The thought of writing this post after the opening day game against DC United never entered my head. That was a slightly improved version of the meltdown season of 2008 – defensive breakdowns, not much stability in the middle and an attack that put two in the back of the net, but looked frustrating doing it. In addition, DC United showcased a rookie pick-up on the left named Chris Pontius who scored a cracking goal over Josh Saunders. The Bruce Arena makeover seemed very much a work in progress.

But a funny thing happened after that opening day 2-2 tie. The Galaxy only lost one of their next 11 games. Not those weren’t trying times (or really tying times). There was an embarrassing 3-2 lose to Colorado at home with a truly ass-tastic display from all parts of the defense. And there were five ties before the first win, a 1-0 home win over a clearly self-destructing Red Bull team. It wasn’t until the 16th game of the season that the Galaxy won two games in a row (when the put together four straight). The team that hit the halfway mark at 2-3-10, then went 10-3-2 for the second half. Grabbed the number one seed in the West on tie-breakers and then dispatched Chivas and Houston in three hard-fought games. Welcome to Seattle, LA Galaxy!

I don’t think anyone predicted that this team would have made it this far at the beginning of the season. I sure didn’t. I thought that if the team could stop the bleeding in the back and develop a solid midfield they could be competitive and earn back the respectability that had been so spectacularly squandered from 2006 to 2008.

But here we are, looking to take home the third MLS Cup trophy in six tries. There is no question that this drive was built on defense. Arena’s first, second, and third priorities were to cut the number of goals surrendered from a league record of 62 to something more tolerable. Utilizing a philosophy of team defense, building a new backline that now includes two MLS Rookies of the Year (sorry Mr. Pontius), and picking up Keeper of the Year contender Donovan Ricketts, the Galaxy cut the number of goals allowed in half from the year before.

Additionally, the midfield is vastly improved, especially in the defensive and holding positions, giving David Beckham the cover to roam the middle and find the game, often slotting the killer pass home to Landon Donovan.

Finally, the partnership between the two biggest players in the league has finally blossomed, giving the Galaxy an unpredictability that keeps all opponents off balance and forces them to adjust to the Galaxy.

These factors, combined with some luck, and the kind of coaching that brings steady improvement to a team from opening day to season’s close, turned the Galaxy into a team that is now seen as the favorite over Real Salt Lake in tomorrow’s championship clash.

I’m not so sure, myself. Not that the team can’t beat RSL. But they haven’t yet this year, tying them 2-2 at home and losing 2-0 at Rio Tinto. And this team gives the Galaxy some match-up fits with its combination of tenacity and savvy in the midfield and unbridled speed up top all in front of a defense that hasn’t gotten its due all season. RSL is not to be underestimated, especially since they will use their underdog status to motivate them against the Galaxy’s star power.

Here’s a quick look at the positional match-ups.

Keepers: Donovan Ricketts vs. Nick Rimando
Nick Rimando reminded everyone why Chris Seitz was never able to take the number one spot in Sandy in last week’s game against Chicago. He stoned three penalty shots and carried RSL into MLS Cup on his back. Donovan Ricketts game up big 4 times during the Blackout in Carson, giving the Galaxy the space to eventually break the Dynamo defense down. Rimando can sometimes be caught out of position, but Ricketts can sometimes be a little cavalier in protecting the ball. I give the edge to Ricketts based on his reaction saves.

Backline: Todd Dunivant – Gregg Berhalter – Omar Gonzalez – Sean Franklin vs. Robbie Russell – Nat Borchers – Jamison Olave – Chris Wingert
I’ve been a fan of Olave since he joined the league and Nat Borchers is one of the mose underrated backs in MLS. Robbie Russell, when healthy, gives a completely different look at left back, combining strength and quickness in a position usually reserved for speedy flankers. Wingert just keeps giving one steady performance after another. They will be challenged by Donovan’s ability to roam free and find the seams in a defense that isn’t as creative as it should be.

The Galaxy line up their two rookies of the year and can add respectable offense from Franklin and Dunivant on the flanks. The Galaxy backline isn’t as quick as RSL’s but it has incomparable leadership and a season’s worth of achievement at home and away. It’s only given up more than two goals twice in 33 games. They will be challenged by the pure speed of Robbie Findley and Yura Movsissyan and the craftiness of Fabian Espindola. The respective match-up challenges facing the backlines make this one a push.

Midfield: Donovan – Dema Kovalenko – Beckham – Chris Klein/Chris Birchall vs. Andy Williams – Javier Morales – Kyle Beckerman – Will Johnson
On paper this is a no-brainer. Donovan and Beckham in the same midfield makes this one of the most dangerous units in MLS. A killer instinct in defensive midfield and a veteran presence on the right bring stability and strength. But the RSL midfield matches up just as well as the Dynamo did last week. Kyle Beckerman and Will Johnson provide tireless effort in the middle and younger legs than Kovalenko’s. Javier Morales provides the creativity that a true number 10 is expected to bring to the table. And Andy Williams bring veteran craftiness and a deft passing touch to stich together a unit that can dominate possession for long stretches.

To be successful, the Galaxy need to neutralize Morales, forcing him into bad decisions, while marginalizing Williams. That will force Beckerman to play farther forward and open space in the final third that Beckham and Donovan can exploit to open the game up. If Beckham and Donovan can’t shake the intense attention that Beckerman and Johnson will bring to bear against them, then the Galaxy attack will sputter and force the defense to win the game. If Donovan and Beckham play like they are capable of, then the Galaxy will gain the edge in possession and in the game.

