By Dario Camacho - MIAMI, FL (Nov 11, 2011) US Soccer Players -- The script couldn’t have been written any better. It was the sort of night that everything aligned perfectly for the Los Angeles Galaxy and Major League Soccer. The LA - Real Salt Lake game had everything you could ask for in a Western Conference Final. Goals, fantastic chances, frantic moments in front of net, the dings of balls caroming of posts, the big names making a difference. All culminating in Bruce Arena and Landon Donovan holding the Western Conference Final trophy, grinning, amidst the fluttering confetti of blue and gold.
It was a night for celebration in LA, and given the disappointment of last years MLS Cup Final, it was likely a night of celebration inside the confines of the League office. Supporters' Shield to MLS Cup is how the playoffs are supposed to work. When that team's stadium is also the site of the final, you sell all available tickets quickly. MLS spends the two-week break between the Conference finals and MLS Cup without the worries that surrounded last year's game in Toronto.
For those of you that quickly forgot that game, let's just leave it at underwhelming. What viewers saw on their television sets was a final in torrid conditions. Freezing temperatures set at 44°F at the start of the game left many with tickets at home. The white maple leaf at the center section of the stands popping up here and there through the bundled, brave fans that endured the temperatures. As the night progressed, the Fahrenheit dipped further, the crowd dwindled, and the red of BMO field pierced through. Patches of seats began to materialize and only the determined saw the game to its end.
Not a shinning example of an MLS game, no less an MLS Cup Final.
It could be a different ball game this year. In no small part that's because the home team is playing… well, at home. The last time a team played for the championship in front of the home fans was in 2002, and that game also holds the record for best attended MLS Cup.
Obviously there will be no record breaking at this edition of the Final, but the hope is for the kind of atmosphere that translate well on television. That's the point of soccer-specificity. Smaller stadiums leading to ticket scarcity and a big event feel rather than finding the game lost in a sea of empty seats in a National Football League venue. Given that the only bigger venues in the LA area are mammoth stadiums that hold over 90,000, the 27,000-capacity Home Depot Center is the perfect fit.
This game should be expected to help tell the MLS story, raising hopes, ambitions and prospects that soccer on this part of the continent can and will grow. It’s the atmosphere that was so sorely absent back in Toronto last year.
...And Something Taken
Of course, the venue is half the equation. Lets not forget what happened on the field that November in Canada. The result was nothing less than an ugly reminder that in Major League Soccer the true factor of success tends to side with the team with the most brawn. With Colorado, the Rapids brought some of that Rocky Mountain grit that grated the flair and much more stylistic play of Dallas. The game quickly became a physical battle that left technical ability and flowing soccer clearly out of the match.
It’s a shame then that this year’s Final will be missing one of the League's better technical players in Brad Davis.
This year, with LA and Houston in the Final, we could have witnessed a marvelous competition of two of the most prolific areal passers in David Beckham and Davis - both MLS Best XI selections. Seeing how things can’t always be perfectly aligned, Brad Davis, healthy all through the regular season will miss the game due to a right quadriceps tear suffered during the Eastern Conference Final at Sporting Kansas City.
The areal bombardment that both Davis and Beckham provided this year was crucial. 31 assists were delivered this season from either Davis’s left foot, or Beckham’s right. It’s also worth noting that Brad Davis created 44% of the offense for the Houston Dynamo attack. For Beckham, his revival as a crucial player is unquestionable. LA defender Gregg Berhalter might have suggested to the media that Houston is pulling a fast one and the Galaxy are expecting Davis to play, but perhaps closer to reality one had to wonder what a match-up between those two opposing feet would've look like.
Davis's absence dampens the mood a little, for sure. The Dynamo is a different team without him, but that different team won the Eastern Conference final. Without Davis, there's a major 'what if' on the table. It certainly changes the tone of what was always going to be a tough matchup for the Dynamo.
Home field advantage is nice for the Galaxy and the League, but for the Dynamo it's just another obstacle they face on what no one would describe as an easy road to an MLS Cup. Maybe that ends up a motivational tool, but it would be nice to see both teams on the Home Depot Center field at full strength.
Dario Camacho made the move from regular commentator as Pesmerga7 to columnist. He writes weekly for US Soccer Players. Follow him on twitter at DarCam7.
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