Galaxy vs. FC Barcelona Impressions

By: NathanHJ | August 2nd, 2009

Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Here are a series of impressions from my experience of the Galaxy – Barcelona match.

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Saturday morning at the Farmer’s Market I frequent I met fellow futbol blogger Jennifer Doyle who writes From A Left Wing which explores the “cultural politics of soccer”. It’s a good read that gets into a lot of the grit of the cultural place of futbol in America. She also spends a lot of time looking at the women’s game, one of the few such outlets out there.

But the point was that we met, serendipitously at the coffee cart, had a spritied discussion of futbol culture in the US and noted that we would both be in Pasadena for the game. Good way to start the day.

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93,137 people for a futbol game in the US! Biggest crowd since the 1994 World Cup. Well done, Southern California!

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For whatever reason, the thousands of people there to cheer expressly for Barca did not annoy me at all this go round. I was actually impressed by how many fans I saw sporting Galaxy gear and, in fact, with how many fans were sporting both.

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Dear David Beckham,

Please more of that 45th minute magic please. (See below for fan-shot highlights.)

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Dear Riot Squad,

Just wondering how much longer Becks stays in the doghouse. I pass no judegement, just wondering what the standards are. No matter what, this little spat has been excellent for the league. While no-nothing Euro-snobs still insist that it is American fans not showing proper deference to Goldenballs, the real deal is that this episode shows that fans of MLS teams care about their teams with the same passion as futbol fans the world over and that anyone who is perceived to disrespect the jersey is open to reprimand, even your team’s biggest player.

Still, guys, what’s it going to take? I mean, if a world-class free kick goal isn’t going to get it done, what is?

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A sampling of the national jerseys I saw last night:

-Argentina
-Brasil
-El Salvador
-England
-Honduras
-Mexico
-Scotland
-USA

I know there were more, but I didn’t think to keep score until I was standing in line for the shuttle bus.

*****
Props to the transportation team at the Rose Bowl. I took Metro to Old Town Pasadena, then hopped the shuttle buses to the stadium. Getting in was easy. Getting out I stood in the longest line I’ve ever been in, including those vacations at Disney World. It eventually moved faster, however. Eventually is the operative word since I was at the end of the line for a good 20 minutes before any movement snaked its way down to me.

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Prices at the Rose Bowl for food are cheaper than those at the Home Depot Center, especially when you factor in the “quality to price” ratio. Also the variety is vastly superior. Note to AEG – you might want to install stoves so food can actually be prepared on-site.

*****
The quality of play from the Galaxy wasn’t horrible overall and in the second half was quite exciting for minutes at a time.

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What was that horrible formation Bruce Arena started the game with? A 4-5-1? With Kirovski at the lone striker? Blech. Let’s never do that again. It may have sort of clogged the passing lanes for Barca, but it couldn’t maintain possession to save its life. And it robbed the Galaxy of any attacking ability at all. In short it was horrible.

*****
The 4-4-2 they switched to with Donovan up top and Birchall on the right was much much better. Donovan looked very dangerous throughout the game. He is really raising the level of his game. That bodes well for the rest of the season as well as for what might go down in Estadio Azteca on August 12th.

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Speaking of which, professed team USA supporters and Barca fans must feel conflicted watching Rafa Marquez play. I admit, I booed when he left the field. My neighbors cheered. Go figure.

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Josh Saunders didn’t do so poorly, except for failing to control the ball after his save on Rodriguez’s goal. AJ Delagarza had a really solid game, as did Omar Gonzalez. It was a pleasure to watch them play against competition of this caliber.

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I loved seeing Dema Kovalenko get back on the field. He’s much quicker and more mobile than Miglioranzi, though he’s still in love with potentially dangerous slide tackles. He brings an offensive dimension that the holding midfield spot has lacked since he got injured. Don’t know how much he’ll play with Birchall now in the mix and Miglioranzi still the first choice.

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Speaking of Birchall, he’s not really cut out to be a right winger. Definitely a center mid.

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What about your guys? What did you see? Did you have fun? Let us know in the comments below.

Fan shot video of Beckham’s free kick goal.

From thedancar24 (who has a poor opinion of the Galaxy)