Galaxy must find a solution fast

Slumping team, at key point in season, tries to get more out of Gerrard, Dos Santos.

The Galaxy held a team meeting Saturday morning in preparation for Sunday’s crucial Major League Soccer game with FC Dallas at StubHub Center (6:30 p.m., Fox Sports 1, Fox Deportes).

But there wasn’t a lot that had to be said.

“We have enough guys in the locker room that understand the time of year we’re in and what’s left on our plate,” associate coach Dave Sarachan said. “All you have to do is look at the standings.”

Those standings show the Galaxy tied with Dallas for second in a tight Western Conference race. Finish in the top two and the Galaxy gets a first-round bye in next month’s expanded playoffs, advancing to the conference semifinals with the homefield advantage.

Finish anywhere else in the top six, and the team would have to play a onegame wild-card match for a berth in the semifinals, where the deciding game would be on the road.

“It’s in our hands,” Sarachan said. “This is a six-point swing. It’s a big game and our guys know that.”

To make it count, though, the Galaxy will have to turn around a slump that has seen it go more than a month without a win and 279 minutes without a goal. The last time the team went three games without a win, it rebounded with 10 goals in consecutive victories.

Both those games came at home, where the Galaxy is a league-best 11-1-3 and will be playing Sunday before its sixth consecutive sellout. Contrast that with the Galaxy’s conference-low two wins in 15 road games, and securing home-field advantage in the playoffs takes on added importance.

But the Galaxy, which was buoyed by the late-season additions of Steven Gerrard and Giovani dos Santos, is still struggling to find out how best to use both players. Gerrard’s role as attacking midfielder has forced the offensive-minded Juninho to play deeper, something he’s still growing accustomed to. And in the last two games the Galaxy has used Dos Santos both up top with striker Robbie Keane and on the wing, where he’s played behind Gyasi Zardes.

“We still haven’t quite solved what is truly best with Giovani,” Sarachan said. “Is [he] better for us in one spot over the other? Gyasi one spot over the other?”

They may be running out of time to find an answer.

“Obviously, the league has tightened,” Coach Bruce Arena said. “All the games from here on in are very important.”