duty) and goalkeeper David Ousted.
Vancouver also features newcomer Masato Kudo, a former J League standout who was Kashiwa Reysol’s all-time leading scorer with 92 goals before joining Vancouver in December.
Kudo, however, will be unavailable Saturday after the MLS Disciplinary Committee suspended him one match and fined him an undisclosed amount for simulation/embellishment in the Whitecaps’ 1-0 victory over Houston. The decision led to a penalty kick.
“Their team is still a little bit unknown right now, but they’re getting their usual cast of characters involved,” said Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena, who will be without the services of striker Robbie Keane, who will be sidelined an estimated 4-6 weeks while he recovers from successful surgery on his right knee Thursday, and midfielder Steven Gerrard is sidelined with a strained left calf. But Giovani Dos Santos, who has been out with a left leg injury suffered in the season opener on March 6, returned to full training earlier this week and is expected to play.
“They have a real good team.”
Which makes this weekend’s challenge on the road another difficult one, to say the least.
“We have to win more games on the road, for sure,” Arena said. “We have to be better at it.”
Added De Jong, “To be a championship team, you’ve got to win on the road,” he said. “For me to win only home games and win a championship team, then there’s always that question ‘Yeah, but … yeah, but.’
“It’s still early in the season and we’ve got a long road ahead of us. This is going to be a good test again.”
VANCOUVER WHITECAPS vs. LA GALAXY
BC PLACE, Vancouver, British Columbia
APRIL 2, 2016 (WEEK 5, MLS GAME #40)
10 pm ET (Time Warner Cable SportsNet, Time Warner Cable Deportes)
- Gyasi Zardes scored two goals in a game for the fourth time in his MLS career as the Galaxy won for the second time this season last time out – both wins at StubHub Center – in their 3-1 defeat of the San Jose Earthquakes on March 19.
- Pedro Morales scored his fourth consecutive goal – all over the last three games, all from the penalty spot – as Whitecaps FC won for a second consecutive match in a 1-0 win against the Houston Dynamo on Saturday at BC Place. The ‘Caps are the first team in MLS history to score four consecutive goals over three games all from penalty kicks.
- Whitecaps FC won both meetings between the teams last season, a 2-0 win April 4 at BC Place, then a 1-0 win June 6 at StubHub Center. The Galaxy were 9-1-2 vs. Vancouver over the first 12 meetings between the teams, before last season.
- The Whitecaps FC in the second meeting a year ago was their first ever vs. the Galaxy in Carson. The Galaxy had won the first six regular season home meetings with Whitecaps FC, outscoring them 13-1; they also took a victory there in the 2012 MLS Cup Playoffs, a 2-1 win in the Knockout Round.