Forwards: Edson Buddle – Mike Magee vs. Espindola/Movsisyan – Findley
If Buddle was having a 2008 season and if Magee had shown more consistency in his creativity, then this match up would be more even. But as it stands, both Findley and Movsisyan have been remarkably consistent over the course of the season, with Findley coming close to the Golden Boot. The RSL duo are exceptionally fast and have shown a nose for goal. They aren’t necessarily going to make something from nothing, but if you give them anything they will pounce, as seen by their fine goal against Columbus at Rio Tinto in the first game in the initial playoff series. Espindola is more creative than either and can bring a different dimension to the attack, forcing defenses to adjust to a different style of play.

Edson Buddle has been better over the last two games, finding more of the game and doing a better job distributing the ball, though he continues to try to do too much by himself when he would be better served by making the quick outlet pass. Magee has continued to have a frustrating season, providing not much most of the time, especially when deployed on the left midfield. The advantage is clearly with RSL here, but the Galaxy attack rests more upon a Beckham-Donovan connection than upon getting the ball directly to the front-runners and as such, will rely upon the superstars to create and the strikers to finish.

Real Salt Lake will win if…
Their midfield and backline can neutralize Donovan and Beckham and can find Findley and Movsisyan in places where they can use their speed to burn the slower Galaxy backline.

Los Angeles Galaxy will win if…
Landon Donovan and David Beckham can connect and create, putting RSL on their heels and opening space for the strikers. The defense will have to be dominant in the air and cover for each other in the face of the RSL speesters.

Prediction: Galaxy 2 – RSL 1

What do you all think? Who’s going to win? What are the keys to victory? What must the Galaxy do to stop RSL?

Landon Donovan’s Goal of the Year included in this compilation of the top 10 goals of 2009.

This match promises to be a dogfight. The season series between the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo featured exactly one goal and a lot of physical defending. If that sounds a lot like what Chivas and the Galaxy went through for the bulk of their five games this season, its not coincidence.

The Dynamo
As the former San Jose Earthquakes, the Dynamo don’t have a lot of friendly feelings for the Galaxy and their stingy defense is predicated on the same kind of manhandling that Gregg Berhalter and Omar Gonzalez specialize in dishing out and that the Galaxy faced in Paulo Nagamura and Marcelo Saragosa.

But whereas Chivas faced the Galaxy with the intensity that only an inter-stadium rivalry can produce and used that to elevate their play, the Dynamo have better talent that plays better together across the board than Chivas was able to field this year. That’s what’s going to make this game just as difficult as any in the SuperClasico.

The Dynamo feature a core of veteran players that are used to excelling at the highest levels and winning trophies. Pat Onstand, Brian Mullan, Brad Davis, Bobby Boswell, Ricardo Clark, and Brian Ching have spent years together and all were part of the Dynamo’s MLS Cup winning teams in 2007 and 2008 2006 and 2007 (yes, yes I know the Crew won it last year – it was a fun game that I saw in person. Clearly huffing paint and writing blog posts are not simpatico operations.). Relative newcomers like Stuart Holden, Geoff Cameron, and Andrew Hainault have added youth, speed, and skill in defense and midfield and they are backed up by veterans like Wade Barrett, Craig Waibel, and Eddie Robinson, though these last three have faced serious injury troubles all year long. A long season including Champions League play has spread experience deep within the team’s ranks and it recently augmented its relatively weak attack with designated player Luis Angel Landin, while including speedster Dominic Oduro up top with Ching.

Like the Galaxy, the Dynamo make their living from their starting midfield of Mullan, Davis, Clark and Stuart Holden, which is probably the best all-around unit in MLS. Every one of them can defend, every one is technically sound, and every one can get into the offense with ease.

Backed by a solid, if relatively inexperienced defensive four (Andrew Hauinault and Mike Chabala are in their first year of regular first-team action) that is itself back-stopped by the ageless Pat Onstad, the midfield likes to run a possession game with quick passes that uses forward Brian Ching’s excellent physical hold-up game to launch quick strikes from the flanks or create slashing runs into the 18. Oduro’s speed gives the team a dimension it has lacked for some time, though his decision-making and finishing aren’t the strongest.

The Galaxy
Here’s what we know. This team let in exactly half the number of goals it did in 2008. It defends as a unit. It refuses to lose (1-1-11 in its first 13 games). It has a backline of rookie stamina and veteran wiles. It features a pair of world-class midfielders in Landon Donovan and David Beckham. It has a mix of players that understand what it takes to play and win as a team and it is wonderfully devoid of ego problems. On paper there is no way this team beats the Dynamo. But we play this game on grass.

The Galaxy’s success this year has come from skillfully exploiting the immense talent of its two superstars and making sure everyone else plays his role to perfection. And playing professional-level defense. Players with veteran wiles and offensive savvy like Chris Klein and Eddie Lewis have been excellent support for the Landon-Becks connection and having real defensive disruptors like Dema Kovalenko and Stefani Miglioranzi has provided the kinds of defensive cover that was lacking last year.

The only place where inconsistency has reigned has been with the strike corps, where Edson Buddle can’t seem to get untracked and Mike Magee can’t find his groove.

Houston will want to play a possession game that allows it to build-up to attacks and exploit the disruptive speed of Oduro. It has excellent flank play with Davis, Holden, Hainault and Chabala all able to create dangerous situations. Ching’s target forward back-to-goal skills make the team the complete package.

The Galaxy will also look to control possession, using the passing acumen of Beckham to combing with the vision and uncanny runs of Donovan to wreak havoc in the Dynamo defensive third. They will also depend upon their backline to neutralize Oduro by frustrating him into making poor decisions and wear down Ching with physical play.

