Peter Nowak, the Philadelphia Union’s head coach, has chosen his 10 players in today’s expansion draft. Stefani Miglioranzi was chosen from the Galaxy’s list of unprotected players.

The rest of the players chosen are as follows:

Goalkeeper: Brad Knighton (New England)
Defenders: Dave Myrie (Chicago Fire), Shavar Thomas (Chivas USA), Jordan Harvey (Colorado Rapids)
Midfielders: Shea Salinas (San Jose Earthquakes), Stefani Miglioranzi (Los Angeles Galaxy), Andrew Jacobsen (D.C. United)
Forwards: Nick Zimmerman (New York Red Bulls), Alejandro Moreno (Columbus Crew), Sebastien Le Toux (Seattle Sounders)

So, is Miglioranzi leaving going to hurt us? Or is he expendable?

This post at Soccer By Ives has the rundown of protected players in the upcoming expansion draft. Some of the names are surprising. Expansion team Philadelphia Union can choose 10 of the unprotected players, but only one player from each team. The full rules are explained here.

The lists of Bruce Arena’s protected vs. unprotected players is telling. Who does he see starting next year? Who is irreplaceable?

The Galaxy’s protected players:

Beckham, David
Berhalter, Gregg
Birchall, Chris
Buddle, Edson
DeLagarza, AJ
Donovan, Landon
Franklin, Sean
Gonzalez, Omar
Kovalenko, Dema
Magee, Mike
Ricketts, Donovan

The Galaxy’s unprotected players:

Dunivant, Todd
Eskandarian, Alecko
Gordon, Alan
Griffin, Leonard
Jordan, Bryan
Kirovski, Jovan
Klein, Chris
Lewis, Eddie
Miglioranzi, Stefani
Sanneh, Tony
Saunders, Josh
Valentin, Julian
Marshall, Yohance
Patterson, Kyle

I think Arena’s protecting of the young defenders is imperative, and I’m glad to see he has done that. I can absolutely see AJ Delagarza starting in place of Todd Dunivant next year.

I also find it interesting which of the aging players he protected. Gregg Berhalter will turn 37 next season. Does he have another good year in him? I say yes. Dema Kovalenko is younger — he will turn 33 next season — but he and Bruce have a long history together. I think he’s the best D-mid we have, and I’m glad Arena has protected him.

A few of the unprotected players come as a bit of a surprise. I thought Kirovski and Miglioranzi were Bruce’s pets. (Please, somebody, take Kirovski) I’d like to see Eddie Lewis remain with the team. Perhaps he isn’t as appealing a draft choice because of his age? And the sentimental favorite, Chris Klein, may fall into the same category — too old to go elsewhere.

If I were the Philadelphia Union I would grab Josh Saunders. He has spent a year learning from one of the best (Ricketts) and has played incredibly well when Ricketts has been unable this year, including the MLS Final. Saunders deserves a chance to be a starting keeper in this league.

What are your thoughts? Any surprises? Who would you love to see leave? Who do you hope stays? If this year was a rebuilding year, next year could be a-mazing.

I thought I would add one more post before the big game this evening and add a bunch of links for you to peruse at your leisure.

First, Diane added some insight into my posting from yesterday on the topic of who’s really the underdog here.

I personally think that the Galaxy should be considered the underdog because the team is older, lacks depth after the 14th player, and will probably suffer on the turf.

And, then, there’s the fact that David Beckham has been diagnosed with a bone bruise in his ankle and has played hurt or sick for the past 6 or so games.

The other half of this is, of course, the fact that RSL is peaking at exactly the right tie of the year, face no major injuries, and has the team make-up that pressures the Galaxy’s weaknesses and can contain their strengths.

Add-in the turf factor and the aged nature of the Galaxy line-up and this game will be much more of a dogfight than the dramatic glamour hounds versus the scrappy underdogs that the media would have you believe.

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100 Percent Soccer’s Nick Green is running a “Predict the Final Score” contest at his fine blog. It’s open until 5 PM today.

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Seattle weather forecast: 39-45 degrees, 90 percent chance of rain.

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MLS Cup official viewing parties

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Official LA Galaxy blog with all the inside scoop

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Alan Gordon fish toss

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Soccer Insider’s Steve Goff with a profile of the two rookie defenders AJ Delagarza and Omar Gonzalez, both out of the University of Maryland.

