So I’m following the game on MatchTracker, and I’m seeing that we took the lead on an Edson Buddle goal in the 15th, only to see that lead evaporate on goals by Drew Moor (34) and Victor Sikora (39).

Then Alvaro Pires gets ejected in the 40th, and Beckham and Adrian Serioux (remember that rivalry) both get booked for dissent in the 42nd.

Damn, I wish I could see the game. And it’s somehow very fitting, after this pointless season, that I can’t.

If you’re watching, tell me all about it.

Tonight the Galaxy tries to keep its flickering post-season hopes alive in a must-win showdown in Bridgeview, IL against the Chicago Fire. Chicago has been struggling of late, losing the last two games by a combined score of 6-1, but the legendarily leaky Galaxy defense might be just what they need to get back on their game.

With last Saturday’s shredding of DC United still fresh in their minds, the Galaxy is looking to build on what was right and minimize what was wrong. They are lucky to have a relatively full-strength squad at their disposal because, despite the thrashing FC Dallas put on Chicago last week, it’s no easy thing to come into Toyota Park and walk away with three points. And the Galaxy hasn’t exactly held its own on the road.

Key starters for the Galaxy are: Landon Donovan, David Beckham, Eddie Lewis, Edson Buddle, and Sean Franklin. For the Fire, they run on Cuauhtemoc Blanco energizing a cadre of offensive players like Brian McBride, Chris Rolfe, and Justin Mapp (though Mapp has been in the doghouse recently). Their defense is anchored by Wilman Conde and Bakary Soumare.

This is the game where Beckham needs to break out of the mini-slump he has been in. Not only are his corners and free kicks below his standards, but his passing and crossing has been off lately as well. With Lewis now filling a gaping hole on the left side, Becks should have the luxury of switching fields regularly and should have some of the pressure taken off of his shoulders. He needs to use this breathing space to spark the deadly Galaxy attack and keep it hitting on all cylanders for 90 minutes.

If he can do this, then the combo of Donovan and Buddle should be able to find some space in behind the two big Fire central defenders, or create opportunities for Lewis or Chris Klein. The key, as it has been all season, is controlling the midfield. If the Galaxy can’t shut down Blanco, then Conde and Soumare will stone the attack, and launch quick counters, which is where the Galaxy is weakest (well, that and set pieces).

The Fire is looking to regain form and take three points at home. The Galaxy need these three points to even consider post-season play. It should be a dog fight. I would love to see a 2-0 Galaxy win, but I think the defense is too shaky. 2-1 Fire and I hope I’m wrong.

The game is on ESPN2 at 6PM PDT.

Who do you want to see start? What is your prediction for the final score? Use this posting to follow along while you watch the game.

I stole this image from a Flikr stream created by “thisguyprints”. I hope he doesn’t sue me.

A few weeks ago I took out my frustration with the 2008 season on the Galaxy front office, sending a lengthy e-mail to my season ticket rep and laying out my conditions for renewal. I turned that e-mail into this post from September 10th. Basically it came down to a cost-benefit analysis and raising the costs would not increase the benefits, so I would consider bailing.

First, fill out the full contingent of bonus games. I realize these games aren’t guaranteed. That’s the nature of “bonus”. But last year I saw Chelsea (a preseason, undermanned, not in form Chelsea, but Chelsea nonetheless). I saw Pachuca. Twice. Hell I even saw Steve Cronin make like 12 saves in a US Open Cup match. This year I saw… a crap US Open loss.

Second, don’t raise the prices of season tickets for next year. It would be the height of fan abuse to make us sit through two garbage seasons and then raise the ticket price, especially when it is pretty clear the team in making a mint off of jersey sales, touring Asia, and the wretched, wretched Pan-Pacific Championship (can we please just kill that now – it is nothing but excrement masquerading as futbol).

Well, the good news is that I wasn’t the first person to whine about this (or act like “a baby” as Justin put it so pungently in the comments) so the Galaxy is doing two things. First, all unused bonus-game tickets will have their value refunded to the season ticket holder (STH) at the end of the season. (This was also noted by Justin.) Further, if the Galaxy performs a miracle over the last five games and makes the play-offs, then the bonus game tickets function as playoff tickets.

Second, the Galaxy is not raising season ticket prices this year, at least not for renewals. (The website is coy about prices for new season tickets, covering its bases by noting that prices are for the 2008 season.)