By positions:

Keeper: Donovan Ricketts vs. Pat Onstad
Pat’s got a decade on Ricketts, but other than that they are evenly matched. Both are big keeper who use uniformly good positioning and the occasional wonder save to keep their teams out of danger. Onstad had 10 clean sheets and so did Ricketts. This is a push.

Defense: Chabala Barrett (Chabala suspended for yellow card accumulation) – Boswell – Cameron – Hainault vs. Dunivant – Berhalter – Gonzalez – Franklin
The Dynamo is younger and less experienced and has had to make up for lots of defensive injuries all season long. But the youngsters have held their own and Geoff Cameron is having a career year while Boswell has been as steady as he ever was at DC United. On the other hand the Galaxy have the 2008 and 2009 Rookies of the Year starting in the back and underrated left back Todd Dunivant all organized by Gregg Berhalter. But the Galaxy is slower in back that Houston. Slight advantage to Houston.

Midfield: Davis – Clark – Mullan – Holden vs. Donovan – Kovalenko – Beckham – Klein/Birchall
I give the advantage to Houston for their completeness, but the intangibles of Donovan and Beckham playing at the top of their games will, I think, neutralize this strength. Kovalenko’s aggression could cause Ricardo Clark’s temper to fray, which would bad news for Houston. If Dunivant and Franklin can contain Holden and Davis, then the Galaxy wins in the middle.

Forwards: Ching – Oduro vs. Buddle – Magee
Ching is the only consistant performer in this foursome. He’s going to be a handful. If Oduro can make his speed count, then he could burn the Galaxy back four, but his finishing is poor and he makes bad decisions with regularity. If Buddle was on form and Magee’s creativity shows up, then the Galaxy strikers would have the edge, but Buddle hasn’t made it work since his injury against AC Milan and Magee’s magic takes too many nights off. This one’s a push as well.

The big advantage the Galaxy has is playing at home at the Home Depot Center. The wide field will help neutralize the Dynamo’s passing game, honed in the narrow confines of Robertson Stadium, and the home crowd will give the team a psychological edge. The unrelenting team-oriented defense from the Galaxy should contain some of the explosiveness of the Houston midfield and the unpredictability of Landon Donovan and David Beckham will give the Galaxy an advantage going forward that could cause lots of trouble for the Houston backline.

If the Galaxy strikers could be relied upon to score, I’d say Galaxy 2-0. But I don’t think so. So I’m going with Galaxy 1-0.

What about you all? Who needs to step up? Who needs to perform? Who do you want to see starting? What is your prediction for the final score?

What others are saying:
MLSNet Preview
Dylan Butler with the MLSNet Dynamo perspective
Larry Morgan at MLSNet with a Ching-Donovan angle
Larry Morgan with the Galaxy perspective
Dwain Capodice at MLSNet with another Dynamo perspective
Ives Galarcep at SBI.net says what I said, but shorter and more clearly. Sigh.
Andrew Hush at ESPN’s SoccerNet
Beau Dure at USA Today with playoff previews
Jeffrey Marcus at the NY Times’ Goal blog
Chris Duncan at the LA Daily News
Jeff Carlisle at ESPN SoccerNet
Bernardo Fallas at the Houston Chronicle
Phil Collin at the Daily Breeze
Ridge Mahoney at SoccerAmerica
The Telegraph (UK) on Beckham playing for the Galaxy over England

Thoughts on beating Chivas and taking on Houston

So here we sit, anticipating the second leg of the first plyoff series the Galaxy has been in since 2005, against SuperClasico rival Chivas USA. And i have to say that the way the first game was played offers precious little in the way of predicting what will happen in the second.

Yes, the teams put a combined four goals up on the score board, which seems like an offensive-minded game and certainly upended my own predicted series aggregate score of 2-1 Galaxy. But those four goals all came from horrendous defensive miscues, including a few bone fide bonehead plays. Those were atypical of both teams which have notched 12 shutouts each this season and featured stifling goals-against averages.

Yes, Landon Donovan and David Beckham played in their first playoff game together and played adequately. But neither one of them put their stamp on the game and were, for the most part, marked out of having an impact. Donovan’s miscommunication in the midfield led to the first Chivas goal, and Beckham spent too much time too deep in his end of the field to spark the kinds of quick-passing attacks that have led to many Galaxy goals over the season.

And, yes Zach Thornton is MLS Keeper of the Year, but his defense did him no favors last week.

So where do we sit, hours before the deciding game? Here’s the breakdown:

Keepers: Still even. Both keepers were mugged by their own defenders on the four goals and both came up with difficult saves to keep their teams level. Going into today there’s no reason to expect that either one of them have had a dip in form. If anything Donovan Ricketts might be motivated to show-up Thornton for getting an award that Ricketts could have conceivably been offered.

Backline: Last week I said that the Galaxy had the edge here for their mix of veteran leadership and youthful passion, not to mention the apparent skill of one past and one (potentially) present Rookie of the Year. Factor in the relative stability in the defensive corps for the bulk of the season and it seemed like a lock over the ever-shifting back four Chivas has been foreced to field due to injuries and drop in form. I mean, Jonathan Bornstein as a centerback? Really?

But after last week, I’m feeling slight trepidation in the Galaxy’s lock here. It all depends on how Gonzalez responds. Does he raise his intensity and concentration or does he let last week’s performance get inside his head? If he performs with the maturity he’s shown all season, then I think it will be the former. And if that’s the case, I have to go with the Galaxy backline over Chivas and count on defensive slips as the Chivas defenders still figure out how to play with each other.