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GALAXY WIN MLS CUP… in FIFA 2010

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More stories for your enjoyment

Phil Collin at The Daily Breeze
Phil Collins MLS Notebook
Jared Montez catches up with Sean Franklin and has the podcast to prove it.
The wit and wisdom of Alexi Lalas
More MLS Cup than you could possible absorb from the Seattle Times
Jeff Carlisle’s preview
MLSNet MLS Cup HQ
Steve Davis preview (with that misguided RSL as underdog meme)
LA Times Cup match-up breakdown
Ives Galarcep at SBI with the Cup Preview
The Big Lead at HoopsWorld
MLS Cup background story by Steve Goff at WaPo
Chris Iorfide at CBC Sports with the preview
Angel Magana at LAist.com
Sara Becksley at Footbo.com
Marketplace (NPR) on the Beckham MLS Cup appearance impact on MLS
Sam Steiskal at the Chicago Fire Confidential blog
Grahame Jones with at Beckham profile at the… Chicago Tribune
Martin Rogers with the Cup preview
Michael Lewis at the NY Daily News
Michael Kauffman at the Miami Herald
Todd Dybas at Seattle Press Intelligencer blog
Steve Pastorino (former RSL General Manager) at the Salt Lake Tribune
Glenn Davis at the Houston Chronicle
Reuters on the aftermath of the Donovan-Beckham spat
Michael C. Lewis at the Salt Lake Tribune on friendships and the Cup
Kathryn Knapp at LA Soccer News.com
More Phil Collin
Michael Lewis at LA Soccer News.com
Greg Beacham at KTLA

Our favorite forward/midfielder, Landon Donovan, is this year’s MLS MVP! It’s actually the first time he has won the award, but after the smokin’ season he has had it should come as no surprise.

With all the awards he has been receiving this year, I’m continually reminded of that scene in Forrest Gump. You know the one? He has already been to the White House to receive the Medal of Honor (I believe) for his heroics in Vietnam. A few years later he is a World Champion ping pong player. He recaps it to the woman on the bench, “So I went to the White House . . . again. And I met the President of the U-nited States . . . again.”

Yeah, it’s like that for Landon this year. Now he has a VW to go with all those Hondas.

LD, we love you! (And apparently the USMNT can’t do squat without you.) Congrats man!

(Interview with Allen Hopkins here)

Like commenter Diane, I LOVE me some AJ Delagarza! Magee was fairly worthless with a horrible first touch for most of the match. Kirovski was brought in, why? Beckham did very well, but boy he was soooo tanked in overtime. I really felt for him and the others. Thankfully Berhalter’s goal perked up the place a bit (understatement of the year).

If you were there, tell us about the game! I had so much time to think during the blackouts that I started asking myself random questions, like, “I wonder if they’re selling out of beer now?” and “Who exactly is Don Garber speaking to on that phone?” I have to say, the crowd rocked the HDC and help rally our guys to win! Thank you, fans!

Anyway, I’ve got no well-thought analysis. Nathan has been rocking that lately. But I do have some photos care of zimbio.com and Getty Images. Enjoy!

And boy does he deserve it! The man is a miracle worker.

Good on ya, Bruce. Keep Klein in the line up for Friday and let’s kick some Houston ass!

More on the story from Nick Green.

And those words are: Meeting the challenge.

Right. So before the first playoff leg I predicted a series score of 2-1. Then before the second playoff leg, seeing the kind of chaos the two teams were creating and the resulting goals, I predicted 2-1 for the game on Sunday.

So, looking at a 3-2 aggregate and a 1-0 second leg scoreline, you can see that I bloody well can’t predict anything when it comes to these two teams. Good thing this is a post-game analysis, then, right?

One things was clear from the opening kick-off: the Galaxy were ready to take the game directly to Chivas USA and planned to play attacking futbol all night long. Within the first two minutes they had a legitimate attack on goal, though it needed with a relatively soft diving header from Landon Donovan that Zach Thornton bobbled a bit, but safely controlled in the end. And that was most of the story of the evening. For the first 35 minutes or so, the Galaxy had the better of possession and the attack, utilizing superb performances from Donovan and David Beckham. Chivas clawed their way back for the final 10 minutes of the half, relying on youth and speed to carry the day. But whereas the Galaxy forced Thornton to earn his Keeper of the Year award, the Goats were done-in by poor finishing. And that was pretty much the story of the second-half as well.

