If you haven't recognized the Galaxy in their less-than-championship form this season, it may be hard to figure them out at all this afternoon.
First, if the Galaxy continue their poor play, they're likely to get spanked by the hottest team in Major League Soccer, Sporting Kansas City, in front of a sellout crowd of more than 18,500 at Livestrong Park.
Second, the Galaxy (1-2) could have to make do without the services of Landon Donovan and David Beckham, who are battling nagging leg injuries. Beckham did not make the trip and Donovan could be a game-time decision.
"This team the past three years has had a mentality that no matter what 11 is on the field, we're going to do things the right way and more often than not we get the results we want," said Donovan, who missed last weekend's 3-1 loss to New England. "And we've gone away from it this year."
Forward Robbie Keane, who wore the captain's armband in place of Donovan last week, said it's a matter of concentration for a club that can't find the formula that served them so well during their MLS Cup run in 2011.
"The attitude should always be the same," Keane said. "I think it's more lack of concentration than anything. The attitude or the will to do something, every player has to have the will to do it.
"Maybe the lack of concentration is what's been the case for the goals being conceded. That's certainly what the manager's been trying to install in the team this week."
The Galaxy pretty much fell apart in the loss to New England while allowing the Revolution to stream untouched through the midfield to set up goals. And when the Galaxy did retreat, they had trouble matching up on players who beat them to dangerous spots in front of the goal.
No one has to be reminded Omar Gonzalez, the MLS Defender of the Year in 2011, is recovering from knee surgery. But the Galaxy are making mistakes before the ball even reaches the backline.
"We have to defend as a team and defend as a unit," Keane said. "We can't just put the blame on the defenders. Everyone's knows it's the team and we have to take responsibility for it."
Kansas City (4-0) is the only team in the league with an unblemished record and has outscored its opponents 7-1. Forward C.J. Sapong already has scored three goals and midfielder Graham Zusi leads MLS with five assists.
Goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen has needed to make only seven saves.
"We've gotten back to good habits this week and realizing that you can't just step on the field and win games," Donovan said. "You have to do things properly or there's talented teams in this league that can beat you.
"They're a powerful team, they're a dynamic team and they're pretty much the same group with a year more experience, so they're going to be real excited for this game.
"For us it's the perfect test now after a bad result to see what we're made of."
No time to panic
Coach Bruce Arena is hardly panicking at the state of his team.
"We've not been efficient on either end of the field," he said. "The effort's there. I don't think the thinking's as good as it needs to be. I guess if you make it all neat and tidy, you could probably list five things and say these are the reasons, but if those are the reasons we would have that taken care of. It's not as easy as you think.
"At the end of the day, you don't have a checklist where you can check and say that's the reason why it happened. Just play well, you get right some of the plays you haven't recently and you have a little luck, too. That's all part of sports and especially in soccer, where it's a low-scoring game.
"If you make a critical mistake it makes a difference in the game. In basketball you've got the next 50 points to deal with."
MMissing in action
Beckham missed training on Thursday, which signaled to the team his status was doubtful.
In his place, Keane and midfielder Mike Magee were practicing free kicks, Beckham's specialty, with Arena paying rapt attention.
"You try to take free kicks as much as you can, but when David's there he's the man for the free kicks," Keane said. "And who's to argue it the way he takes free kicks?"
