LA Galaxy: The Enron of MLS?

Ok, so how can one club with the same salary cap as the rest of the league, afford to be paying for who they have?

It is being reported that the LA Galaxy have traded for forward Carlos Ruiz from FC Dallas. Ruiz is one of the "grandfathered" DPA that aren't really DPA's. Which really means that there is no real way of knowing how much of his or Donovan's salaries count against the LA Galaxy salary cap. I am assuming that this is why Joe Cannon was shipped off to San Jose.

So where does this leave FC Dallas? They give up their main forward, but they have at least one guy who is possibly capable with filling this role in Abe Thompson. Is this also a way of making room for a higher contract for Kenny Cooper, as there seems to be some friction between FC Dallas management and Cooper?

One thing that is pretty certain, the Galaxy have some potential here. They either have the potential to have some really good offensive targets for Beckham to launch balls at, or they have just traded for one of the worst possible locker room cancers that they could afford. Probably the only way to top Ruiz off as a locker room cancer would be to sign Amado Guevara. It will be interesting to see what happens. Will we see Lalas stick his foot in his mouth yet again?

MLS Cup Final & LA Galaxy Guillit

The New England Revolution knocked off the Windy City Hunchback and the rest of the Chicago Fire to advance to their third straight MLS Cup Final. Will they finally get the 1000 pound monkey off their back? Will the Revolution pull of the domestic double?

On a different note, one of the Western Conference clubs that failed to make the almost all encompassing MLS Cup playoffs, the LA Galaxy, hired former AC Milan and Dutch National Team maestro Ruud Gullit as their head coach. Will Gullit, who has coached before for Chelsea, Newcastle and Feyenoord, do anything better than Yallop or Sampson before him? Will the Galaxy really see changes in their fortunes once the talking mouth of Alexi "I'm an ass" Lalas is no longer steering the ship?

Yallop Out in LA

The first step in the off season moves for the LA Galaxy has been taken; Frank Yallop is out as Head Coach. It looks as if he resigned from his position because the San Jose Earthquakes bought out his contract from the Galaxy, which makes Yallop the new Head Coach in San Jose.

This doesn't shock anyone. Yallop has had one foot out the door since the middle of the season and when San Jose was announced as the next expansion club, Yallop was an obvious choice for the top job in San Jose. Now the big question will be is who the Galaxy get to replace him. With David Beckham and Landon Donvovan being the central players in the club, the need for a high profile manager is definitely in the cards. Expect to hear Lalas refer to his club as the "Crown Jewel" of MLS at least once, maybe twice whenever the announcement is made.

For my money, I wouldn't be shocked if Klinsmann is named the new head coach. If that happens, expect a very different Landon Donovan for both the league, and the USMNT, that is if Donovan isn't shipped off to New York or San Jose.

MLS Thursday Night: 9/27/2007

I tried to watch the MLS Thursday Night match on ESPN last night. I really did. Unfortunately after watching the first twenty minutes of seeing neither side honestly try to do anything that resembled offensive soccer, Spies Like Us & Beerfest on HBO seemed so much of a better idea. I found myself switching back and forth between these three shows, but the soccer game never really got me to put the remote down.

Of what I saw, here are the interesting points:
- LA is pretty bad. They could barely get 1 goal when they had a 2 man advantage.

- Arnaud's and Conrad's Red cards should actually cost the Wizards 6 points. The two man advantage finally gave the Galaxy enough space to find their goal. On top of that, neither player will be available for the 10/5 match against DC United. It is hard to believe that the Wizards will be able to contain Emillio, Fred & Gomez without Conrad holding the back line.

- When did Cobi get his first name on the back of his jersey? The three "wise men" mentioned something that Cobi isn't retiring after this season? WTF?

- The scariest thought of all...that the Galaxy might actually be able to make the playoffs. They have to most likely win 4 out of their final five matches, which as they are playing Columbus and Toronto as two of those final five, if there is such a thing as a gimme for the Galaxy, those two matches would be them. They also face the Red Bulls, so in that match, anything is possible. They do have to travel to Houston, which isn't the easiest place to play in. I expect a Houston win in that one. The final match is against the Fire. As the Fire are fighting for the final playoff spot as well, this last match could be the clincher for either club. I honestly think that the Galaxy will go 2-2-1 in their final five matches and miss the playoffs.