Midfield: Last week I gave the Galaxy the edge here as well. This week the edge on paper still goes to the Galaxy, but last week’s performance has to be thought of as even at best. The combination of the league’s best passer with its best creative force should have outclassed a Chivas midfield made up of two bruisers and an out-of-form creative engine. Not so much. Apparently putting Chris Lahoud on man-to-man duty on Becks is enough to take him out of a game. And, though Donovan showed sparks of creativity, he didn’t deliver the kind of game we saw in the intense game against Chicago at home. I still think the Galaxy midfield can outclass who Preki can put on the field. But they have to play like it or Chivas wins.

Forwards: And here’s why the Galaxy mdfield has to perform: Chivas’ attack. It’s true that Chivas is the only team in the league that has failed to score at least three goals in a game this season. But their attack has suffered all season long from injuries and inconsistent personnel availability. Now that Maykel Galindo has shown his fitness and Justin Braun has shown his ability to partner well with whomever else he’s working with, the Chivas attack is at its most potent. Preki can also bring offense off the bench in the form of Lillingston, Lahoud, Padilla, and Flores.

The Galaxy, on the other hand, are going with the spark-less duo of Mike Magee and Edson Buddle. On paper these two should click. In practice, they just don’t. Last game was filled with way to man Buddle give-aways, runs not anticipated by Magee, and collective lack of concentration. Magee’s creativity took a break from this game and he left Donovan to do most of the work here. The bench of Kirovski, Gordon, and Jordan do not inspire much confidence either. In fact, the biggest offensive sparks off the bench are likely to be Eddie Lewis and Chris Klein. Who are both in the midfield.

Outlook for today: The Galaxy will gain a bit of momentum by having the majority of the crowd behind them, but Chivas fan will be out in numbers for this match-up, taking away some of the home-crowd edge. The Galaxy can take comfort from knowing that it was their own mistakes that cost the win last week, not getting outplayed. But so can Chivas.

However, the Galaxy can look directly at its two best players and see that if they play the kind of game of which they are both supremely capable, then they can dominate Chivas for most of the game.

The biggest question mark for the afternoon is how the increasingly confident Chivas attackers will fare against a Galaxy defense that relies more on guile and strong communications than speed and technical ability to shutdown opponents. If the Galaxy can recapture the defensive form that got them here in the first place, then their midfield should, in the end, create enough to defeat the Goats and put the Galaxy into the conference final. If the defense can’t handle the Chivas attack, it will be a long and disappointing afternoon for the team and fans.

Prediction: Galaxy 2-1, 4-3 on aggregate.

What others are saying:

Three stories from MLSNet here, here, and here.
Luis Bueno at SI.com
Grahame Jones at the LA Times
Andrea Canales at Goal.com
Luis Bueno at the Press-Enterprise
The AP at CBSSports (where they inexplicably say the game will be played at the Rose Bowl).
Ives Galarcep at ESPNSoccernet
Angel Magana at LAist.com
LA Soccer News
Phil Collin at the Whittier Daily News
Mark Rogondino’s View From The Booth

What do you think the Galaxy needs to do to win? Who needs to step up? Share your thoughts below.

I’m still miffed that he was left off the All-Star team – at least the one that suited up. I seem to recall that he made the All-Star roster that counts for salary incentives. Yet one more bit of byzantine MLS rules and regulation implementation for you there.

But I digress.

Good thing staying focused is what Ricketts does. As you can see in the save that is up for the weekly award.

Did I mention that you have to vote for him to win? Well, let me be very plain spoken and upfront about this. You. Have. To. Vote. For. Him. For. Him. To. Win. So go do it!

Today they, the ubiquitous they who say many things and say them often, have awarded the Galaxy’s own Landon Donovan the 2009 Honda Player of the Year award. This is given away annually (hence the “of the year” part) to the best player for the year on the US Men’s National Team. Not really surprised by this, like I was by Tim Howard’s loss last year. Landon was involved in 12 of the US’ 19 goals this year, not to mention his tracking back and help on defense.

This year the competiton was between Donovan, Tim Howard, and Jozy Altidore and Donovan won it walking away. (Ives has more. So does the Party Line.) I’m of the opinion that Howard should have won it last year (did I mention this already? That I think Tim Howard should have won last year? Did I? No? I think Tim Howard should have won last year. I know! Me too!), but I can’t seen how Donovan could have lost to anyone in the player pool this year. He’s elevated his game and become the player that we all hoped he would be when he had an great 2002 World Cup.

Oh wait, I’m getting a news update in my ear. It says that Landon Donovan was also named “Honda Player of the Decade”. When did they start that award? Player of the Decade? Really? Of course, it’s no surprise that Donovan would get that since he’s won HPOTY six times since 2002. But, really, how many other players have come close to the same number of appearances in the Deuce-Aughts as Donovan? Umm, let’s see… yeah, no one. Why even give out this award?

Why don’t we do this instead: Name the freakin’ award after Donovan and ban him from ever winning again. The Landon Donovan-Honda Player of the Year.

But none of this should take away from an award well deserved. Well done Landon Donovan.

Or it could be seven words: This team is nothing without Landon Donovan.

So let’s start with the positive: shutting out Houston at home in front of a sell-out crowd and forcing Pat Onstad to actually make some saves. Once again Donovan Ricketts proves his worth making a busload of saves and the backline bends but doesn’t break. Though I saw a huge cord’s worth of kindling just waiting to burst into existence with one final blow from the Dynamo attack.