So. Problems addressed. I’ll probably renew, unless other factors in my life interfere.

On the other hand, a blog reader who wishes to remain anonymous has noted that the Galaxy front office is having some internal communications problems.

I phoned my ticket rep today, cause I noticed that the Season ticket renewal is up on the website, but I hadn’t received an email. [These went out this week. -ed.] They explained to me what was going on but they were accepting renewal deposits.

Then here’s the kicker, I was asked for a 25% deposit. I asked the ticket office why I had to give them so much money upfront when I could do it on the website for 100 bucks a ticket. Finally, after a debate, they let me put the deposit down for 100 bucks a ticket. The deposit they said they were going to start asking for was well over double the 100 buck deposit.

And it’s true. But it’s actually worse than the reader experienced. If you are buying new season tickets on-line the deposit is $100. If you are a renewing STH and you want to buy ADDITIONAL season tickets, then the deposit is 25%, which in every case is more than $100. So, if you are a first-time buyer you slap down $100. If you are a renewal (which any marketing major will tell you is your source of greatest profits because (1) they keep coming back and (2) you aren’t spending any money on acquiring them as a customer) and you want new seats, you have to give up 25%.

I suspect that this isn’t the end of the world for most people, but it does highlight a glaring inconsistency within the front office in the way it is treating it most loyal (by definition) fan base. With all the changes recently I don’t know if this is something that slipped through the cracks or is a deliberate strategy, but it is certainly annoying and is ruffling some feathers. The front office might want to look into this.

UPDATE: Kenny in the comments notes this,

No price increase? What are you talking about. I got some stupid email that I had some secret Mission Impossible mission to renew my tickets. So I check it out, and sure enough tickets went up by $70! FU AEG.

And he’s right! Almost. My tickets went up $81, not $70, including all fees. Oof. Ticket prices increasing is to be expected on some level, but after this year and the fact that my rep assured me the price was the same makes this a bit of a kick in the teeth.

This is the place to comment on tonight’s game, but first, a game preview! Come back when the game is in full swing and leave your comments here.

The Galaxy enter today’s home game (8:00 pm PDT – FSC) in the grip of a club-record 12 game winless streak, taking just six points from the 36 on offer. They sit at the bottom of the Western Conference on 26 points, four points out of the last Western playoff spot. It’s been over 100 days since the team’s last win and it is the first time since mid-July that both Landon Donovan and David Beckham will be playing together in front of the Home Depot Center crowd.

The Galaxy faces a DC United squad racked by injuries and in the midst of a punishing schedule of MLS and CONCACAF Champions League games. United played Tuesday at home, plays today in LA, plays next week in Honduras, then next Sunday at Pizza Hut Park. For this game they are without their DP Marcus Gallardo, as well as Jaime Moreno and Joe Vide. The Galaxy, on the other hand, face United with most of their top players at full strength, though starting keeper Steve Cronin is still out with a hand injury. This means that Donovan, Becks, Eddie Lewis, Ante Jazic, Chris Klein, and Sean Franklin will face Emilio, Fred, Ivan Guerrero, Bryan Namoff, Clyde Simms, and possibly new keeper Louis Crayton.

United is occupying the fifth playoff spot from the East (one of the two that go the best of the rest after the top three in each conference are selected) on 33 points, four points ahead of Kansas City. Both teams need to win in order to firm up post season plans (and the Galaxy needs to win in order to keep any post-season hope alive).

In June, United spanked LA at RFK 4-1 in one of the most comprehensive defeats LA has suffered all season. They were outplayed from beginning to end. But today’s United team is different. Injuries, packed scheduling, and lots of travel have distrupted the rhythm the team was building earlier this season. The Galaxy, with the addition of Eddie Lewis and a new coaching staff, is looking to build on what it has been doing right, including having two of the top three goalscorers in the league in Donovan (16 goals – leading the league) and Edson Buddle (13 goals – third in the league). A few weeks ago I was dreading this match-up. Today, I think the Galaxy have a good shot at pulling out three points.

My guess at the line-up for the Galaxy in a 4-4-2 is this:

Buddle – Jordan
Lewis – Donovan – Vanney – Beckham
Jazic – Franklin – Roberts – Klein
Wicks

In my scheme, Donovan plays just behind the two strikers, allowing him to create based on their runs, or to run off of them. Lewis and Becks act as wingers and Vanney acts as stopper, with Franklin playing the sweeping role behind him. This could also be modified into a 4-3-3, with Donovan as center forward and Vanney as center mid.