Weekend Update

I really hate not having the internet at home, as it cuts down on the amount of soccer info I get, especially on the weekends. Despite the lack of web access, I did get to catch several matches this weekend.

DC United picked up another three points with an early goal and some great work from Troy Perkins. I tell you, for my money, Troy is actually playing better this season than he did last season. His command of the 18 yard box and his effectiveness in the air have seen huge improvements over last season. His defensive line in front of him has also gotten alot better. DC United has not allowed a non-PK goal in their last five matches. It is a little sad to see Boswell sitting on the bench, but why mess with something that works?

Considering the depleted offensive unit that Soehn took to Toronto, I fully expected a 0-0 draw. I knew that our defense would be able to weather any type of storm that Toronto attempted to throw at the United goal and considering that Toronto can't score any better than a high school nerd, I figured we wouldn't leave Canada with anything less than a point. However, it was good to see that United has the ability to go against the run of play and steal goals, even when neither Moreno or Emillio are on the field.

DC United travels to Dallas for a match up with the Western Conference leaders Saturday night. Dallas will have had two weeks off, so I expect a very tough match up in Texas.

My other United, Manchester United, took the pitch Sunday in probably one of the worse situations that they could have been in. Having only taken 2 points from a total of 9 possible, United have already put themselves against the wall in the Premier League. Facing off against Tottemham, who were in just as bad a situation in the league, it was a must win for Sir Alex and his boys.

I was shocked at how bad United played. They never looked that threatening. I am trying to figure out what is really going on at Old Trafford? It was good to finally see Hargreaves get on the pitch and he looked good in his defensive midfield role, but despite the goal, United's other midfield signing, Nani, never really looked that interesting. I was disappointed with how Carrick was playing, almost resigning himself to sit back with Owen and just let Tevez, Scholes, Nani and Giggsy try and do the most in offense. I really, really think that United should look to try and bring in another striker. Saha seems to always be injured and Ole isn't that much better in the health department. SAF really only has Tevez and Rooney, who is out for a while with his broken foot. Is the transfer deadline closed? This would be the perfect situation for Rossi to be brought in...oh wait, they sold him. Nevermind.

Over in Deutschland, Bayern Munich rolled on to their third clean sheet victory of the Bundesliga season, dumping Hanover 3-0, to increase their goal differential to +10. Anyone who is set to play in the UEFA Cup should start looking for another way to get some silverware because I really don't see Bayern missing out on any of the three trophy's they are contenting for this season. I really hope that they have a home UEFA Cup match when I am in Munich for Oktoberfest this year, it will be great to see a match in Allianz Areana.

Final note, I am happy to see that Yallop decided that it would be better for Beckham to sit out the trip to Denver considering his ankle and recent playing time. It was also interesting to see that whether or not Beckham plays, it seems that the Galaxy are now bleeding 3-0 losses. Has anyone got a Yallop/Lalas countdown clock going?

Sit Beckham, Sit. Good Brit.

So let's just list off everything that is surrounding this issue.

Beckham is still recovering from a sprained ankle. He played 60 minutes on August 15th in a win against DC United in the SuperLiga Semi-Finals. He then flew to New York the following day to attend press junkets and media appearances all day on Friday. Saturday night, Becks went the distance on Field Turf in the 5-4 loss to RBNY. The following day, "Golden Balls" jumped on a plane and flew off to London for the Wednesday evening England match at Wembly Stadium against Germany, in which he and his bum ankle went the distance again.

Ok, catch your breath.

So after the 2-1 loss to Germany, Beckham jumped on another plane and flew from London to Los Angeles in order to suit up for the MLS Super Classico, LA Galaxy vs. Chivas USA. In this match he went the whole 90 minutes, got in a fight, and showed some signs that his ankle is still less than perfect. The Galaxy lost 3-0.

So...now the Galaxy are claiming that they are worried about Beckham?

The Galaxy have a road match this Sunday in the thin air of Colorado at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, a match that is sold out. Everyone pretty much knows that this bottom of the table match up isn't sold out because the fans want to see the Rapids...they are coming to see Becks. Considering the amount of mileage that Beckham has just put his ankle and considering that the Galaxy's one shot at any type of glory this season is a Wednesday night match against Pachuca in the SuperLiga Final, I say that the Galaxy should disappoint the sold out crowd at DSG Park and sit Beckham.

