2009 L.A. Galaxy: palpably underwhelming?

Fingers crossed you'll stay in the PO places.

When does the season finish and when does the next one start?

 

Finished with MLS Cup in mid November, starts again in April. Places like Chicago, New York, Kansas City, Toronto etc are WAAAAY too cold to play through the winter.

 

Great lineup tonight. Arena needed to make adjustments and did them well.

Birchall had a good night, and Franklin was back and it really felt good to see him out there.

Best of all, Beckman had a strong performance, kept his shape and put it in the net when he absolutely had to. He could have made it two on the night, but let's face it, he's not a forward. His first goal made up for missing the second wide open goal attempt high. Donovan was good, too. Buddle got the other goal on a very good team play earned chance, with Donovan and Beckham having a big part in it.

Good stuff, and it helps wash away the bad taste of last weeks game.

Houston won to keep the G's just out of first place...

Galaxy v Houston in 3 weeks...just sayin'

EDIT: Point - the strong effort I described Bekham making wasn't because he scored, but because he finally worked hard to make the team plan come to fruition. Not coinicidentally, it contributed to a victory.

 

Los Angeles 2, Toronto FC 0

 

Getting close now...

Remaining schedule:
Sep 26 - at Columbus,
Oct 2 - vs. Chicago,
Oct 18 - at Houston,
Oct 24 - vs. San Jose

Playoffs begin after that...LA is on track to make it. I think we need 4 more points to assure getting in.

 

Got an email today from the Front Office:

The upper level was open in 2005 while Hercules Gomez led the Galaxy in an improbable run to the Championship despite barely squeaking into the playoffs.

Conclusion: Beckham sells shirts, but does not draw fans as well as a beloved local kid who bleeds Galaxy green and yellow.

 

Mauricio Cienfuegos: Legendary Galaxy player

No, no one currently with the team comes close.

 

The rumor is Beckham is hurt but he is trying to hide it from Capello's attention.

You read it here first...

Also LA Times blog by the risible Grahame L. Jones has it...

 

are you still coming to sunny England december ???

 

Galaxy were flat as a pancake. The Crew ran straight at the weak old dudes on the left, Greg Berhalter and Todd Dunivant, all game long.

Very odd lineup: Bryan Jordan started as forward and played the whole game. Career defender and rookie of the year Sean Franklin in his second game back after being injured all season long started in the Right Midfield. AJ and Omar played in the back on the right.

Donovan tried hard with Birchall, but both were in effective.

Not a poorly officiated game. Not a game where the Galaxy could have won but for a few minor plays...G's were never in it.

Seattle lost, so Galaxy remain in place.

Looks good, bushey.

 

cool , i e-mail you soon

 

Only three games left. Friday evening there is a game at home...

 

Anyone going to be in LA tomorrow?

There will be free tickets given to LA supporters at 7pm on the North side of the stadium.

If you are in town, let me know! I'll buy you a beer.

 

Hi Fitz, I'm not going to be in LA tomorrow, but I hope to be in the area towards the end of this month.

I have sent you a PM with more details.

Regards Jim (TVOR)

 

I gotcha covered.
-Fitz

 

Galaxy 1 - 0 Chicago

Two years ago, Chicago beat the Galaxy on the last game of the season to take the last playoff spot. A bit of revenge this year, as we may have returned the favor.

This game, though a clean sheet, featured great chances for Chicago, and required Omar Gonzalez' brilliant defensive work and great save after great save by Donovan Ricketts. Landon Donovan was in good form, playing a defensive midfield role and repeatedly making 60-70 yard runs to attack. He scored on a blistering run in which he gave the Chicago defense NO chance.

Galaxy technically haven't clinched the spot yet, but made it statistically very likely. It depends on the outcome of the DC United/Chivas USA game today. As I understand it, if Chivas wins or ties, DC is out and the Galaxy are in. DC needs maximum points and they haven't beaten the Goats since 2007. Should be interesting.

An interesting post game note:
Since The Incident (tm) in which Beckham incited a fan ticketed in section 137 to jump out of the stands and fight him, he has rarely even looked in the direction of sections 137 & 138, the home of the Riot Squad. Last night, he came to the very same barrier where he was pointing and taunting the fans, took off his shirt and threw it into the aisle between 137 and 138 to some fan. One of the Riot Squadders threw their LARS scarf out across the barrier in return.