And let’s count the hinderances: David Beckham and Landon Donovan both coming off of World Cup Qualifying experiences and all the travelling that requires (not to mention the emotions that the USMNT went through on Wednesday). Starting right back and central midfielder both coming back from injuries. Playing away to one of the two best teams in the league. A ridiculously narrow field. Chronic anemia on the offensive side of things. Not starting Donovan for the aforementioned reason.

In the face of those challenges and a diciplined and fluid Dynamo team, the Galaxy came away with a point.

So why am I so frustrated? Because at this point in the season, having qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2005, I want to team to look sharp and dangerous, taking the game to the opposition, even if that opposition is Houston, rather than chasing and surviving on a stellar goalkeeping performance. I want my keeper bored to death and the forwards going for hat tricks.

Alas, that is not the Galaxy team with which we have been blessed. To be clear, this Galaxy team is worlds away from the disastrous embarrassments of the past two years. But it is worrisome that the team has only scored once in the last two games and that Edson Buddle has looked out of sorts over the same time period, which includes a bye week. It was especially worrisome today when the team included Buddle, Mike Magee, Chris Birchall, Beckham, Eddie Lewis and Dema Kovalenko but couldn’t put any sustained offensive threats together. That’s not a half-bad front six, but it wasn’t really giving Houston any problems.

Though, of course, it’s not like Houston sucks or anything. Not only have they put together their customary solid MLS run, they are still alive in the CONCACAF Champions League after a 2-1 defeat of Monterrey. And they’re pretty deep as well – losing Eddie Robinson, Craig Waibel, Cory Ashe and Wade Barrett to injuries and Cam Weaver to a red card. And did I mention they had three call-ups to the last round of World Cup qualifying? So, yeah, not slouches. And it showed on the field.

Having said that, it was also clear that the Galaxy had nothing going forward without Landon Donovan. The whole attack changed when he finally came on in the 55th minute. Buddle was out of sorts. I can’t tell you how many times his passes were off or he dribbled into trouble or made a bad decision ending in a turnover. For once taking him out for Alan Gordon wasn’t a serious downgrade in skill and offensive threat. Becks couldn’t dominate the middle with his passing game and the team kept getting trapped along the sides of the narrow field without any safe outlet passes of a means to switch fields. Magee’s creativity was absent.

Donovan brought calm, better vision, and a quicker touch to the game, opening up more space and providing more chances for the team as a whole. I don’t know if he would have had enough in the tank for 90 minutes, but I wonder what would have happened with an extra 10.

Final piece of disappointment: Not totally dominating the last ten minutes of the match after Brian Ching got sent off for headbutting someone. The Galaxy took it to Houston for half that time, but then the other half was spent giving the Dynamo a batch of corner kicks and scrambling to keep the ball out of the back of the net.

On the backline, I was consistently not happy with Sean Franklin. He’s still, it seems, trying to adjust back to the speed of game play and he seems very consistently to be a step late and off on many of his passes. With one game remaining and the playoffs looming, I’d love to get AJ Delagarza back on the field, if he’s fit to go. And for the first time all season, Omar Gonzalez didn’t have the 18 yard box on lockdown. All I can say is thank god the team was able to pull off 8 offsides traps. If they hadn’t I bet the Dynamo would have put two or three past a helpless Ricketts. Todd Dunivant was his usual steady self. Gregg Berhalter was his usual calming presence. Ricketts played the kind of game that The Bruce brought him in to play and that’s what allowed an out-played Galaxy team to walk off the Robertson Stadium pitch with a point.

One game left. Three teams tied for first in the West with 45 points (Chivas, LA, Houston). Chivas has a game in hand, but has to visit Chicago and then host Houston. The Galaxy hosts San Jose. Galaxy could win the West still if Chivas takes three or fewer points from those two games. The team needs to make a statement next week. They need to display an offense while avoiding another FC Dallas meltdown.

While it didn’t work well today, I’m still intrigued about a front six that has Magee and Buddle up top, Landon on the left, Birchall in the d-mid spot, Becks in the middle, and Klein/Lewis platooning on the right. I think that puts your fittest, sharpest, most creative players all on the field at the same time. One game left to see it in action. What do you guys think?

Man of the Match: Donovan Ricketts

What others are saying:

Zac Lee Rigg at Goal.com
The AP at Newsday
Andrew Ferraro at MLSNet.com with the game summary
Jeremy Rakes with the Galaxy perspective at MLSNet.com
Andrew Ferraro with the Dynamo Perspective at MLSNet.com
“Staff and Wire Reports” at the LA Times
Game Summary at the official LA Galaxy blog
Player reactions at the official LA Galaxy blog

The Los Angeles Galaxy took three points at home from a determined Fire team populated with a large number of replacement for injured players. As has been the case all season, the defense provided the base from which the Galaxy was able to generate just enough offense to put the game away. The best example of the defensive awareness was Mike Magee’s pouncing on a botched indirect kick by the Fire and snuffing a dangerous threat caused by a questionable call on Donovan Ricketts for handling a back pass from the feet of Chris Birchall (looked like it bounced off his shins accidentally to me).

Had the Fire been able to field a team with John Thorrington, Chris Rolfe, and Cuauhtemoc Blanco, the new-look Galaxy backline might have been exposed a bit more. As it stood it was given everything it could handle with Brian McBride, Marco Pappa, and Patrick Nyarko. It was a classic case of bending but not breaking, with Donovan Rickets called upon to make four saves, including smothering a heart-stopping goal-mouth scramble in the last ten minutes of the match.

Bruce Arena made a couple of tweaks from last week’s lineup, which was itself a bit of an experiement. Expected changes in the midfield brought back David Beckham and Eddie Lewis and put Chris Klein in as a starter, a game after Arena snapped his record-breaking consecutive game appearance string. Chris Birchall took over the d-mid duties for the injured Stefani Miglioranzi. Landon Donovan moved up to p to partner Edson Buddle. The bigges surprise to me was benching Todd Dunivant to make room for Sean Franklin on the right and slotting AJ Delagarza into Dunivant’s spot on the left. I suspect the idea was to try to neutralize the speed Chicago brings up top with Nyarko and Pappa.

On the whole the formation produced a lot more offensive chances than last week’s and, in fact a lot of the lineups that the Galaxy has put on the field this year. Donovan sprang Klein twice in the first 22 minutes for point-blank looks at goal that Fire keeper Jon Busch did well to turn away. Finishing was a problem all night, though Busch did come up with five saves, including a spectacular bending shot from Donovan off a corner that Busch pushed over the bar.

However, the Fire midfield, after being on its heels for the first ten minutes, was able to dominate possession for extended periods during the game. I found that those times coincided with a couple of Galaxy tendencies: the preference for the long ball out of the back for streaking forwards and the drifting back of David Beckham to collect the ball, from where he, too, preferred the long probing ball to the forwards.

I not saying that the Galaxy shouldn’t include those weapons in the arsenal, but I am saying that the team does best when it can string together attacking passes. The sequence in the second half that included seven passes until Sean Franklin took a weak off-balance shot right at the keeper from the top of the box is exactly what I’m talking about. Even the goal scored in the 43rd minute came from four passes that included a Klein – Becks – Donovan connection. And, although Donovan’s goal was a chip over a keeper caught in no man’s land, if you watch the replays you see that he one-times it at chest height in touch that redirects the ball, arches it over the keeper, and brings it down below the crossbar. It was a sophisticated striker’s touch and consistent with the high level of play that Donovan has brought to his game for the last two years.

As has been the case all year, it was the commitment to defense at every position on the field and a team willing to play for each other that kept the Galaxy in the game and pushed the Fire off theirs. Which was important because there were some off performances all over the field. Edson Buddle was never well-integrated into the flow of the game and many of his passes and touches went awry, often snuffing out promising build-ups. Sean Franklin showed a lot of rust, missing tackles, making bad passes, committing a lot of unforced giveaways, and looking shaky going forward. I’m not convinced it was worth taking Dunivant out of the game to get Franklin in, despite what I thought was a strong performance Delargarza from the left back spot. Delagarza is much more comfortable on the left than on the right and his offensive contributions are much more dangerous.

And in his return to the lineup I thought Beckham had a pretty mediocre day. An unusually large number of his passes were off-target and he seemed very content to play long-ball when a midfield build-up might have been the smarter choice. But that was because he was collecting the ball too deep in his own half. Further, I thought that Eddie Lewis spent too much time drifting inside and clogging passing lanes, rather than staying outside and making dangerous runs towards goal. And, once Mike Magee entered the game and Donovan went back to midfield, the Galaxy became a bit more dangerous going forward.

The game itself was a fairly even affair with two good teams playing good futbol. The Fire’s offense, despite its missing pieces was dangerous and Omar Gonzalez was called upon to break up attack after attack, most aimed at Brian McBride. He blew a few assignments, but mostly game up huge across the field against a determined and experienced Fire attack.

After seeing how this combination of players did against Chicago, I’d like see a few changes for Houston on the 18th. I like Franklin, but he’s been shaky in two consecutive appearances. I think I’d hold him out in favor of the back-line the Galaxy has had for most of the season: Dunivant – Berhalter – Gonzalez – Delargarza.

Then in the midfield, I think that Donovan is at his most effective when he’s marauding from the middle of the field, with the space to run at defenses. So I think I’d like to see this combo in the middle: Lewis – Birchall – Beckham – Donovan. Lewis and Klein would platoon in the second wing spot, with Klein coming in for the final 30 minutes on the right and Donovan switching to the left.

Finally, this would create the opportunity for a forward combo of Mike Magee and Edson Buddle. Magee combines better with Buddle than Donovan does because Donovan has more responsibilities across the field, often depriving Buddle of a real strike partner. Magee has enough vision and creativity to take passes from Becks and Donovan and give Buddle something to work with or shoot himself.

Obviously I don’t see the guys in training or have access to the information that the coaches have, but from what I saw on Friday, the combination above should give the Galaxy the best combination of defense and offense when both need to be peaking.

With the Galaxy now in the playoffs, the Houston game doesn’t have the urgency of one that would guarantee the post-season, but it is a preview of the kind of game the team will be facing once the playoffs kick-off. The Galaxy needs to make a statement by taking points from Houston on their home field. Teams that win championships do that kind of thing.

Last note. I was trying to think about who was the man of the match. Who did the most to make sure the Galaxy came away with the win? Clearly Donovan’s strike was a thing of skill and his play all day was smart and error-free (with the exception of that too-cute-by-half backheel in the second half that went to no one). But I think the player who did the most to contribute was Omar Gonzalez. His presence in the middle contributed mightily to keeping Brian McBride at bay and neutralizing Patrick Nyarko. So he’s getting my vote.

