Edson, Edson, wherefore art thou Edson? Galaxy vs TFC post-game analysis

By: NathanHJ | April 15th, 2011

Edson. Edson. Come back.

Edson Buddle, How Do I Miss Thee?

How do I miss thee? Let me count the ways
I miss thee to the depth and breadth and height
Chad Barrett’s shots do miss with all his might.
The ends of Becks’ crosses very well placed
I miss thee as you did speedily race.
Creative audacious scorer at night
I miss thee freely angling in from the right.
I miss thee when LD’s servicing wants.
I miss thee as Juninho’s passes are short;
an incisive run from Lopez so taunts.
I miss thee when Magee holds down the fort
Wasting chances so extravagantly.
Six games into the season holding court
I shall but miss thee, I fear, eternally.

-With apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I’m not sure what else there is to say, really. The team can’t score. Five gols in six matches with one from a striker and that from a laughable and baffling defensive miscue from the Real Salt Lake backline. The David Beckham-as-Shalrie Joseph move was supposed to get better service into Landon Donovan and the strikers, but that’s only played out once with a full complement of first-team choices. And it’s not producing appreciably more chances than other formations. On the one hand, it does a good job of providing an edge in time of possession, on the other, no one seems to want to take advantage of that. All I can say is thank God the defense has stiffened, since it seems like it will be under a lot of pressure to neutralize the other team while the Galaxy offense figures out when it wants to make an appearance.

I know I’m bitching and moaning here, so why don’t I say something nice? Okay… Sean Franklin looked really comfortable as a right winger. Mike Magee didn’t annoy me for most of the Toronto game. Adolph Joseph is always a gamer. Not sure that’s going to be enough going into Chicago, though.

Right, Chicago. I watched them play last week against Seattle and they looked dangerous, though they lost, largely because Seattle finally found some rhythm. LA goes in without Beckham due to yellow card accumulation and Juninho who got two yellows last game and possibly without Landon Donovan who’s nursing a bruised knee. Suddenly one of the league’s best midfields is just basically league average. Chris Birchall is back, but that doesn’t really make up for much. The Unofficial LA Galaxy Blog has three different possible line-ups tossed out there as food for thought.

I personally think that Magee is back on the left, Franklin stays right and Bruce Arena brings in Michael Stephens to help Birchall. Less disruption that way, but that said, Stephens hasn’t shown talent as the distributor, but then neither has Paolo Cardozo as the other possible choice. So… it will be a surprise to see what the midfield looks like. The other question is does Bruce rest Juan Pablo Angel given this is the 3rd game of the last eight days? Maybe. He is 35 and he’s only got one more gol this season than Chad Barrett…

So there you go. Lots to ponder.

Man of the Match: Donovan Ricketts

What about you guys? What would you like to see in a starting line-up? What kinds of remedies do you have for the Galaxy’s anemic offense besides coaxing our former leading scorer back from Germany? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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Category: post-game analysis

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Hackashaq

Which Cardozo are you watching??? This kid shows tons of talent. Stephens looked good in his rookie season. Cardozo should be playing on the left when Beckham returns...
Nathanhj

What I said was that Cardozo hasn't shown talent as a _distributor_ as the point person for the attack to go through like a Javier Morales or Dwayne DeRosario and neither has Stephens. Not that they aren't talented. Cardozo looked good on Sunday, but I'm not ready to say he's the next Cienfuegos...
Renathan

They haven't been much fun to watch so far, but I see signs that make me optomistic. Beckham contributes a lot more in the middle (although he does seem to disappear at times), Magee seems much better than in the past, Barrett is positioning himself well and taking good shots, and Angel (who hasn't been getting the service he needs and deserves) has set up a number of opportunities with very intellegent passes. When he returns, Donovan should make a big difference. Once Barrett and Angel nail one or two goals, I wouldn't be surprised if they start scoring at a prolific rate.
DAS

First, full credit on the poem. Definitely in the top 5 openings.

I cannot help but share your concern for this season. There are moments when we can see the quick passing and moving game that Arena is trying to get them to play. But it seems to fall apart completely without Donovan. It seems to me that the team is good at a great many things and great at a precious few. We have the ability to win against every team in this league (although that's maybe questionable with RSL). But we don't have a level of play that is dominant.

But, it is early in the season. One thing I've noticed about MLS is that initial form doesn't matter all that much so long as you maintain a decent record. The most successful teams are generally the ones that surge at the end of the season. We have a decent record. Let's just hope we can surge at the end of the summer.
Nathanhj

OK, just had a horrible thought that Jovan Kirovski might start in midfield. Ow! The eyes! They burn!
Nathanhj

Or not. The Sports Network says he gets an extra game suspension for yelling at the ref after the game ended. Hope he said something really really heart-felt. Can't believe that's worse than the non-red on Becks who almost cut Josh Wolff in half.