Donovan sees winning signs in Galaxy

Forward thinks club bears resemblance to 2001 Cup-winning team in San Jose

He specifically is thinking about 2001, when Donovan was with San Jose and playing for his first championship. He scored the Earthquakes' tying goal in the 43rd minute, and Dwayne De Rosario won it 2-1 over the Galaxy with a goal in the 96th minute. The reason why Donovan is thinking so much about that game and that team is because this Galaxy squad reminds him so much of his former club from eight years ago.

"It probably has the biggest resemblance to the first year I won," said Donovan, who recently became the MLS all-time leader in playoff goals with 17. "We had a new coach and a bunch of new players and we had a mentality that we were sick of losing.

"Once we got that taste for success the momentum carried all the way through, and that's how this year is going."

The Galaxy hired Bruce Arena as head coach and general manager last August to take over for Ruud Gullit, and Arena brought in 16 new players in a roster makeover that resulted in one of the most stunning turnarounds in MLS history. The Galaxy, who tied for the league's worst record (with San Jose) at 8-13-9 in 2008, rebounded from a 1-1-9 start to finish with a 12-6-12 record and their first appearance in the final since 2005 -- the last time they won the Cup.

The Galaxy are taking on a Real Salt Lake team making its first trip to the final. They also are the fourth MLS team to enter the championship game with a sub-.500 regular-season record (11-12-7) and the second in as many years. The New York Red Bulls did the honors last year when they were 10-11-9 but lost to the Columbus Crew 3-1 in the championship game.

Donovan and the rest of the Galaxy are not taking Real Salt Lake lightly and for good reason. They are 5-5-5 all-time against their Western Conference counterparts and were 0-1-1 against them in the regular season. Real Salt Lake reached the final with impressive playoff road victories over the Crew and Chicago Fire and arguably are the hottest team in MLS.

"They have a very good team," Arena said. "A very well-balanced team. They have dangerous strikers in the combinations they use with (Robbie) Findley and (Yura) Movsisyan and (Fabian) Espindola. And they certainly have a real nice combination in midfield with (Javier) Morales, (Kyle) Beckerman and (Will) Johnson and (Andy Williams). Their back line has been solid, too. So has (goalkeeper) Nick Rimando.

"It's going to be a real challenge."

"They're dangerous to play against," Donovan said. "They're confident, probably at ease. They're thinking they're the underdog and expectations aren't very high for them, so they're going to play that way. We have to match that and we have to continue to do what we do well."

And that is defense. The Galaxy, which allowed a league-high 62 goals last season, cut that number in half in 2009, thanks to a defense that is almost completely new. It is anchored in goal by Donovan Ricketts, who had 9 shutouts and a 1.03 goals-against average. In front of him are central defenders Gregg Berhalter, fresh from a lengthy career overseas, and Rookie of the Year Omar Gonzalez.

Real Salt Lake have their own top goalkeeper in Rimando, who has been brilliant in the postseason with a 0.60 GAA, and Findley (a former member of the Galaxy) who has two playoff goals and Morales and Williams, who have one each in the playoffs.

Findley was Real's leading goalscorer during the regular season with 14, while Movsisyan had 8. Clint Mathis, who also spent time with Los Angeles earlier in his career, led the team with 7 assists.

Real Salt Lake indeed are a dangerous team, but the Galaxy are strong in their own right.

"You're in the final, so any team you play is going to be tough," Klein said. "From a team that has a lot of momentum right now, yeah, it's a tough one to play. Saying that, we haven't been so bad the last few months either."

Larry Morgan is a contributor to MLSnet.com.

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