2008 LA Galaxy

I see San Jose are about to sign Darren Huckerby on a free transfer, by all accounts Toronto had "shotgunned" him but his concerns about their pitch meant they sold his registration to SJ. He could tear defences apart if LA's is anything to go by.

 

Brad Guzan is the future USMNT keeper starter.

He's been really good throughout his career and almost went to Villa last season but he got bounced because I think he hadn't had enough USMNT starts or callups at that point.

Without him, the goats are screwed badly. I really like him and think it's too bad he is stuck on the team I hate the most.

I feel the same about Sacha Kljestan, the midfielder for Chivas.


There are quite a few players that could make it in the Championship. Keep in mind, Brian McBride, Clint Dempsey and Carlos Bocanegra are good MLS pros. I feel most MLS teams are Championship (top to bottom!) level quality, and some could be cellar dweller premiership teams. That's even more bold a statement given the salary capping that limits what we can pay guys. If we could freely pay guys, 2 things would happen:
1) The teams would be much stronger on the bench and in the starting IX.
2) The league would bankrupt itself just like the NASL did.
So...

You want names?
Kljestan would be a good English pro, Guzan of course, Jonathan Bornstein and Francisco Mendoza also from Chivas would cut it.

New England's Michael Parkhurst would be great in the English league, Chad Marshall from Columbus Crew...a lot of people think Taylor Twellman could play there, but I think he is a little too uncreative, but that didn't stop PNE from trying to get him a few times. The MLS & the Revs blocked the transfers. A few guys are on the bubble: Kyle Beckerman, Wade Barrett, Juan Toja, Jimmy Conrad, Maurice Edu, maybe Maykel Galindo.

There's a bunch of people who have the skill but age has them crossed off the list: Galaxy's Chris Klein would be great in the Championship if he was younger, not to mention Guillermo Barros-Schelotto, JP Angel, Beckham, Cuahtemoc Blanco, Christian Gomez, Luciano Emilio. Then there's Landon Donovan who if he 'feels comfortable' would be a world beating attacker in nearly any league.

Young Jozy Alttidore has just signed with Villareal, and Freddy Adu "adon't" play for the MLS anymore either, he's at Benfica now. There are a whole raft of Americans playing in Europe at some capacity already. A half dozen (Kasey Keller until recently and Gregg Berhalter) in the Bundesliga, a dozen or so (Heath Pearce, Danny Califf) in the Scandinavian leagues, Onyewu in Belgium, none in France and Italy though. Most of these guys would have to take a paycut to play in the Championship which is why they don't.

In my opinion, the Spanish league is the best choice for the most talented Americans. They'll not only do better, they'll learn more creativity there than they would in the English league, and that's what our guys need most.

 

When the MLS first came to our attention there was a fair amount of hype about DeRosario, is he any good ?

 

He's very good. I'd put him in the list of guys that like Chris Klein, missed his chance due to age.

 

A few snapshots from a friend.

Brad Guzan saves a Beckham free kick...


Nice sequence of Klein shooting on Guzan:





Here's 60% of the Galaxy payroll:

 

"Nice sequence of Klein shooting on Guzan".

What sort of half-time entertainment is this ? :]]

 

Haha. Only in America.

 

Ew.

 

Is Altidore as good as I think he is? Adu came with all this hype, but has struggled to get into Benfica's team, and the love for him had cooled a bit before he even joined them.

There are quite a lot of players in Scandinavia from what I've seen, and the Irish league is littered with Yanks.

Good luck with the rest of the season Fitz- there's always Jordan Stewart.

 

JS? Yikes.

Yes, Jozy is the real deal. He may not be the next Ronaldo but he is young and malleable and in a place where he can learn creativity lacking in what he's been trained with so far.

Freddy was such an icon that the MLS was afraid to let him go off to Europe...that was a big mistake. Just like what Jozy needed, Freddy needed to be exposed to things he couldn't get here. I don't think it's too late for him, he is really talented and frankly speaking SMARTER football-wise than most of his stodgy athletic American teammates on the US team. I think his best moments are ahead of him, though he lost a lot of time at DC United.

