Over the past few days, the Los Angeles Galaxy have welcomed Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard into the lineup, signed Mexican national team star Giovani dos Santos and crept to within one point of the Seattle Sounders atop the MLS Western Conference standings.

That’s not a bad few days, even by the standards of the five-time and defending MLS Cup champions.

Meanwhile, the Sounders have lost four of their last five games. Newly signed midfielder Erik Friberg is working his way to game-readiness, but there seem to be no additional roster moves on the front burner. If one comes, general manager Garth Lagerwey says it will be an action and not a reaction, as Sounders FC has no interest in keeping up with the Joneses – including the Joneses of Carson, California.

“I have zero interest in what the L.A. Galaxy does, and I never will,” Lagerwey said. “… We value ourselves enough where if we run a good organization the way we want to, then we will have success; and that’s what we have to believe. The Galaxy have had a ton of success, and they’re worthy of our respect. But they’re a different organization than we are.”

The Sounders are in the midst of a slump: three points from the last potential 15. But they believe that will last no more than two weeks until Clint Dempsey, Brad Evans and Marco Pappa return from international duty, and Obafemi Martins and Stefan Frei recover from injury.