Man of the match: Omar Gonzalez

What others are saying:

Andrea Canales at Goal.com with the game recap
Andrea Canales at Goal.com with a story on Galaxy making the playoffs
Grahame Jones in the LA Times
Angel Magana at LAist.com
Sam Skejskal at the ChicagoNow blog
Matt Zimmerman at the LA Daily News
USSoccerPlayers.com, the MLS players union site
Ivan Orozco at MLSNet.com with the Fire perspective
Luis Bueno at MLSNet.com with the game recap
OurSportsCentral.com game summary
OurSportsCentral.com on clinching a playoff spot
Nick Green’s 100 Percent Soccer post-game notes (and the reason for leaving Dunivant off that gameday roster)
And here with the immediate post-game reaction
The Party Line with the post-game notes
The Party Line post-game quotes
The Party Line on making the playoffs

What about you? Who was your man of the match? What did you think of the game? How do you feel about the team making the playoffs for the first time since 2005?

Game Highlights:

On paper this should be a tough, hard fought match between two teams that need to be peaking right now if they have hopes of going deep in the post-season. In fact, both teams are sputtering, though the Fire come in with a great road record and the Galaxy is playing at home in a season in which the Home Depot Center has felt much more like public beach than a forbidding fortress for opposing sides.

What the Galaxy need in this game is what they’ve been needing pretty much all season. Offense. That’s why there’s a picture of Edson Buddle on this posting. He needs to break free of the lockdown Columbus had him under last game and score some goals. Likewise, Landon Donovan needs to shake off the close marking he received last Saturday and make something happen. If reports from the Party Line and Nick Green are to be believed, then there’s a good chance that Landon will have some help from a healthy David Beckham. Well, Edson too for that matter.

This is important because the Fire bring in a fairly make-shift defense. Losing Bakary Soumare has had an impact and CJ Brown isn’t getting any younger. Wilman Conde certainly helps plug some gaps, but this probably isn’t the defense that Dennis Hamlett envisioned at the start of the season. And the midfield hasn’t been setting the world on fire either. Chris Rolfe has been having a subdued season, though his work rate is still high and he has learned to do a lot of dirty work. Justin Mapp is still having trouble living up to his potential and John Thorrington is injured. I love me some Logan Pause because he’s the kind of player I like to see do well in MLS. And because he went to my high school. But he’s not going to give you that offensive punch you’re looking for. And, if he plays, Cuauhtemoc Blanco won’t be at 100 percent. But you just can’t count the Fire out. They bring a solid core of players who know each other and play extremely well as a unit. And they’ve got Brian McBride back.

The Galaxy, despite a spate of injuries, is looking to field a more-or-less full strength roster on Friday. I expect to see something like this:

Ricketts
Dunivant – Berhalter – Gonzalez – Delagarza
Lewis – Birchall – Beckham – Franklin
Donovan – Buddle

I think I would prefer to see Sean Franklin at right back and Chris Klein at right mid, or even Franklin not starting at all with Klein at right mid. But I think the above is probably close to what Bruce Arena will put on the field.

I think the Donovan – Buddle combination will work pretty well, especially if Donovan is given free reign on the offense. Slashing runs in the final third will give Buddle a lot of room to operate, which he needs. And a free-range Donovan, aside from being healthier for you, will get you lots of chances.

This all depends on the Chris Birchall – David Beckham combo working well. And I think it should. Birchall has the grit to fill the middle and bust up plays and the vision to make the good pass once he has the ball. This has always been Stefani Miglioranzi’s biggest weakness, while Birchall adds some offense to the defensive midfield spot.

But, if the offense the Galaxy took to Ohio shows up at the HDC, if could be a long night.

I’m optimistic. Galaxy 2-1.

What about you all? Who do you want to see play? In what formation? Who do you think will win?

Aside from the a vintage shot of Donovan with blond hair, I actually learned a couple of things about the front-runner for the Honda Player of the Year award. Like his divorce from Bianca Kajlich is amicable. And they can arrange custody of their dogs (oh for cute!).

But the fun part for me was the direct brush off of everyone’s favorite bomb-throwing futbol commentator, Eric Wynalda. I’ll let Dure tell it.

On the field, Donovan still has a few critics. Hall of Famer Eric Wynalda recently said on the TV show Fox Football Fone-In, referring to Donovan’s performance in the qualifier in Mexico, that Donovan tends to play well when the games are easy.

“I guess if Spain in the semifinals of the Confederations Cup is easy and Brazil in the final of the Confederations Cup is easy, and all the goals he scored in MLS — if that’s easy, then a lot of those critics are right,” Klein says. “A guy of his caliber is always going to have his critics. For someone to criticize him for his play this year is a little bit mind-boggling.”

Donovan was more direct, though soft-spoken, in responding to Wynalda, whose national team scoring record Donovan broke. Donovan has 41 goals.

“I think everybody in the soccer world knows the jealousy issues that Eric carries,” Donovan says. “I don’t think two seconds about what Eric has to say.”

Wynalda declined further comment.

Smart guy, Wynalda. For once.

Read the story, it’s worth your time, even if just for the picture. And come back here to discuss it.

Let me be clear at the beginning. I’m not a coach, I’ve never been a coach, and I don’t have access to the kinds and amounts of information an MLS coach has at his disposal, nor the skills to interpret it. But, having said that, I just plain didn’t understand Bruce Arena’s starting lineup yesterday. Or, let me be more precise, I didn’t understand why the supposed tactical advantages of the midfield (Landon Donovan on the left, Chris Birchall and Stefani Miglioranzi in the middle, and Sean Franklin on the right) and forward alignment he chose were superior to one that included either Eddie Lewis or Chris Klein from the beginning. And, while everyone raves about Bryan Jordan’s speed and gameness, I still find his decision-making suspect and his ball-handling weak. What made these choices particularly baffling to me was their implementation against the league’s best team playing in a stadium where said team hasn’t lost in 23 tries. Really not the time to tinker.