 

Last year's Galaxy v Red Bulls away game was a HUGELY ENTERTAINING 6-5 loss for the G's that got a lot of people talking about what the Galaxy could do if they put the pieces together.

No way this game is that entertaining...

Here's Isaac's Preview

 

Hi

at my local pub, the guy running it was in the army. His army troop football team were going to come and play against his pub team in a friendly. But apparently the army team are now playing LA galaxy instead. Is this true?

 

What?

If the team can offer a 70,000 seat stadium in the US filled with Beckham starved fans, it might be. What do you think?

 

i think he was asking whether his pub land lord is in the army. the answer is no

 

Seriously, I had to read that about 4 times just to get a partial comprehension of what was being asked.

I thought you guys invented English?

Anyway, some Becks $ Stuff along with a statement from MLS Commissioner Don Garber on expecting MLS as a whole to turn a profit in 2010

http://www.nypost.com/seven/07182008/sport...laxy_120406.htm

MLS Teams already making a profit:
Chicago Fire
Colorado Rapids
FC Dallas
LA Galaxy
Toronto FC

 

Heh

What im saying is are LA Galaxy playing a friendly against an army team in their pre season? And no the land lord is not in the army any more.

 

No. The Galaxy are not in pre-season. It is halfway through the MLS regular season now and friendlies are not welcome.

You may want to read a post or two up for the preview of this weekend's game.

During MLS off-season, which is from October to April, friendlies are played. Last year we played two A-League teams (Wellington Phoenix, FC Sydney), a K-League team (FC Seoul) and a J-League team (Gamba Osaka) as well as a couple of Chinese teams. During the season, it is very unlikely we'd play friendlies at all, though we did play in vancouver as an obligation to make good on a cancellation from last year. Beckham played 45 minutes with the reserves and then he was put on ice.

At the mid season point, MLS takes a break and has an 'All Star' game. West Ham is coming over to play a pre-season (for them) friendly against the MLS 'All Stars', but that's as close as it gets. I hope no Galaxy player takes the field, but I know at least Beckham will play.

 

Is it not like all other NA sports in that one conference plays another, or is it a straight-on MLS vs the World affair?

 

It used to be a West vs East thing, but somebody figured out a lot more people would go and watch if they brought some English stiffs with a famous name on their shirt over, and I'll be damned if that game doesn't sell out every time now.

Suckers! It's actually a fun game to watch, but it is not good football.

 

And if it was conference versus conference it would be a lot better. Like the Pro Bowl.

 

This just in...former Middlesbrough player Abel Xavier was cut by the Galaxy today. He just can't defend MLS attacks half the time. It's sad. He has a great mind for the game and shows creativity especially on his passing but he can't keep up here.

 

It was.

Eastern vs Western

 

Worth a punt?

 

:dismay:

did you see his two horrible errors lately?

i'd rather have stephen carr

 

What do you think ?

 

they have the chivas galaxy game on goalissimo right now. the first goal was a peach!

 

It was...Razov is quite a finisher. *****.

 

I also saw that, a fine strike indeed.

 

A nice 89' equalizer form Donovan...love it! He also hit the post in the 93'...could have been legendary but as it was it was pretty good.

Final 2-2

 

MLS All-Stars take on West Ham Thursday night.
Should be a **** poor match with some hotdogging and terrible defense. Look for trouble in the stands with travelling West Ham supporters who will take advantage of the US security companies total lack of sophistication with regard to football hooligans.

 

Isaac's Preview of the Galaxy game Saturday- excellent as always.

 

It's better than the Sharpee ad's!

 

How long do you think it'll bee before a tabloid picks up on Beck's scoping out the blonde on the corner with the boys in the back?

 

Upward trend continues in MLS...literally
Jamie Trecker reports on MLS Commissioner Don Garber's annual 'State of the League' address.

The report is a lot about Canada expansion teams, but some of what was not really covered in the write up is as follows, summarized by the inestimable Isaac of the LARS: