There’s no getting around it: As we discussed last night, the LA Galaxy are in the trenches. Sigi Schmid’s side have seven matches left to scrape together as many points as possible and hopefully sneak into the playoffs.

Winless in August, the MLS Power Rankings politburo have punished LA accordingly as the Galaxy have fallen all the way to 14th place this week.

The Galaxy defended very well against LAFC, and only a penalty conceded marred their El Trafico. But despite Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s best efforts, morale really hasn’t improved and the Galaxy are being targeted as the team to fall out of the playoff spots. It’s up to them to prevent that from happening.

For once I disagree with my boss. Sure, the team was frustrated with the result, as they should have been. LA destroyed their cross-town rivals in the first half and could have used the extra two points.

That being said however, morale is positive at the moment. The Galaxy back line was tremendous during El Trafico, and let’s face it, when the Galaxy play direct and with purpose, no one can stop the Zlatan-led attack. Getting a positive result in Utah vs. a red-hot RSL hot will be a challenge, but the team’s confidence has got to be sky-high.