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Will MLS champion Sounders turn around slow start of season against Galaxy, like they did last year?

Goalkeeper Stefan Frei and the Sounders are the reigning MLS champions, but just like last season they are off to a slow start.
(Ted S. Warren / Associated Press)
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Only two teams have repeated as MLS Cup champions in the past 20 years, and the Seattle Sounders’ Stefan Frei, who tends goal for the reigning kings, thinks he knows why.

“You have a very short off-season,” he said. “[And] all the teams are going to be gunning for you. But that’s what we’re facing. We’re going to have to deal with it.”

So far, they haven’t dealt with it very well, winning just one of six games this season heading into Sunday’s matinee with the Galaxy at the StubHub Center (1 p.m., ESPN, ESPN Deportes).

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That’s hardly causing a panic in Seattle, however. Last year, the Sounders entered August ninth in the 10-team Western Conference, then rallied to win 13 of their final 19 games en route to their first league title.

Frei isn’t counting on that happening again.

“You can’t be sitting here thinking, ‘You know what? Last time, we were fine. We turned it on at some point, and we’ll turn it on again at some point here too,’ ” he said. “We were in such a big hole last year. I don’t think [you] want to put such a massive challenge in front of you too many times.”

Seattle Coach Brian Schmetzer agrees.

“There is no magic switch that you can just turn on,” he said.

Maybe. But there were two games last season in which the Sounders definitely hit some kind of reset button to turn things around. And both games were against the Galaxy.

The first, a 1-1 draw in Seattle in Schmetzer’s first game as coach following the firing of Sigi Schmid, snapped a two-game losing streak. The Sounders wouldn’t lose again for nearly a month.

The second was a 4-2 September win at the StubHub Center, a result Schmetzer called “a breakthrough moment.” The four goals marked a season high on the road — and were just one short of the team’s total, home and road, for May and June combined.

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Seattle would lose just twice more in the final 2 1/2 months, including the playoffs.

But then Sounder-Galaxy games are typically breakthrough moments for somebody. Four times in the last seven seasons the teams have met in the playoffs, with the Galaxy eliminating the Sounders on three occasions.

“It might be the most underappreciated rivalry in the league,” Schmetzer said.

One thing that fueled it in the past was the personal battle between the coaches. The Galaxy’s Bruce Arena has the most championships in MLS history (five), while Schmid, who led the Galaxy to their first title in 2002, has the most wins (254).

Now both are gone, Arena quitting MLS to take over the U.S. national team four months after Schmid was fired. And that leaves Schmetzer and new Galaxy Coach Curt Onalfo with some big shoes to fill.

But that’s not all they have in common because the Galaxy (2-4) have gotten off to just as slow a start as the Sounders (1-2-3) — and for many of the same reasons.

Both teams have been hurt by injuries, for example. Defender Brad Evans, who hasn’t played all season, and center back Roman Torres didn’t travel with the Sounders, while center back Chad Marshall is unlikely to play. The Galaxy, who already have seen six starters miss time with injury, are now without goalkeeper Clement Diop, who is sidelined indefinitely with a hip issue. He’ll be replaced by Brian Rowe.

Both coaches also feel they’ve been snakebit on the field, outplaying opponents but coming up short on the scoreboard.

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“They’re very similar to how our beginning of the season has gone,” Onalfo said of the Sounders. “They’ve been punished kind of harshly. They’ve played very, very well. “

kevin.baxter@latimes.com

Twitter: kbaxter11

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