The fact of the matter is that the loss of David Beckham for a week due to what is being portrayed as a minor Achilles heel injury was big enough that no matter what team Arena put on the pitch it stood a strong chance of walking away from Crew Stadium with no points. But to compound that set-back by installing a midfield that had little experience playing together in their assigned roles seemed a bit audacious at best and disastrous at worst.

If you watched the game, you saw a cohesive Columbus team, playing a number of reserves in an unfamiliar 3-5-2, comprehensively beat the Galaxy in every part of the game. Their midfield was faster to the ball, won second chances, made precise, accurate passes, stifled the Galaxy’s passing lanes, frustrated Landon Donovan, and was the springboard for applying pressure on the Galaxy’s defense.

The Galaxy, on the other hand, could not maintain possession, built few attacks through the midfield, were rarely dangerous, lost most second chances, gave up more balls than a San Francisco bath house, and were rarely dangerous on offense. A first-half groin strain to Migs compounded the midfield’s problems as Arena chose to insert Jovan Kirovski as center mid, moving Birchall back to Migs position. Everyone knows how I feel about Kirovski. And, honestly, Sean Franklin as right mid in his second game back from injury? He’s not a right mid. He’s a defender. He plays like a defender, he thinks like a defender. Chris Klein, the veteran former international playing his natural position is the obvious option here. And while I love Jordon’s passion and fire, he hasn’t shown anything all season. He must have had a massive week in training to get the call over Mike Magee. Or Mike Magee had an atrocious week in training. And its not like I’ve been a huge fan of Magee’s in these postings, but the skill level and futbol intelligence he has right now is acres better than Jordan’s. Plus I think he compliments Edson Buddle’s game better because of his passing.

So what happened in the game? Precisely nothing if you are a Galaxy fan. If you are a Crew fan you saw a team play a tenacious and smart game while resting some of your biggest players or not having them available for selection. The Crew team that comprehensively took the Galaxy apart was missing Chad Marshall (knee strain), Robbie Rogers (rest), Alejandro Moreno (rest), Adam Moffet (recovering from injury) and Guillermo Schellotto (rest) from the starting line-up. And they still controlled every aspect of the game. Oh, and did I mention that the starting keeper is nursing a groin strain? I didn’t? Well, its not like you would have noticed since the Galaxy rarely put him under pressure.

The other thing you would have seen was how shallow the Galaxy’s bench really is. Once Migs went down, there was no holding/defensive midfield option off the bench, nor was there a proven attacking, offense-coordinating midfielder. And the initial choices of Jordan and Franklin left Bruce with strange choices to make going forward. I would have preferred to have seen a starting lineup of Dunivant – Berhalter – Gonzalez – Franklin in the back, Lewis – Birchall – Migs – Klein in the midfield, and Buddle and Donovan up top. Then you can sub in Kirovski for Migs when he gets hurt and Magee for Klein when he tire, putting Landon on the right and Magee up top and then if you want to go 4-3-3 to try to tie the game, you put Landon in the middle, Birchall on the right, and put Magee and Gordon up top and take off Kirovski. But, like I say, I’m not a coach.

Back to my depth point, though. With Dema Kovalenko out, there’s no back-stop to Migs. With Becks out, there isn’t anyone to really orchestrate the offense. And with Landon facing double teams at every point, he was effectively taken out of the game, giving Buddle nothing to work with. All this just shows how fragile the Galaxy’s success this season has been. Its a gritty team with players fighting for each other all over the pitch, but it doesn’t have a lot to counter with when it finds itself in a hole, even with the return of Buddle. Magee, Jordon, Gordon, and Kirovski have struggled all season to put balls in the back of the net and with just one injury to a major player, the team finds itself unable to over come the dearth of offense that has been its biggest problem all season. It is precisely this kind of game that shows how important David Beckham really is to the ultimate success of the team.

Saturday’s game was a playoff pre-view. A rising team against the league champions. This is the kind of game where a team makes a statement about its post-season intentions. Barring a complete collapse over the last three games, the Galaxy are most likely in the playoffs. But these last three games, two against for-sure playoff teams, are playoff previews. The Galaxy will have to beat teams of this quality (Columbus, Houston, Chicago) to make it to MLS Cup. The team that showed up in Columbus yesterday would have had a hard time beating a bunch of egg whites to make waffles.

And, a final note to Arena: Dude. Now is not the time to tinker. These three games are going to set the tone for the playoffs. Jordon isn’t ready. Gordon isn’t the answer. Franklin isn’t a midfielder. Kirovski can’t direct cars around a traffic circle, much less run an offense. Lewis provided instant impact off the bench. And you broke Chirs Klein’s consecutive game streak for a failed experiement. Be a coach. Learn from your mistakes. Make amends. And make sure Becks stays healthy. Otherwise this team is going to crash out of the first round of playoffs in a spectacularly ugly fashion.

Man of the Match: Ugh.

What others are saying:

Craig Merz with the MLSNet game summary
Craig Merz with the MLSNet Crew perspective
Craig Merz with the MLSNet Galaxy perspective
Game recap from Goal.com
Shawn Mitchell at The Columbus Dispatch (You can also find his excellent Crew-oriented blog here.)
The Sports Network in the Centre Daily Times
AP in the Los Angeles Times
Game notes from the official LA Galaxy blog
Locker room reactions from the official LA Galaxy blog

Game highlights