The Los Angeles Galaxy’s come-from-behind 3-2 win at Rio Tinto Stadium this week sent the MLS crowd into a frenzy, proclaiming “The Galaxy are back!” and “they are who we thought they were!”. &nbsp;To be honest, some of this was occurring as early as last Sunday on the heels of LA’s win over a struggling Portland team. &nbsp;With maximum points from their last two contests, it looks like the preseason favorites could be building<a href="http://youtu.be/DnVrSZHnvYY" target="_blank"> what we call a winning streak</a> and beginning to assert themselves in the playoff race. &nbsp;Ever the contrarian, however, I want to provide another perspective to this story: the Galaxy are not back. &nbsp;At least not yet. &nbsp;Here are a few reasons why we should take all of these stories with a grain of salt and one scenario that must occur for the “Galaxy is back” story to be true:
<ol>
<li>The two wins were the result of poor teams and poor play:&nbsp; The first win of the week was a 1-0 snoozer at home against a Portland team that is struggling to string together goals. &nbsp;Credit Josh Saunders for returning and picking up where he left off, which allowed the Galaxy to get the shutout. &nbsp;But this game could have been very different if Danny Mwanga had been granted a penalty when he was taken down from behind. &nbsp;As for the RSL result, the Galaxy&nbsp;benefited&nbsp;from an absurdly good night from Landon Donovan and some very poor play from the home team. &nbsp;Are both quality wins? Sure, more so the away victory. &nbsp;But did LA dominate either? Not really.</li>
<li>The schedule doesn’t get any easier from here:&nbsp;I couldn’t disagree more with the <a href="http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2012/06/21/are-the-los-angeles-galaxy-going-to-make-the-playoffs/" target="_blank">usually astute Noah Davis</a> and his analysis of the Galaxy’s schedule. &nbsp;To be blunt, LA has a nightmare set of game coming up, and if they don’t string together a few more wins soon, this discussion will be rendered moot. &nbsp;Saturday, the Galaxy are at home&nbsp;to Vancouver, but the Whitecaps look like a serious playoff team this year and have the players up front to unsettle LA’s defense. &nbsp;That game is followed by a visit to another playoff contender that is a bad match-up, San Jose, before relief comes in the form of Philadelphia at home. &nbsp;After that it gets brutal: a five game stretch in July that goes at Chicago, at Portland, at Vancouver, home to Chivas, at a (potentially) healthier Dallas. &nbsp;The travel alone will tax this team’s already thin depth.</li>
<li>The roster is not improved:&nbsp;Much has been made of the returns of Donovan and Keane from international duty as well as Josh Saunder’s admirable comeback. &nbsp;But that covers the fact that this spring with these players Los Angeles was still a team outside the playoff picture. &nbsp;Donovan has had a down year for him, and the team will lose Beckham for the London Olympics in a few weeks. &nbsp;The depth, and the back line, has not added new and improved talent, so why should we expect markedly different results from this roster?</li>
</ol>
<div>So how can we tell if the Galaxy are truly back? &nbsp;It won’t be a few more wins, but it will be on Landon Donovan. &nbsp;Much like the U.S. national team, Donovan is the talisman that helps spur his teammates and can make opponents pay for their mistakes (see Wednesday). &nbsp;The Galaxy are a team at a higher level when Donovan plays at a higher level; the same can be said of Beckham but as mentioned that will not be possible with his absence this summer. &nbsp;If the Galaxy are to survive their murderous stretch of schedule during June and July, and thus reassert themselves as contenders, they’ll need Captain America to lead the way.</div>

Why The LA Galaxy Are Not Contenders... Yet

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Why The LA Galaxy Are Not Contenders... Yet