Okay, maybe I cheated a bit by simplifying the story. First, the Galaxy took almost twice as many shots as Chivas (17-9) and had three times as many on goal (6-2). And that differential comes from a Galaxy defense that shook off an embarrassing performance from the week before to live up to the reputation it has put together over the course of this year. Omar Gonzalez especially put his forgettable performance behind him and stood tall for 90 minutes. It’s not the he didn’t get beaten, its that he tracked back and threw his body on the line. He had an amazing sliding block in the second half that seemed like a sure Chivas goal until he broke thing up.

Second, the Galaxy superstars came through the way they are supposed to. Both Beckham and Donovan gave performances that were a level above what they accomplished on the first leg. The epitome of that partnership was the sequence that led to the penalty kick when Beckham, from beyond the center stripe on the right found a streaking Donovan in the final third on the left. Then Donovan made a superb pass to Mike Magee, alone on the far post. Who took a horrible first touch but was nailed by a gnarly knee to the nargiles from Yamith Cuesta for the penalty.

And that points out one of the weaknesses on the Galaxy side. Magee was only adequate – he made some good runs, but could never get the ball off his feet, botching most touches and passes. Edson Buddle was much better this game, but continues to show a disturbing tendency to dribble himself into trouble. I love that he takes on defenders. But I want him to do it smartly. Taking on three at once when an easy pass to the wing for the cross into the box is an option is just not good futbol.

On the other hand, the number of outstanding performances on the field was far greater than those that failed to meet expectations. Dema Kovalenko was everywhere all game long disrupting build-up after build-up in the middle and causing no end of trouble. Both Todd Dunivant and Sean Franklin held their sides of the field and contributed smart offensive thrusts. Chris Klein looked fantastic, offering more offense from the right than Chris Birchall normally does. Gregg Berhalter was steady, marshaling the backline with veteran savvy and determination. And Donovan Ricketts came up with two massive saves to preserve the victory.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the night from a tactical standpoint was the switches the offense went through as it worked to unsettle the Chivas defense. Donovan played on the left, then he played as a withdrawn striker with Magee on the left (these two seemed to dominate most of the night), finally he ended up on the right when Beckham came out after suffering back spasms and a twisted ankle. No wonder Donovan gets the big bucks.

Overall, it was a deserving victory over a tough opponent. One made sweeter because of who that opponent was. Once again, the Galaxy own Chivas USA.

Friday at 8PM the Galaxy face Houston in the Western Conference championship match. This one’s going to be even tougher.

Man of the Match: Landon Donovan (and not just because of the penalty kick)

What others are saying:
Larry Morgan with the MLSNet game recap
Matthew Hall at the Los Angeles Examiner
Steve Davis at ESPN SoccerNet
Larry Morgan again, this time with the Galaxy perspective
Eric Altshule at MLS Talk
Luis Bueno at Goal.com (who is on Facebook bragging about wearing his Dynamo jersey around town this weekend…)
Goal.com player ratings
Scott French at LA Soccer News
Jill Painter at the LA Daily News with a feature on Landon Donovan
Phil Collin at the same paper (well, part of the same chain)
Damian Calhoun at the OC Register
Jeffrey King with the Chivas perspective at MLSNet
Randy Kim at Fanhouse
Grahame Jones at the LA Times
Nick Green at 100 Percent Soccer
AP at SoccerNet
A host of good stuff from the official LA Galaxy blog: game notes, game quotes, and some video reactions, too.

Game Hightlights

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.

Ricketts and Josh Saunders are each nominated for Save of the Year.

Take a look and rock the vote on this election day.

You can vote for Goal of the Year here.

You can vote for Save of the Year here.

Welcome back to the playoffs!

It has been three long and, to be blunt, disastrous years since the last time the Galaxy played post-season futbol. That year they peaked at the right time after basically backing in to the playoffs and ended up taking the MLS Cup from New England on Pando Ramirez’s only goal of the season.

Now the team is back, completing a version of worst-to-first after having finished tied for the worst record in the West last year and having finished first in the West this year.

It would be hard to overstate how much a team-oriented approach to defending, one that relies on midfield tenacity and backline grit, underlies the Galaxy’s success this year. After giving up 62 goals last year, the team gave up 31 this year. And the team enters the first round of the playoffs with the fewest losses, six, of any team in the league.

