Galaxy – Union Preview

Soooo…. you will notice that we conspicuously left last week’s debacle in Sandy alone and concentrated on… other things, like Tony Meola and Jovan Kirovski’s past with Manchester United.

I’m hoping that was the right decision and that by doing so we’re relegating one of the worst games from a good Galaxy team I’ve seen since the worst games from the bad Galaxy teams of 2007-2008. Put simply, Real Salt Lake, arguably the best team in the league, played like men against boys. Helped by some simply horrific defending (boy do I remember that movie), RSL’s potent offense dominated what was supposed to be the team that leads LA to the MLS Cup in 2011. As I said, we ignored this game both because it was a gut-punch and because, hey, it’s a freakin’ MARCH MLS game! I’d rather have the team humming along nicely in, say, September – November than March – June. And after a result like last week’s, you’d guess facing a second year team at home would be just the thing to get that bad taste of Mormon out of your mouth and replace it with the delicious taste of three points.

Yeah, well, except this year’s edition of the Philadelphia Union, is a whole lot better than last year’s. Here’s how Marc Narducci at The Philly Inquirer characterizes the key moves Union coach Peter Nowak made in the off season:

The additions of goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon, defender Carlos Valdes, midfielder Brian Carroll, along with forward Carlos Ruiz, have made a huge difference for the Union. Mondragon has two shutouts behind a defense anchored by Valdes. Carroll has been a defensive presence in the midfield, and Ruiz scored the goal in last week’s win over Vancouver.

That’s too bad because the Galaxy scored in the first minute against them in last year’s home game on a cracker of a gol from AJ Delagarza.

And that brings me to what the Galaxy needs to do to win. The Union still aren’t a better team, talent-wise, than the Galaxy, but they might be playing better as a team. The Galaxy still seems to be in pre-season mode as the backline is unsettled due to injuries to Omar Gonzalez and Donovan Ricketts, while the attack has missed Juan Pablo Angel until part of the RSL game. (You could also say that the attack has missed Chad Barnmisser and Mike Magee but they were actually on the field.) Add-in a clearly not-ready-to-go David Beckham and a well-rested but not aggressive Landon Donovan and you get an opening day win over a still-gelling Seattle, a tie in a monsoon at the HDC and last week’s pounding in Sandy.

There have been some bright spots. In limited minutes Miguel Lopez and Paolo Cardozo have looked dangerous, though still not totally integrated into the team. Angel looked imposing even after recovering from illness in limited minutes. AJ Delagarza has stepped up as center back for the most part, though the pairing with Leonardo is just not good enough at the moment for MLS.

So, here are the keys for the Galaxy:

*Shore up the defense, if Gonzalez and Ricketts aren’t ready to go, then someone needs to put the fear of God in Leonardo.

*Get more production from Juninho. He’s got to be effective even when Donovan is not on the field.

*The ready-to-play Beckham needs to show up.

*Landon Donovan needs to capitalize on his being refreshed and be the dominant player he should be every game.

*Someone needs to step up to partner Angel.

The Galaxy are still one of the best teams in the league, but they need to start playing like it and they need to do it tonight as they face an improved Union team. I’d like to predict a 2-1 Galaxy victory, but their gol production is fairly anemic while the defense has been shakier than it has since Arena rebuilt it over 2008-2009. Can they win knock in 2? Can the keep a clean sheet if I go with 1-0? One wonders. So I’m going with a 1-1 tie.

Prove me wrong, boys, and bring home three points.

What about you guys? What do you think? Will the Galaxy bonce back and dominate the Union? Will the Union capitalize on the Galaxy’s weaknesses? Who wins? By what score? Leave you thoughts in the comments below.

In the meantime here’s a game preview video for you to build the anticipate for tonight. (Oh and, I’ve been sporadic in my posting lately because I’ve been suffering from a pinched nerve which has made sitting and typing very painful. With 10 days of physical therapy behind me, I’m feeling better, but I still can’t sit in a car for long periods so I have yet to go to a game at the HDC and I will be missing today’s as well. But I will be watching streaming video and tweeting about it so you can see those tweets by following me @nathanhjb or the hashtag #lagalaxy.)

Here’s that video.

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Category: 2011 Season, Pre-Game Preview