Post-Game Analysis: Galaxy vs. Rapids

Never give up a point on the road.

Galaxy Coach and General Manager Bruce Arena can look at the statistics just like every other coach and fan in Major League Soccer and knows that success depends on scrapping for points on the road and stockpiling them at home. (Actually I’m pretty sure that this is the basic premise of every league in the world.)

With a wealth of experience dogging it out for road points in the late 90’s in places like San Jose, Costa Rica; Port of Spain, Trinidad; Panama City, Panama; and Azteca Stadium in Mexico City in CONCACAF, Arena knows what it takes to get points with a team that has plenty of heart but maybe not as much talent or skill as his opponent, at least on his opponent’s home grounds.

Last night in Colorado, Arena brought that mentality with him, clearly telling his team to lay back, play compact, fight for balls in the midfield, stifle the attack, and only get forward on counterattacks. He wasn’t going in to win, he was going in not to lose. There are times when this philosophy bugs me. This is not one of those times. The Galaxy is not a top tier team this year, even when it can deploy its best personnel. And right now, not all of its best personnel are game fit. So playing a game of frustration and 11 men behind the ball was the best strategy for stealing points from a Rapids team that has shown it can take points away from Los Angeles.

There were some key differences from the team that was embarrassed 3-2 at The Home Depot Center. Gregg Berhalter for one. Eddie Lewis on the flank for another. Todd Dunivant for a third. The return of Edson Buddle for a fourth. And Donovan Ricketts for the fifth. Also the Rapids are starting to show that they aren’t all that (and you can forget any bag of chips).

The key for the Galaxy is in the back. The addition of Berhalter and Ricketts has taken the shakes out of the defense and replaced it with steel. Berhalter is still slower than he really should be, making him give up the occasionally dangerous foul (and that red card in the Chivas game), but his positioning is aces and his ability to organize a defense is much better than what we were getting out of Tony Sanneh.

But the key here has been Ricketts. Twice last night he saved our bacon with quick reaction saves from excellent positioning. His command of the box is sterling and he seems to have good communication with his backline. I no longer cringe when opposing offenses get in dangerous positions. Nervous, yes, but cringing, no. No question that he’s quickly become my favorite player, just because he’s relieved a burden that I didn’t know I was carrying: the inevitable understanding that no matter how well the field players did, all their good work would eventually be undone by substandard goalkeeping. Those days are rapidly receding.

It’s surprising how happy I am by what was essentially a boring frustration of a game. But then, I think it was much more frustrating for the Rapids and their fans. The story in the Denver Post made that clear.

“They just came here to kill the game,” said Cooke, disgusted with the Galaxy’s tactics. “They came hopefully to get something good out of the game like a point, and that’s what they got.”

Right you are Mr. Cooke, right you are. While it is worrisome that our midfield really couldn’t create much and it was frustrating that our backs, especially Sean Franklin and Dunivant, had problems making smart and dangerous passes out of the back, ultimately the point of the exercise was to frustrate the Rapids and then take advantage of any lapses. Dunivant’s rust contributed to Colin Clark’s cracking goal, but for the rest of the time the defense bent but did not break, including Dunivant’s fantastic defense against Omar Cummings‘ breakaway almost goal getting an almost red card for his troubles.

And, when it counted, Landon Donovan came through, set up but a fantastic bit of attacking from Edson Buddle in which his shot from the top of the box forced a punch save from Preston Burpo that landed at the feet of Chris Klein who made a fierce cross/shot that found Donovan inside the 6-yard box. For a minute I thought maybe we could even win this sucker with more of that, but a quick counter into the Galaxy backline put paid to that brief notion. In the end I was more than happy to get away from The Big Dick with a point.

For my money these guys did well last night: Berhalter, Gonzalez, Ricketts, and Donovan. Buddle looked good in flashes and I’m excited to see him get game fit. Dunivant looked good in flashes and he will stabilize the left side, combining with Eddie Lewis to make the Galaxy a threat from there for the first time in ages.

Man of the Match: Donovan Ricketts

What others had to say.

Nick Green at 100 Percent Soccer
The Daily News’ 4 line summary from the AP wire.
The LA Times’ marginally longer summary from the AP wire.
MLSNet’s Brad Byler’s Game Recap
MLSNet’s Brad Byler’s Galaxy Game Perspective

What did you guys see last night? Who did well? Who disappointed? What did you think of the Arena’s game tactics? Was it good to see Todd Dunivant and Edson Buddle finally on the pitch? Leave your comments and thoughts below.

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Tags: Bruce Arena, Chris Klein, Colin Clark, Colorado Rapids, CONCACAF, Denver Post, Dick Sporting Goods Park, Donovan Ricketts, Eddie Lewis, Edson Buddle, Gregg Berhalter, LA Galaxy, LA Times, Landon Donovan, Los Angeles Galaxy, Los Angeles Times, Nick Green, Omar Cummings, Omar Gonzalez, Player News, Preston Burpo, Sean Franklin, The Big Dick, The HCD, The Home Depot Center, Todd Dunivant, Tony Sanneh

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