But while the defense has improved, the offense has stagnated. Edson Buddle, fighting through another year with injuries, has rarely looked like the striker he was during the first half of 2008. Mike Magee, whom I tagged at the beginning of the year as a player who needed to make an impact, has shown flashes of creativity and spark, but has found it difficult to form a strike partnership with anyone except Landon Donovan. (But, really, I could form a partnership with Donovan.) Bryan Jordon hasn’t developed the kind of ball skills necessary to flourish at this level. Alan Gordon continues to be Alan Gordon. And while Jovan Kirovski is nominally an attacking player, I simply can’t find any evidence of this assertion during any of his years in MLS. Alecko Eskandarian, who does have the skills to make a serious impact, has suffered from head injuries for years and might not be able to come back at all from his latest.

In other words, goals are at a premium, with the team only finding the back of the net 36 times in 30 games, the 3rd worst among playoff teams and 5th worst overall.

Luckily they are playing Chivas USA, which is one of the teams who actually struck for fewer goals (34) than the Galaxy during the course of the season. Chivas also makes its living off of its defense, which has actually been fairly makeshift all season, but has a solid core in Jon Bornstein, Carey Talley, Yamith Cuesta, and Mariano Trujillo. Just like the Galaxy, the defending on Chivas is centered on the skill of its midfield, which has featured disupters like Jesse Marsch and Paulo Nagamura and offensive forces like Sacha Kljestan. Chivas likes to establish possession and then play through Kljestan to connect with the front-runners.

The main reason that Chivas havsn’t scored this year has been the fact that most of its strikers have spent chunks of time injured. None of the five strikers currently listed on the active roster have played more than 25 games or started more than 15. On the other hand, the strikers are now mostly healthy and give Preki a wealth of options to use up top, including the dependable Eduardo Lillingston, the flashy Maicon Santos, and the speedy Maykel Galindo.

A secondary reason the offense has sputtered has been a sub-par season from Kljestan, who has fallen off sharply from the level of play that earned him a starting spot on the U-23 team that competed in the 2008 Olympics.

So enough about season-long issues, let’s get to the match-up.

Galaxy Strengths

Galaxy Weaknesses

Chivas Strengths

Chivas Weaknesses

Given the problems on offense and the generally tough defense on both sides, we might be in for another 0-0 game. But with Chivas bringing in a fit strike corps and with Landon Donovan and David Beckham fully-integrated into the Galaxy scheme, there could be opportunities on both ends of the field.

However, I think this will be a tough game determined in the middle of the park. Both teams are having trouble getting and finishing chances, but both have quality midfield with players willing to give the crunching tackle. I would give the Galaxy the edge in the backline with Rookie of the Year candidate Omar Gonzalez getting it done under the direction of canny veteran Gregg Berhalter and outside backs Sean Franklin and Todd Dunivant providing quality wing play and incisive offensive runs when necessary. The stability in the back gives the Galaxy more to work with than Chivas.

The midfield likewise belongs to the Galaxy because of David Beckham and Landon Donovan, though Chris Birchall has proven his worth and Dema Kovalenko has been an adequate replacement for the injured Stefani Migiloranzi. Chivas can match the Galaxy’s disruptors, but has problems on the offensive side unless Kljestan decides to shake off his funk. Throw in Eddie Lewis and Chris Klein on the Galaxy side and I don’t think the Goats can compete.

But up front I have to give the advantage to Chivas with a healthy group of four quality strikers to choose from. The Galaxy hasn’t been able to establish any kind of rhythm or partnership up top all year with Edson Buddle turning in an especially disappointing year.

The goalkeeping is basically a wash with Donovan Ricketts and Zach Thornton both playing instrumental roles in their teams’ success this year.

On balance, I think this series goes to the Galaxy. Their defensive fundamentals are so good and their midfield so talented that they can overcome their scoring problems. Putting Donovan on the pitch with Beckham providing service means there will eventually be an offensive break-through over the course of the two games. There is no such guarantee from the Goats.

Prediction: Galaxy 2-1 on aggregate.

What others are saying:

Billy Witz at the New York Times
Andy Firchau at ESPN Soccernet
Martin Rogers at Yahoo Sports
Jim Alexander in the Press-Enterprise
MLSNet Preview
Grahame Jones at the LA Times
Luis Bueno at Goal.com
Jack Bell at the NY Times
Andrea Canales at Goal.com
LA Soccer News
Angel Magana at LAist.com
This Week Inside the LA Galaxy
Nick Green at 100 Percent Soccer

What about you guys? Who’s going to win? Why?