It still doesn't make up for lying about the incident in the press and calling us 'a disgrace' when all he needed to do was look in the bloody mirror to see what a disgrace looks like. But, this was an important step in reconciliation, and it made me happy to see.

From the Galaxy Blog, post game interviews with the team, here are Beckham's comments on Bruce Arena:

My friend Catamount noted about this comment, "This is the first time I've seen Beckham admit, albeit grudgingly, that Bruce knows what he's doing. Does this mean Becks has bought in to what the Galaxy are trying to do? Not ready to say that yet, but it appears that he is starting to admit that these backwater Americans actually know a thing or two about the beautiful game."

 

I really hope he writes a big check to the MLS to buy himself out...

 

1-0 Goats! 60 minutes left to play...
Playoffs here we come!

 

see you in seattle

 

Come on Fitz are you in or not? The game must be over soon

 

Its no good I'm falling asleep, I'll check it out in the morning, nite mate and good luck.

 

Lord, I hope so...

 

Well played Ftiz glad to see the galaxy back .. it's been what 3 years?

 

Yeah...ridonculous...

Arena's been good stabilizing the lineup, and stemming the flow of stupid football decisions from AEG.

I hope Beckham and Donovan help us bring the MLS Cup home on their way out...

 

I'm a proud Dynamos fan these days. But i've spent an interesting last 30 mins catching up on the Galaxy. Good work Fitz my old friend!

 

De Rosario's departure for TFC is interesting.

It shows that the success you get in MLS isn't because you have a star like a Beckham or a JP Angel or a De Ro...it's by building a true team of very capable players that understand the team plan and where they fit in, and then not screwing around with it.

Dynamo deserve their place in the rankings. The G's play them Sunday the 18th away.

 

Does success = money in the MLS? Or do big names = money regardless of the teams performance on the field?

If it's the latter, then that is a shame. It'll stop the very thing you mention happening very often. It's a team game and to rely so heavily on one star is never likely to bring success. Especially at that level where the "star" isn't likely - without being disrespectful - to be at the top of his game or likely to be able produce his top level week-in week-out.

I do think that the Dynamos have a pretty sensational shirt. It's very nice, i shall purchase one over christmas when i'm in town. However it does hurt me that Akinbiyi once pulled on the famous orange and light blue.

 

In the pre-Beckham days, the Galaxy were the only team to be profitable, and they did it by building their own stadium and moving out of the rented Rose Bowl, winning a championship with hard men of no name, and building a fan base that cared about them.

Since then, the Galaxy is a story of what not to do. I feel they are getting their act together at long last now...the teams that have had the most success over the last 5 years, Houston and New England, are built around a broad base of solid players, not a towering talent and a bunch of losers.

Columbus last season did it just right: they spent well on a player of immense talent in Guillermo Barros-Schelotto, layering him on top of a well constructed core of a team. They won the championship. Schelotto's salary doesn't even count as the salary cap defying "DP". That's golden.

 

I'm glad i picked a winner in Houston then. Well not really picked, forced into it somewhat, but still, it's nice to jump on a winning bandwagon.

Baros-Schelotto is one of my favourite players. Absolute genius back in his Boca days.

Fans want victories at the end of the day, not just a single big name. And teams win games more often than big names win games. The novelty of seeing a star player wears off pretty quickly if the team around him sucks. And he's hardly going to be up for it if his team is useless. Would have been interesting to see whether Becks would have jumped ship so swiftly had the Galaxy been competitive.

 

They are now...now that the team isn't built around him.

I think he'd have gone to play in Europe somewhere anyway because Capello said he won't play for England unless he's in Europe.

 

No Galaxy game this weekend due to the International games...yet some MLS teams are playing...The outcomes will effect the playoff race.


Isaac says:

 

So how many do the red bulls need to win.. i think they need to not lose for a couple seasons to make the playoffs

 

Any news from WFC yet about the Newcastle game? Or have you not sent your e mail yet?

 

I got a reply that went along the lines of 'We haven't heard of any changes to the schedule yet'.

So I got that going for me...

 

The 2nd to last installment of Isaac's preview: