Playoff game gives Galaxy’s acquisitions a chance to prove their worth

Reporting from SEATTLE —  The plan seemed as foolproof as it was simple: spend freely to bring in three of soccer’s most recognizable players, invest a little less cash in a capable supporting staff, then watch the victories pile up.

But it hasn’t exactly worked out that way for the Galaxy, whose $19.5-million payroll, the second-largest in Major League Soccer history, has produced only one victory in the last seven games and bought the team nothing more than a one-game playoff Wednesday night in Seattle.

Win and the defending MLS Cup champion Galaxy goes on to a Western Conference semifinal. That’s not all that’s at stake though. The game is also a referendum on the short-term wisdom of the team’s midsummer decision to surround Robbie Keane, the league’s reigning most valuable player, with former Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard and Mexican national team star Giovani dos Santos.

“Bringing in players midyear is challenging. And we brought them in even past midyear,” said Bruce Arena, the Galaxy’s coach and general manager.

“It takes time to get to know them. What they’re good at, what they’re not good at, where to position their teammates.

“So it’s a process.”

Although Keane has scored a career-high 20 goals and in many ways is playing better than in his MVP season, Dos Santos has alternated between brilliant and pedestrian in his 10 games, notching two goals and three assists in his first three MLS starts but scoring only once and assisting on two goals in the two months since.

Gerrard has often appeared exhausted or disinterested in his 13 games. Playing one week as an offensive midfielder and the next in a defensive role, he has scored once since his mid-July debut. And that lack of chemistry has proven costly for the Galaxy, which is 4-4-2 with their three designated players on the field together.

“It is new to me,” said Gerrard, 35, who hadn’t played a club game for anyone but Liverpool before this season. “I’ve been here three months and it feels like it’s gone [by] in a flash.”

Arena thinks he may finally have found Gerrard’s comfort zone though. In Sunday’s regular-season finale, a 2-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City that sent the Galaxy tumbling from second to fifth in the conference, Gerrard played just behind Keane and Dos Santos, adopting more of an attacking posture than he has had all season.

Although that change produced only one goal, by Keane, Gerrard and Arena came away from the game confident progress had been made.

“We’re trying to find that last little piece of the jigsaw,” Gerrard said.

Completing the puzzle with a victory Wednesday will erase a lot of the Galaxy’s late-season disappointment.

“It doesn’t matter what’s happened before. It’s irrelevant,” said Keane, whose 73 goals rank second on the Galaxy’s all-time list. “This is where you need everybody stepping up. It’s a clean slate for everybody.

“No excuses now.”

Seattle, both the city and the team, will pose significant challenges.

The forecast calls for temperatures in the low 50s and a 40% chance of rain, which will make the artificial turf at CenturyLink Field even more treacherous. The Galaxy will also face a large, hostile crowd: the Sounders, who averaged a league-record 44,247 spectators at home this season, have sold out their last 124 games.

As for the team, the Sounders are riding an eight-game unbeaten streak — the Galaxy is 1-4-2 over the same two-month span — and haven’t lost at home since Aug. 1.

However, Seattle has never won a playoff series from the Galaxy, which ended the Sounders’ season three times since 2010.

“Everybody has to be positive now,” Keane said. “No matter’s what happened in the season, no matter if it’s happened yesterday or the last few weeks, it’s gone. It’s a one-off game.”

And one last chance for Keane, Dos Santos and Gerrard to prove the Galaxy’s midseason spending spree was money well spent.