These were the players that started in KC last week, but this time I expect that Donovan, Becks, and Lewis will all be rested and playing at 100%, unlike last weeks game. United, on the other hand, is in the middle of a miserable schedule and I expect them to lack bounce and tire easily, though they still possess a raft of quality players. However, without Moreno or Gallardo, Fred will be hard-pressed to create for Emilio, meaning Rod Dyachenko and Guerrero will have to step up. This matchup favors the Galaxy at this point. If they come out focused and sharp they could overwhelm United and walk away with a victory.

I’m betting on that. Galaxy 2-1.

What do you guys think? Who do you want to see start? What is your prediction for the game?

With seven games remaining in the regular season, the Galaxy went to Kansas City to visit the other worst team in the league. This time they were a full strength, facing a squad that has the most anemic attack. Boasting a somewhat improved defense and a new focus on basics since the arrival of King Bruce, this game really should have been a competitive victory for the Galaxy.

It was not to be. Shanked twice in quick succession midway through the second half, the Galaxy never mounted a serious offensive threat, looking out of sync and out of gas. Despite the presence of four starters who missed last game due to international call-ups, the team never got into a rhythm. Flashes of brilliance were too often foiled by bad decision-making in the box or poor execution. And when Kansas City got a scrappy goal in the 67th minute from Josh Wolff and then a potential Goal of the Week strike from Davy Arnaud in the 69th, the Galaxy had no answer. The fact that Alan Gordon was the sum total of reenforcements off the bench speaks for itself.

This was one of the most frustrating games I’ve watch all season. In other games I’ve blamed it on the lack of having a full-strength squad. This time that excuse didn’t exist, though I think it is clear that playing in World Cup qualifiers and traveling around the world took its tool on the four LA starters involved. As I noted above, there was no rhythm, little connection in the midfield and a lot of playing long balls that went wanting because of the short field.

It brought to mind last year’s game against Columbus at home where the Galaxy played most of the game a man up but still managed to lose 3-2. Both teams missed the playoffs in 2007. One year later Columbus, on the third year of a rebuilding program is the best team in the league. And the Galaxy are the worst.

Based on last year’s finishing, I think the Galaxy need at least 42 points (and probably more) to guarantee a spot in the playoffs. They have 26. That means they need 16 points from the remaining 18 points on offer (6 games). They need 6 wins or 5 wins and 1 tie. They play 3 of those games away. To Chicago, Columbus, and Houston. At home they host DC United, Colorado, and Dallas. I don’t see how they can pick up points in any of their away games, much less the full three in each. Add-in October World Cup call-ups and I don’t see the team winning more than two of their final 6 games.

The time is now to start grooming those players who are going to be the future of the team for 2008 to play in games that matter. Of course this grooming depends on being injury-free and players like Brandon McDonald and Ely Allen and Alvaro Piers all have injuries. And, frankly, beyond Brandon McDonald and possibly Julian Valentin, I don’t know who looks like they could step up. I still have hopes for Josh Tudela, but while I like his work rate, I’m not impressed with his basic skills. The same with Mike Randolph, though I do see him learning something new every game he plays. Bryan Jordan’s play has improved dramatically with his loan to the Portland Timbers and he could turn into a dependable MLS attacker next year. He should get looks for the rest of the season.

What did you guys thinks of the game? Are the Galaxy going to make the playoffs? Who should King Bruce be playing over the next 6 games? Share your thought in the comments.

When things go well on the field, the tendency for other things to rankle is lessened. When things go badly on the field, the rest of the Galaxy game experience gets put under the microscope. We are nearing the end of the season and the team has to put together a run just like they did last year in order to have a hope of qualifying for the playoffs. If not, they will be out for a record-setting third year in a row. Regardless of how that shakes out, the team is currently in the middle of a record-setting winless streak.

These issues have been exacerbated by the League scheduling inanity. This past weekend was a debacle. Not only are teams missing key starters in the final thrid of the season due to call-ups (37 MLS players in total), but teams like the Galaxy were missing players who completely change the complexion of their teams. Pity poor Toronto missing 9 of their starters in a home game against a Chivas team with a raft of injuries. Wouldn’t they have liked to face that game at full-strength? And the G’s were facing RSL which to that point only had taken 4 points from away games. We needed the full three, especially at home.

