Mid-Week Match, Galaxy take on Real Salt Lake

By: jen | May 6th, 2009

The Galaxy (1-1-4) take on Real Salt Lake (3-3-0) tonight at 6:00 Pacific. Real are coming off of a 2-0 loss to the Colorado Rapids last weekend, and a 4-1 loss to the Seattle Sounders last week. Meanwhile, the Galaxy’s star is rising after a win against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday. In addition, we have only a few injuries, with all of our starting XI healthy and available.

Could this be part of the reason for our upswing?

This jersey was hung in the locker room before Saturday’s game. From what we’ve heard, this is a nice departure from the team mentality of last year.

UPDATE FROM NathanHJ: Just wanted to put in my own two cents on tonight’s game.

RSL has been invulnerable at home for a little while now. Moving to their new stadium in Sandy has helped their cause as well. Tonight they will be without Javier Morales and Jamison Olave due to suspension and Nick Rimando due to injury. This is a good thing for the Galaxy since it will make it easier to compete in the middle of the field and take a bit of pressure off the defense.

However, I don’t expect that this will make it _easy_ for the Galaxy. We are still pulling the team together as folks come back from injuries and all the players get to know each other. And the team core is a bunch of aging veterans who aren’t going to dazzle the opposition or burn up the turf. So I look for a repeat of what we did in Colorado: defense first, everyone gets back, hold the shape, be incredibly frustrating and look carefully for counterattacking opportunties. RSL’s absences should be helpful here.

Donovan Ricketts, Gregg Berhalter, Landon Donovan, and Edson Buddle need to show up to play. If that happens we could eke out a result. Otherwise we’ll be on the wrong end of a 1-0 or 2-0 loss.

Or am I full of crap? What do you think is a reasonable outcome for tonight’s game? Let me know in the comments below.

Previews from other sources:

Goal.com

Official LA Galaxy MLS site

Real Without Three Starters

Some Related Galaxy Posts:

Category: 2009 Season, Game Previews

« Post-Game Analysis: Galaxy vs. Red Bulls | Home | Post-Game Analysis: Galaxy vs. Real Salt Lake »

Mike

I felt like shit the whole game until the end. My stomach would turn when RSL got a ball over the top because Bernhalter would get beat every time in the first half. In the second that wasn't a problem.

I think it was great that we came back but I am not overjoyed about the draw. I was ecstatic when Magee tied it up.
George

WOOHOO, First team to get a point at Rio Tinto this season!
Lee

Man of the Match: I really liked Franklin. He was
dangerous down the wing most of the night and finally
looked like he did last year. Honorable Mention to
McGee for coming in late and making an impact.
Lee

So far this year we've been snatching ties from defeats
and A win from a loss. That's an improvement over last
year. This one was even more important since it was
in conference and keeps RSL from pulling farther ahead.
Lee

YESSSSS. Finally some aggressiveness and a nice
goal from McGee.
Lee

It was cheep but you've got to have situational awareness
and don't do lean on a guy from behind right after a PK
at the other end.
Lee

Saved by the handball again.

I'm surprised someone from RSL didn't get booked the
way they were getting into the Ref's face.
Lee

Brother, it sure seems that way.
Lee

Good play by Jordon but two attackers getting in
each others way in the center. We're also not making
the ancillary runs off the ball to free up space.
Lee

We'd better find some urgency soon if we want to salvage
the point.
Lee

He came on right after the RSL guy went down with a
"cramp". Crappy first chance for him as well.

The balls we're playing into the box on set pieces
are really weak. We're just floating them into
a crowd.
Mike

thats what im saying. I'm watching it in Spanish and I had no idea Gordon came on
Lee

The Galaxy isn't looking very dangerous right now. No
real pressure going forward.
Lee

Nope, just as I'm bragging on Berhalter, he looses
his mark and leaves Findley wide open.
Lee

Yeah, copy that. Still the bench is much better than
last year and it's going to be important to use them
tonight with another game coming upon Sunday.
Lee

So far, I think Berhalter, Klein and Franklin are
playing the best. No one is playing poorly. However,
Buddle and Dunivant are showing some rust.
Lee

Yeah, that was the chance of the game and he put it over
from 10 yrds out.
Lee

I think I'm going to disagree a bit there Nathan.
Dunivant had him marked pretty well but Findley
made a very good play on the ball.

Still stinks though and we shouldn't have given up
the corner.
Lee

I was going to say Donovan took a bit of a dive but
the end zone replay showed the second defender clean
him out.

Still, the Ref is pretty consistent so far.
Lee

Good play by Rickets a couple of minutes ago to come
out and head away the fast break chance. That's also
something we wouldn't have seen last year.
Lee

Dunivant is getting up the wing very well. His crosses
are just a little off though.
Lee

We almost had a excellent scoring chance but a little
poor communication up top from Buddle.
Lee

You're right on that one Nathan. The Ref is also
letting the teams play so far.
Lee

Interesting to see Miglioranzi over Tudela.

It's also nice to see a full, healthy squad.
George

I keep thinking that Klein should play as a Center Attacking Mid. He is a very good passer, and he also makes very intelligent runs! I actually think most of his assists last year were defence-splitting through balls, rather than crosses from the right side. As of late, he has really struggled with getting passed defenders and crossing from the wing. By moving Chris to the middle, our attack will become much more dangerous, especially with Landon Donovan to latch on to those through balls. Also, Chris won't have to rely on his pace so much. The only question is if Jordan or Magee is capable of being a starting right-mid (and don't forget about Becks). I want to ask you more experienced fans what you think about this.