The LA Galaxy have a few fundamental elements to their attack — patterns of play, feed it to the capable striker — but the element that seems to augur best for their chances in a given game is that old hobbyhorse of mine, their pace of play.
Put simply, when a game slows down for LA, they nearly always play worse. When they play quickly, they generally play better. In contrast, their opponent for Saturday’s MLS Playoff game, Nashville SC, are far more comfortable playing a slow game, as they usually seek to absorb in defense and make the most of their few attacking chances on the day.