Two teams remain, and YOU decide who is the best LA Galaxy team EVER!
After a month of polling, we have narrowed down the debate about the greatest LA Galaxy team of all time to two finalists.
Our final match-up pits back-to-back MLS Cup champions of 2011 and 2012 against one another. While there may be more similarities than differences when comparing the two sides, we will break down each team in depth before you get your chance to vote on a winner.
In the semifinals, we saw the closest vote percentages that we have seen since the bracket challenge began.
On one side of the bracket, the 2012 team beat the the 2002 team with just over twice as many votes. The other side saw a virtual coin flip land in favor of the 2011 squad. The most recent MLS Cup champions of 2014 received the largest number of votes for a losing side in the entire bracket.
The remaining teams both ironically finished their seasons with the same end result, hoisting a MLS Cup in front of their home stadium as the Houston Dynamo watched in defeat.
Here is how the rest of the bracket shook out:
Let’s take an in-depth look at our remaining sides.
2011
Team Record: 19-5-10 (W-L-D)
67 points (1.97 points per game)
MLS Cup Winners
Supporters Shield Winners
Coach: Bruce Arena
Team Leaders:
Goals – Landon Donovan (12)
Assists – David Beckham (15)
Games Played – Todd Dunivant (32)
Roster
2012
Team Record: 16-12-6 (W-L-D)
54 points (1.59 points per game)
MLS Cup Winners
Coach: Bruce Arena
Team Leaders:
Goals – Robbie Keane (14)
Assists – Landon Donovan (14)
Games Played – Sean Franklin (34)
Roster
As evidenced above, there were a lot similarities between both of these sides. The teams both operated with an offensive core of Landon Donovan and David Beckham and defensive stalwarts AJ DeLaGarza, Todd Dunivant, Omar Gonzalez, and Sean Franklin. I am not sure you can separate the seasons from these players.
One difference comes from a total of 8 games from Robbie Keane in 2011 (regular season and postseason combined) and a full season from Keane in 2012, where he led the team in goals (14). Do you take a younger Keane coming off a transfer from Tottenham Hotspur? Or is your preference to go with a Keane who has a full season of chemistry with Beckham and Donovan?
Another major difference comes from the goalkeeping position. The 2011 team featured a goalkeeper split between Donovan Ricketts (0.77 GAA) and Josh Saunders (0.93 GAA), if you don’t include a very special 45 minutes from Mike Magee (0.00 GAA).
In 2012, Josh Saunders was the clear number one, although he posted a 1.33 goals against average (GAA).
Both teams had very different postseason experiences as well.
The 2011 squad went 4-0 in the postseason. Defeating the New York Red Bulls in both legs of the Conference Semifinals, before eliminating Real Salt Lake and the Houston Dynamo in the single leg Conference Finals and MLS Cup Final respectively.
The 2012 team went 4-2 in the postseason, although the format was different than 2011. The Galaxy defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps at home in the initial knockout round followed by a loss at home against the San Jose Earthquakes which led to a legendary comeback at Buck Shaw Stadium to advance on aggregate in the Conference Semifinals.
The Galaxy also split the series with the Seattle Sounders in the Conference Finals, but scored enough goals in their opening match to secure an aggregate victory before winning the rematch against the Dynamo.
Depending on how you look it, both sides can be justified as being crowned the best ever.
Who do you got?
[yop_poll id=”17″]
Tune in to Corner of the Galaxy LIVE on Thursday at 7pm PDT to see who will be crowned champion!