Post-Game Thoughts on the Seoul-Galaxy Game

By: Laurie | March 1st, 2008

First off. Umm… Penalties?!?!

Did anybody else who was watching the game know that we went to penalties after drawing in regulation time? Did they show it on TV? Did they say anything about it? I know my brain is fuzzy at 1:30 in the morning, but I think I would have heard if somebody had said penalties. But maybe not.

We apparently lost 2-1 on penalties last night after everybody but Becks had his PK saved. Since Beckham is not traditionally known for his penalties, perhaps that’s good news?

Oh, well. I think Ruud learned a lot of the things he set out to learn, and that’s what counts in the preseason.

A couple of things worth noting. First, according to the announcers, Alvaro has been officially signed. My thought: He’s Brazilian, he has some skill on the ball, and he has an almost Ruiz-like ability to get fouled in areas that could allow Beckham to deliver lethal free kicks. What’s not to like?

Also, when I re-read my liveblog last night, it came across as too hard on Xavier. X has incredible positioning skills and an ability to get his head on the ball where needed. He’s invaluable defensively on corners, free kicks and crosses and any time the ball heads toward goal in the air. Where he falls short is when it comes to keeping up with speedy forwards. If he’s going to be on the field, we’re going to need some faster defenders to compensate for this fact. He should never end up in a situation where he’s the only one between a fast player and our goalkeeper. Jiggle the defense however necessary, but don’t leave him back there alone.

Next. About Carlos Ruiz. This pains me a bit to say it, but I may have been wrong about him. He was nothing but professional last night. And you know those Beckham balls that sailed off into space last year and made you think, “Why don’t we have anybody who can get on the end of those?!?!” Last night it looked like we just might. He’s rusty, of course. I don’t know that he’s even played since his knee surgery, aside from the closed-door Houston game. But I saw serious potential in this game, and it made me hopeful.

But if replays at any time this year show him taking a blow to the leg and going down holding his face? I’ll cheerfully go out on the field myself and deliver the punishment blow, Rico Clark-style.

(Note to Galaxy security: I am joking.)

As far as the youngsters, would you believe I missed Tudela last night? Not that there was a gaping hole in the midfield for him to fill — there wasn’t. But I like the kid. I’m hoping there’s at least a spot for him as a sub this year.

Also, Ely Allen shows great promise and could be awesome with a little experience. Alan Gordon was a pleasant surprise in the withdrawn forward role, Bryan Jordan has a good workrate but is still a bit of a question mark for me. And I’m hoping Mike Randolph and Celestine Babayaro will click a whole lot better than they did last night. (Should their positions be reversed?) And I’m looking forward to Landon being better.

And I think I may have liked the look of 4-3-3. Or more kind of 4-3-1-2. It’s…different. But in a fun way. When Landon is better, are you seeing him up front with Ruiz, with Gordon behind them? Or Gordon and Ruiz up front with Landon withdrawn?

Does that about cover things? What did you think?