So: Poor performance on the field (and I could write more about that, but, then, I already have in numerous blog postings which can be found at Soccer By Ives). Crap scheduling by MLS. Add to that, the fact that last year, the team used up all its “bonus games” and this year it has used just one (unless I missed one while I was out of town, which is totally possible). So I’m essentially paying more this year for each one of my MLS games than I did last year and getting just as crap a performance.

What does all that add up to? Questions about renewing season tickets for next year. If the team isn’t commited to dealing with two issues, then I’m probably not going to invest in season tickets again.

First, fill out the full contingent of bonus games. I realize these games aren’t guaranteed. That’s the nature of “bonus”. But last year I saw Chelsea (a preseason, undermanned, not in form Chelsea, but Chelsea nonetheless). I saw Pachuca. Twice. Hell I even saw Steve Cronin make like 12 saves in a US Open Cup match. This year I saw… a crap US Open loss.

Second, don’t raise the prices of season tickets for next year. It would be the height of fan abuse to make us sit through two garbage seasons and then raise the ticket price, especially when it is pretty clear the team in making a mint off of jersey sales, touring Asia, and the wretched, wretched Pan-Pacific Championship (can we please just kill that now – it is nothing but excrement masquerading as futbol). Related to that is, don’t raise the cost of parking again. It was $10 when I first watched games at the HDC as a visitor to LA, then when I bought my first season tickets it was $15 and I’ve paid as much as $20 for certain games. I can spend just as much someplace else where I don’t have to drive 23 miles to get to and where the beer doesn’t cost $12 and I can watch the game on TV.

In the past two years, of all the home games on offer, I’ve only missed three and that was because I had to be gone for work. I arrange my schedule around Galaxy games. I love the fact that we have Becks. I love watching him and Landon and Edson kick ass. I love the Eddie Lewis acquisition (glad that the Cory Gibbs deal never happened).

But I don’t think I can do a third year of this if the front office doesn’t take the fans into consideration. I’ll probably just buy the occasional single game ticket and mostly just watch the games over the internet or at a friend’s house with cable.

Let me end on a somewhat positive note. I’ve always had great interactions with the sales team. They are responsive, give as much information as they have available to them, and are always willing to listen to the concerns of fans like me. I appreciate that and I appreciate that the Galaxy takes this seriously. Further I’m excited to see what Bruce Arena can do both in terms of coaching, but also in terms of personnel trades since we are woefully inadequate in the midfield. Given the parity in MLS, I think we could be two midfielders and a defender away from winning an MLS Cup and I’d like to be in the stands to watch it all unfold.

But not if the suits in the suites decide I’m better as an ATM than a fan.

What do you guys think? Do I have a leg to stand on here? Should I shut up and just not buy tickets, or suck it up and make the investment? Does the Galaxy have an obligation to fans to make the playoffs before raising prices again? Is the overall experience of being at the stadium worth the investment in season tickets or multi-game packages even if prices rise? What do you think of watching at the HDC versus TV or the internet? Share your thoughts below.

After last week’s much improved performance I should be looking forward to this game. It’s at home, it’s again a team that can’t buy a point on the road, and they happen to be conference rivals.

But, of course, somehow, despite the fact that the Galaxy owns its own stadium and theoretically has a lot of control over its scheduling, this game is scheduled on the same day as a FIFA international date, in this case World Cup qualifying. Grahame Jones at the Los Angeles Times wrote a great article about this on Thursday. And Deputy Commissioner Ivan Gadzidis had this to say on the Commissioner’s Blog.

What that means for us is that four key players are missing: David Beckham (ENG), Landon Donovan (USA), Ante Jazic (CAN), and Eddie Lewis (USA) and we are once again playing a makeshift formation. (There are some intriguing suggestions on what Bruce Arena should do in the comments in this post from earlier this week.)

I’m not going to go very in-depth with a preview here, since I think it will be a pretty dire game, but I’ll give ya’ll some links to read.

From MLSnet.com.
From the LA Times
Quick notes from the official Galaxy blog.

Feel free to leave comments and your own previews here. And, of course, leave your in-game and post-game comments here.

So what formation does Bruce Arena put out? I claim no insight into his coaching mind and I don’t spend any time at all watching team practices so I can’t say that my own suggestions are based in anything other than past performance. Having said that, here’s what I think might happen on Saturday.

