Comments on: Twenty minutes in, and we’re already donw two. Oy

By: George

George — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 16:13:53 +0000

David, Dallas is out of the playoffs too. Both teams will be playing for pride and the Golden Boot (Donovan has 19 goals, Cooper has 18).

By: David

David — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 06:23:07 +0000

Sort of sad what’s on the line really. Dallas needs a win to make the playoffs. LA needs a win to avoid being the last place team in the league. If this were a European team, the Galaxy would be relegated. Let’s hope Arena is more capable than the prior staff and has the means to turn this around. Boy do I miss Sigi. I’m still mad that they fired him.

By: Glen

Glen — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 17:23:10 +0000

last match approaching and no new game preview or writeup. lets just hope for a good showing and Donovan can put away a couple goals to win the golden boot.

By: David

David — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 08:27:01 +0000

Probably a good thing. Keep him match fit. Danger is it becomes permanent, but I think unlikely. His family wants to stay in LA and he has a lucrative contract here. Bigger question is Donovan. He would be a harsh loss. But I think better for US soccer if he goes to Europe and the Galaxy can use the salary cap space.

By: Tucker B

Tucker B — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:24:48 +0000

Well if anybody still reads this beckham is going on a loan move to Ac Milan til january.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/7683877.stm

By: Diane

Diane — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:23:22 +0000

I’m hoping so. Interesting to see who travels in December.

By: David

David — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:07:04 +0000

I think there can be little doubt that bringing in Beckham caused them to make changes that weakened the team significantly. Good proof that winning soccer is not about one player. I understand that the people making the trades didn’t know Buddle would be good and expected more out of some players, but with hindsight they clearly made very bad decisions, some of which were not necessary (like giving up Albright only to later bring in Franchino). I blame them for that. And the team is now bad. But I don’t think the badness is continuing. I think bringing in Arena and removing Gullit and Lalas will make big difference.

By: Diane

Diane — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:39:52 +0000

I agree with you about the poor decisions made by management to accommodate poor staffing choices, possibly including Beckham (I know you aren’t one of those saying so David, but many people do). But those decisions included player acquisitions. It’s not as if these guys stormed the gates of the Home Depot Center and demanded to come wreck the team, which is what many of the what happened analysis make it sound like.

By: David

David — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 06:02:05 +0000

Beckham isn’t a defender. The point is that the problem with this season was not his level of play. It was the management decisions made to accommodate him and the staffing choices made over the last few years. That management is gone. A new coach is here and has demonstrated he can do better. A few appropriate trades this winter and the team will be back. And perhaps with fewer fair weather fans.

By: Diane

Diane — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:59:33 +0000

Well Dave, it is a fairly valid argument for not placing the full blame for the season’s demise on your offense — no matter who that includes.