When the dust settles over the MLS playoff scene — all will be decided within the next month — five of the league’s 13 clubs will be out of the action. As things stand at the moment, those clubs will be Salt Lake, Toronto, Columbus, Colorado, and Los Angeles.

There probably will not be a change in that situation. It is pretty much what could have been expected — except for the Los Angeles Galaxy. With super-megastar David Beckham aboard, the team was expected to sail into the playoffs. But the Galaxy was a disaster from the very start of the season, even before the almost comic fiasco of Beckham’s injury saga added to its woes.

At the top end, the Eastern Conference has D.C. United and the New England Revolution in first and second positions. No surprise there. But there is a mild surprise in the West, where current champions Houston lead. It is Chivas USA who is in second place, not the more fancied FC Dallas.

Assuming no changes in positioning, those four teams will get home-field advantage when the Conference playoffs begin in late October. The advantage is a questionable one: In each two-game series, it means playing the second game at home, which is really an advantage only if the aggregate score is tied at the end of that game, and overtime is necessary. Many coaches would prefer to play the first game at home.

It is probable that the two finalists will come from those four top teams. The preferred final (my preferred final) would be D.C. United against Chivas USA, two teams that play spirited, attacking soccer with style. D.C. has a league-high 48 goals, while Chivas has 39. The final MLS Cup, to be played in Washington, D.C., on November 18, needs the spice of goal scoring, because recent finals have been anything but sparkling.

That is a fault that has to be laid at the door of the New England Revs. They are another attacking team — with 43 goals scored, they are second only to D.C. United — but a team that seems unable to function when it gets to the big game. The Revs have been in three of the last five MLS Cup finals, have lost all three, have scored just one goal, and have been largely responsible for turning those finals into forgettable bores.

Not many people outside the Revs fan base will want to give them a fourth chance at proving themselves. But in current form, the Revs could well reach the final again. To do so, they will probably have to beat D.C. United — something they haven’t been able to do this season. D.C. has had the better of the three games played, with 3–0 and 4–2 wins, and a 1–1 tie.

While goal scoring has been a dominant factor in the East, defense has been more important in the West. Houston has scored only 28 times, but has given up a mere 21 goals (compared to 28 for D.C. and 34 for the Revs). Chivas USA has surrendered only 22 goals while scoring 39 times. Those figures give the edge to Chivas, but Houston is the more experienced team.

Of the four wild-card teams — the New York Red Bulls, Kansas City Wizards, Chicago Fire, and FC Dallas — the threat of an upset comes only from the Red Bulls in the East, and FC Dallas in the West. Both teams can play attractive soccer, but have been plagued by patchy form, hardly a playoff plus.

Always bearing in mind the mystery of the Revs’ big-game paralysis, there is plenty of hope for a lively MLS Cup final this year.

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For MLS, the big disappointment of the season has to be the feeble form of the Galaxy. With an anemic scoring record of 24 goals in 22 games, the team has managed only four wins. The precipitate decline of the Galaxy — it went from being the champion team in 2005 to missing the playoffs in 2006 and is now repeating that failure — coincides with the tenure of coach Frank Yallop, who joined at the beginning of the 2006 season.

His team-building, or team-altering, moves have always seemed reasonable enough, but they have produced a very ordinary team. It is puzzling, because the heart of the team throughout has been the brilliant Landon Donovan. But the brilliance has been only sporadic — absence on national team duty has not helped — and the supporting cast has never looked more than adequate.

For a failure of this dimension, it is invariably the coach who pays the price, and Yallop will be a lucky man to survive. But the responsibility goes beyond Yallop. The overall picture of the Galaxy this season — particularly since the upheaval caused by Beckham’s arrival — has been one of a team, and a front office, struggling to cope.

AEG, having invested millions in the daring move to bring in Beckham, cannot be delighted to see its investment receiving almost amateurish treatment. General manager Alexi Lalas must surely be wondering about his job security. His repeated statements almost encouraging Beckham to wander off and play for England whenever he likes have been, at best, ill advised.

Someone — and how can it now be either Yallop or Lalas, who have both gone along with his every wish? — needs to drum it home to Beckham that the Galaxy must be his number one priority from now on.

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Failure was not to be expected from the Galaxy. But maybe it was always likely up in Toronto, a first-year expansion team. And failure is what they’ve got. Not just failure, but abysmal failure. Toronto’s record, at five wins, 13 losses, and six ties, is barely better than the Galaxy’s, but the quality of its soccer has been quite dreadful. As of now, it has failed to even score a goal in its last nine games — some 13 1/2 hours of soccer!

Coach Mo Johnston must bear full responsibility, with his insistence on bringing in very average British players as the team’s core: Welshman Carl Robinson, Englishman Andy Welsh (a total failure, already back in England), and the overly physical Danny Dichio. But Johnston persists, unable to look beyond the British Isles for his players. He is now giving a trial to the 28-year-old former Chelsea player, Jody Morris.

The debacle in Toronto is a great shame, because the fan support has been tremendous. With over 20,000 fans filling the stadium for every game, the color, streamers, confetti, and cheering create an atmosphere unmatched by any other MLS team.

pgardner@nysun.com