I’ve got three words: LA Galaxy vs. Toronto FC post-game analysis

By: NathanHJ | September 20th, 2009

AP Photo

And those words are: Getting it done.

One week after giving up the most goals in team history, the Los Angeles Galaxy put together perhaps their most complete game of the season (though the Fire game at Toyota Park is in the running), shutting out a talented Toronto FC side to become only the fourth team in MLS history to record a shut-out immediately after giving up six goals. This was the team’s 9th clean sheet of the season and was well earned by a team that had its hands full with the TFC midfield.

I’m not going to say this win was pretty, because for long stretches it wasn’t. And I’m not going to say it was dominant, because for long stretches TFC put the Galaxy on their heels. But it was well-deserved and showed a team that learned from last week’s embarrassment.

Much of the credit for the 2-0 scoreline goes to a focused effort from the midfield and backline. The insertion of Chris Birchall, nominally on the right, but really playing a stopper role (I’m told that the preferred modern term is “holding midfield”) in front of Stefani Miglioranzi’s sweeper helped free up David Beckham to get forward more and really spark the attack. While Beck’s struggled on occasion with his longer passes, often directed to a streaking Landon Donovan, he was all over the field helping turn defensive stops into offensive counter-attacks. He also spent a lot of time causing trouble for both Dwayne DeRosario and Julian de Guzman.

It was a focused, full-game effort from Beckham, probably his best since his return from AC Milan and his 9th minute goal epitomized his play all night. Coming up through the middle as Edson Buddle pushed forward with the ball, Becks takes the centering pass from Buddle, one-touches it to Birchall sprinting up the right side and keeps his run going. Birchall one-touches it back to Becks who takes two touches, each of which gets him past defenders 18 and 16 yards out and then fires a hard shot low into the far post the TFC keeper Stefan Frei gets his hands on, but can’t stop. Time after time, Becks was able to look up and find a streaking attacker, putting pressure on a TFC backline that has been suspect all season, despite late-season changes and adjustments. The only weakness all game from this approach was that it often left the midfield too far behind the play, allowing TFC time to regroup once they stopped the Galaxy attack. If the team hopes to get deep into the playoffs, it is going to have to address that issue.

One problem the Galaxy has had all season is scoring. The team lags behind in shots taken and shots on goal from most other playoff contenders and until last night had scored only 31 goals in 25 games. This isn’t really surprising given that injuries have forced the team to play the bulk of the season with Jovan Kirovski and Mike Magee up top. Not exactly a combination that strikes fear into the hearts of center backs across the league. Last night, though, Edson Buddle went the full 90 for the first time since just before his injury in the AC Milan friendly and his quality up top was telling. Partnering with Landon gave the Galaxy both strength and quickness up top, combined with an ariel game that have been largely toothless all season. The combination creates many more chances than what the team was forced to put out for the rest of the season and you could see it this game. The team took 16 shot and put half of them on goal, forcing six saves from Frei. But for an unfortunate miss on an open look from point-blank range by Beckham in the 80th minute, the score could have been 3-0 easily. Part of that increase in offense was the insertion of Chris Klein in the 46th minute, on for Eddie Lewis who sprained his ankle on a hard challenge to de Guzman that stopped a scoring opportunity.

This is not to say that Toronto FC made it easy on the Galaxy. Despite managing only one shot on goal the entire night, their quality midfield created numerous chances that tested the Galaxy’s defense. Reflecting a whole-field, whole-team effort, the defense bent, but never broke in the face of the speed and intelligent passing of the TFC attack. It is hard to imagine a more dangerous midfield in Major League Soccer at the moment, especially after the addition of de Guzman, but it has taken the entire season to come together and the Reds may have left it too late to make the playoffs. But if they can jell, it might make up for their largely absent strikeforce and make them a sleeper contender for MLS Cup. But they don’t have much time to make that happen.

The Galaxy backline got Sean Franklin back from his late spring injury and surgery just in time for him to step into the spot vacated by AJ Delagarza’s bone bruise sustained in his stellar half of play in last week’s spanking. Surprisingly able to go the full 90, he had moments of rust, but looked largely like last year’s Rookie of the Year, playing intelligent futbol in defense and pushing up into the attack. His return gives the team something that fans find it hard to recognize from recent years: depth on the bench, especially on defense.

Both Omar Gonzalez and Gregg Berhalter had their hands full with Ali Gerba and DeRo, along with the occasionally dangerous Chad Barrett and Amado Guevara. Berhalter played his usual wily-veteran game, while Gonzalez stepped into the gaps again, playing with a calmness and intelligence that is far beyond his rookie status. If there is another contender in the league for Rookie of the Year, I don’t know who it is. Todd Dunivant played his rountinely steady game, often providing good crosses and runs from the left back spot, creating dangerous opportunites for a team that is increasingly able to spark the attack from anywhere on the field. Ricketts had another rock-like game, coming up big on his one save, a reaction kick-save on an Ali Gerba point-balnk shot. He was saved by the crossbar in the second half on a hard shot in which he was soundly beaten.

The upshot is a team that took three well-deserved and needed points at home from another team fighting for a post-season spot. It won when it needed to, coming back from an awful performance to stymie a talented opponent. It did it with a multi-goal game and with its season-long trademark team defense. With the insertion of Birchall and the return of Buddle, the team is close to reaching the potential is has been reaching for all season, combining stingy defense with an explosive offense. While I would personally still like someone other than Migs as the defensive midfielder and am scared of the fact that the bench depth at forward includes Kirovski, Magee, and Gordon. But if the team stays healthy, they have four more games to come together and provide the offense that has been difficult to come by all season. If that happens, you have to put the Galaxy in the mix as a contender for the MLS Cup.

Man of the Match: David Beckham

What others are saying:

Nick Green at 100 Percent Soccer with some hi-LAR-ious Bruce Arena quotes
Game notes from the party line (official Galaxy blog)
Game quotes from the party line (official Galaxy blog)
The Associated Press
Zac Lee Rigg at Goal.com with a focus on David Beckham
Andrea Canales at Goal.com with the game recap
Gerry Dobson at Sportsnet.ca
Angel Magana at LAist.com
Eric Altshule at MLSTalk
Phil Collin at The Daily Breeze
Jeffrey King at MLSNet with the game recap
Jeffrey King at MLSNet with the TFC perspective
Jeffrey King at MLSNet with the Galaxy perspective
Grahame Jones at the Los Angeles Times