The odds are stacked against the Galaxy as they head north to the Bay Area for Wednesday’s do or die MLS playoff game against the San Jose Earthquakes as I explore in this week’s column (along with a suggestion for improving the MLS playoff system).

Read the column here.

The hosts, meanwhile, are on a roll with striker Chris Wondolowski being named MLS Player of the Month for October. Here’s more from MLS: The honor is Wonolowski’s second consecutive MLS Player of the Month and his fourth this season.  In Major League Soccer history, no player has ever received the accolade this many times in one season.

Through three matches in October, Wondolowski led San Jose to a 1-0-2 record to help capture the club’s second Supporters’ Shield.  The Earthquakes forward also set individual records during the month. Entering October, Wondolowski needed five goals to tie the MLS single-season goal record, set by Roy Lassiter in 1996.  After a hat trick against Colorado and a goal against the LA Galaxy, “Wondo” tied Lassiter at 27 goals during San Jose’s final match in Portland.