RSL uses turf because they don’t have their own stadium. When they do they will have grass. FIFA allows turf in lots of places besides MLS, notably including the Russian first division. Also, the northern leagues you cite actually take a big break during their season because of the weather. If they didn’t they might have turf issues as well, jsut different ones (in this case playing on grass that plays like a sheet of ice).

Can’t say that I think MLS is a 3rd rate league. I’d put it squarely in the top 15-20 of leagues worldwide, which I think makes it a lot closer to first than third, but not I’m probably going to be accused of shameless boosterism and an inability to cogently evaluate the talent on the field. Such is life.

My only concern for Xavier is his inability to play on the artificial turf (who is our starting backline at RSL on Saturday?). Lord only knows why that surface is even used in MLS. And don’t go telling me that its used in the regions where its difficult to deal with the elements. Northern European leagues have much worse conditions (and they play during the winter) yet they seem to be able to maintain a grass pitch, so don’t use that tired excuse. Until we rid ourselves of that phenomenon, we will still be third rate on an international level and significantly shorten the careers of our players.

All that rant aside, I was very excited to see the lads play at such a level and I hope we work hard to build on this success. Go Galaxy!!

Vanney still has to go… too old, too fat, too sloowww. The funniest damned thing was watching Joey. I remember when he was here the first time and we used to heckle him every time he missed a pass (99% of the time) or made traps that shot back out like twenty feet (my kids trap tighter). But watching him Saturday night was a revelation. Sure he’s still a pissant little arse but he was thoroughly getting things done, winning balls, attacking everything like it was a great white’s feeding frenzy. I loved it. Ms. Jack couldn’t believe that was arrogant little Joey-Franc. Welcome back to LA, Joey. I’m impressed.

Alan Gordon.. holy smoking aces, batman… what a pair of zingers (Glad the AR was a little behind for the one he finished off Guzan). I never even finished my beer… it was too damned thrilling of a match, and just shocking. Only thing better would to have been at the HDC when the boys brought down the house (although apparently it was good not to be in the parking lot).

Becks said it best after the match when he questioned about what had changed (why he and Lando were clicking all of a sudden, and Gordon’s goals–being there when he had to be): “Well, we’ve all been in trainin’ togevuh everyday. You make things happen that way.” Indeed.

With much gratitude, fine men in white & blue…much gratitude.

I watched lots of NCAA games the past two years and he has the championship pedigree and big team (US U-17/20) experience to make an impact in MLS.

He’s made the bench lately. It’s only a matter of time till Gullit gives him the call if the Galaxy keep giving up goals, or one of our first choice defenders gets injured

I hope for the same thing, but I suspect it won’t happen. We’re not deep enough to be able to bring on dangerous enough players or create enough folks to be able to do much without them, even with Ruiz. He’s going to be starved for service and our possesstion game is going to suck.

Hopefully we can win enough 5-4 games between now and then to stockpile points. We’ll see. If the guys can win a few on the road, then I’ll start thinking October thoughts.

I agree with lots of what you are saying. I’m going to chime in on your observations.

Options: Yes, we have options now. One thing that plays into that is playing with confidence and with familiarity. Last year’s injuries not only robbed us of confidence, they robbed the players of any kind of steadiness and understanding of each other’s play. And, of course, of the most talented players.

Gordon: I’ve taken that boy out back and thrashed him the past three weeks, but on Saturday he showed how he can contribute: as a late-game sub, just as you suggest. I don’t think he’s an MLS starter, but with the current team, he could be good for 8-10 goals as a sub.

Franchino and McDonald are going to be a very serviceable defensive midfield tandem. I wouldn’t bring Pires back unless there’s an injury or Franchino flips out.

Backline: Sean Franklin is my early Rookie of the Year. The vanney-franklin switch was good tactics. Last year the left was fairly weak. This year it has a lot of options, though none of them are truly overwhelming. Randolph could be very good there by the end of the year, however, if he keeps learning and continues to gain confidence. So I don’t know what you do with Jazic and Vanney and Xavier when they are all healthy. Jazic probably has the biggest trade value, but he’s also better at left back than Vanney. Abel’s great in the air and with his positioning, but he’s slowing down rapidly and he makes about 3 huge mistakes a game. Putting on the field is always a gamble.

Finally, I took Cronin to task this week in my SBI column for both goals, but didn’t give him any credit for what he did right. I’ll do that here and say that he can play well and he does show flashes of confidence, the kind of attitude that says “anything in the penalty box is mine”. But he’s still not a top-level MLS keeper. Could get there though, so I’m not interested in calling for his head.