Buddle – Gordon
Allen – Vanney – Vagenas – Klein
Randolph – Roberts – Dominguez – Franklin
Wicks

Personally I hate that line up. It is not particularly well-suited to The Bruce’s desire for lots of possession in the midfield through short passes and quick cuts. While Vagenas did get an assist last week, I’m not expecting more offense from him. And that prettly much leaves it all on Klein’s shoulders to get Buddle decent service. Alan Gordon is a hit or miss product with a lot more miss than hit, but after an entire season of me dogging him pretty badly, he provided some heroics recently that made me happily eat my words. But I’m still not sold on his overall value to the club.

So you guys should come up with something better. Remember that in addition to the four guys above, the Galaxy is also missing Steve Cronin, Joe Franchino, Alvaro Pires, and Michael Gavin to injury. But Arena just recalled Scott Bolkin (D), Vardan Adzemian (D) and Bryan Jordan (F) from loans to the Portland Timbers. Jordan played in five games, but neither Bolkin nor Adzemian got any minutes for the Timbers. Also Brandon McDonald appears healthy.

So who do you guys want to see on the pitch on Saturday? Give your formations, players, and reasons below. Please make it better than what I put on the board.

Probably because it basically is a completely different team when you put in Landon Donovan, David Beckham and Eddie Lewis all at the same time. With a credible threat from the left for the first time since… since… Herculez Gomez’s one good season? People who know this team better than I can, I’m sure, come up with several candidates.

Which is a serious problem for the Galaxy with World Cup qualifiers starting to litter the schedule. I hate MLS scheduling. I find it hard to believe that we can’t get better spacing around international dates than we do now. The Galaxy play at the HDC on Saturday. Their parent company owns the stadium. One of the great selling points of soccer-specific stadia owned and operated by the teams’ parent companies was the supposed ability to have more control over scheduling. So, MLS couldn’t have scheduled this game farther away from qualifying? Really?

But because of that, then entire offensive core of the team is going to be away. I like Edson Buddle, but without the kind of service he gets from Becks, Lewis and Donovan, then I don’t think he scores. He isn’t the kind of player who creates on the fly, though occasionally his footwork has impressed and he fights hard. Without good service he’s only partially effective.

I spent most of the match really impressed with the team with Lewis on the left. Transformative. Short, possession passing, building up to attacks in the final third of the field. Smart, dangerous crosses from the left. A whole new dimension.

Part of that dimension also came from something that has been missing for most of the season: effective defensive midfield play. Putting Vanney in as a d-mid was a so-far successful 64 minute experiment. His experience, plus having speed at his back, put him in a place to be an effective organizer of the defense. That stability complimented Lewis’ impact. They were very good together.

Let me talk about Pete Vagenas for a minute. I’m not the biggest Vagenas fan. I think he’s not creative enough for the needs of the team. But, when he’s on, his first touch is among the best on the team. He as so soft-footed on Saturday I was ready for forgive every back pass. And, to build on his touch, he turned out to be much more creative than he usually is. That’s got to be part of why he played on the 2000 Olympic team and why he’s lasted for 8 years in Los Angeles.

I found the game itself to be compelling from beginning to end. The level of play from the Galaxy was so far above just a week ago and I fear we will be in for more of what we saw with the Fire because of the scheduling nonsense. But for this game, I saw what could be the team that makes a run at the end of the season. I think they need a minimum of about 36-38 points to make the final eight. They have 25. They need at least 11, probably more like 13, points from the remaining 24. Possible. But to ice it they should have 40, which means 15 out of 24. Six wins out of eight games gets us in. Hard. Very very hard.

But last year they won seven of eight. And looked horrible doing it. As of Saturday they looked really good. But I think they left it too late. Next week is going to look horrible and RSL might get a rare road victory.

Or am I wrong? What did you think of the game? Who did well? Who didn’t? What did you think of Vanney as d-mid? How was Lewis?

I’m excited to see the line-up and find out if Arena took my offensive line up from the Eddie Lewis Is Ours comments. What sucks is that I DO get HDNet, but only in the winter.  The stupid trees on the propery south of my house have grown too tall and bushy.  So I’ll be finding an internet feed of it somewhere.

Post live game comments and game review thoughts in the comments section here.