CARSON, Calif. – How we see Saturday’s MLS Cup final at the Home Depot Center unfolding:
ProSoccerTalk’s Steve Davis
Finals tend to be safe contests, with slightly less fizz in the soda than we would ideally enjoy. Expect the same Saturday from the Home Depot Center, although the difference makers will surely give us a little something here and there to drop our jaws and awe over.
I’m calling the upset, mostly based on intangibles. Houston manager Dominic Kinnear, whose teams are always quite tightly wound on the field, will have every detail covered. (Not that Galaxy manager Bruce Arena won’t have his team well prepped, too.)
Well drilled Houston center backs Bobby Boswell and Jermaine Taylor – underrated Dynamo elements of late – will mostly deal with Robbie Keane’s sharp movement. Big and physical, both, they’ll be aided by Saturday’s refereeing selection; Silviu Petrescu is one who allows a lot of the rough and tumble.
Meanwhile, as L.A.’s center backs deal with Will Bruin and try to locate Brad Davis, Oscar Boniek Garcia will create something along the right.
I give slight edges the Dynamo way in goal and defense, with a push in midfield (unless David Beckham rises to something more than we’ve seen lately) and a substantial edge to L.A. at forward.
The other big consideration here is this wobbly Galaxy playoff form; L.A. simply is not a reliable side at the moment.
Both teams will turn up a goal. The match will need an extra 30 minutes – and the Dynamo will find the extra moment that matters.
Prediction: Houston Dynamo 2-1 in extra time
ProSoccerTalk’s Richard Farley
Loyal PST’ers will have pegged my prediction by now, so rather than start by recycled my thoughts on the matchups, changes, and strengths, I’ll relay a surreal dream I had on the flight from Portland to Los Angeles.
With the U.S. Women’s playing at Jeld-Wen on Wednesday, I got no sleep before hopping Portland’s light rail from downtown to the airport at 4:00 a.m. Thursday morning. (It’s important to note sleep deprivation is major part of this story.) Once settled into my seat, I slapped on my headphones, picked the first composer on the classical listings (Bach), dosed off and started working through the various ways this game might play out.
The most convincing (the one that aligned best with my prejudices) saw a lose but focused Houston team — intense through midfield, quick in transition, drilled with two weeks focus on last year’s opportunity lost — convert an early turnover into a surprise goal. In the dream, it was some Brad Davis-finished buildup down the left sliding a ball to Boniek Garcia for a far post finish after a quarter-hour.
Over the next 70 minutes, LA dominates, but Tally Hall affirms his place as one of the league’s best keepers by holding them off. Pressing and desperate in the last minutes of regulation time, LA gives up Houston’s insurance goal to Cam Weaver, who had just come on for Will Bruin.
It was a very convincing dream.
Overall, I think Dominic Kinnear’s constructed a very strong, perhaps under-appreciated team. Fifth place finishes leave some things under the radar. The move to pair Rico Clark with Adam Moffat pays off with a cup final match that plays to their strengths. For all the reverence of LA’s run to another final, they’ve only played well in one out of three home games this postseason.
In this one, Tally Hall comes up big.
Prediction: Houston 2, LA Galaxy 0