Beckham showed in the 2-0 win over DC United that when he is on, he can change the entire make up of the Galaxy side. If either Frank Yallop or Alexi Lalas are going to retain their jobs this year, they are going to have to win the SuperLiga Championship. They are already out of the USOC and they really haven't a chance in hell in making it to the MLS Cup Playoffs. So, sitting beckham this Sunday to allow both himself and his ankle time to rest in preparation for the SuperLiga Final makes perfect sense. Furthermore, the thin air really can't do that much good for his ankle in the first place. Beckham said that his trip to Denver for the MLS All Star Game had bad effects on his ankle. So why risk the guy in a match that at this point, is really meaningless?

Now all of this logic aside, we all know that "Golden Balls" will be out on the pitch, wearing the Captain's armband and trying to will the Galaxy to their first MLS victory since the 4th of July. Considering the lack of bench players for Yallop, we should all expect to see Beckham go the entire 90 minutes on Sunday, barring injury or a red card. Yallop, Lalas, Garber & Co. and just about anyone who works for SUM/MLS, will pretty much demand that Beckham is on the field for this match. If I were Yallop, I would be doing two things right now, in this order:

- Getting my resume ready for job hunting.
- Telling Beckham that he is staying in LA to get some rest and treatment on his ankle and to be ready for Pachuca on Wednesday night.

Sit Beckham, Sit. Good Brit.

Match Recap: DC United 0 - 2 LA Galaxy

What a difference a Brit makes.

David Beckham started the SuperLiga Semi-Final match tonight against DC United. He not only started, but he set the tempo for the entire LA Galaxy side and he showed why he isn't washed up. I have never seen the Galaxy play at that tempo and speed before. It was good to see him banging away at guys, making hard challenges and getting into it with everyone on the field. He damn near took Jamie's legs off with his late tackle that drew a Yellow card, but over all, he performed incredibly.

Beckham was the difference.

Without Beckham, I honestly do not see the Galaxy scoring on his free kick (Amazing goal btw) nor do I see anyone in a Galaxy jersey making that pass to Donovan as he ran passed Gros, who decided to try and stop and watch the ball roll under his feet. When he left the game, the Galaxy became an entirely different beast. They didn't bunker, but the really didn't do what they did the first 60 minutes. Without Beckham, I really don't see the Galaxy winning this game.

Then again, I really have a hard time seeing United winning either. We looked tough, we had great movement at times, but our trapping and finishing just wasn't there tonight. Joe Cannon had an amazing second half. He made some saves that were spectacular. I do question why he is trying to look like Dante Hicks from Clerks, but hey, if he plays like that, let him look like Dante.

I saw several passes go right bye guys tonight, simply because we failed to trap the ball. All of them killed offensive movements at the Galaxy goal. It's always the simple things that get you.

Some notes:

- Props to either the Riot Squad or the Galaxians or whomever was chanting, "Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah, Hey, Hey, Hey, Good Bye!" We do that at RFK when we win, and I believe we did it last week when we won 1-0, so payback is a bitch.

- Vanney trade. I am not that sold on it now. I guess I have to weight the Erpen SNAFUs against the slow white man in the back. Not sure yet, I would rather see Burch ahead of both.

- Referee Alex Prus called a very, very loose match. I honestly think that the Galaxy should have had a PK as United should have as well, maybe two.

- Oh My Gawd, the field at the Home Depot Center looks worse than the field Olimpia hosted United on in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. WTF??? It almost looked like they were trying to make it look like the floor of the old Boston Garden.

- Captain Beckham? That was quick.

Well, the Galaxy have one shot at glory this season, and if Beckham plays like he did tonight, even with Pachuca having their great form of right now, I think they will get the first SuperLiga trophy. Depends on the ankle.

As for DC United... they are off to Columbus for an Eastern Conference showdown with the Crew. Hopefully, we will see the back line that pitched two straight shutouts along with Gomez and Simms in the midfield. United looked better with Simms in instead of Carroll. We have three straight Eastern Conference matches, away to the Crew, home to RBNY and away to Toronto FC. Let's put the Beckham show behind us now and get back to business of collecting three points a match.

DC United Notes: SuperLiga & Barra Brava

Tonight is the second Semi-Final in the inaugural North American SuperLiga tournament, DC United visiting the LA Galaxy. Pachuca advanced to the final last night by defeating the Houston Dynamo 3-2 on penalties after three red cards were handed out. The winner of tonight's match will host the final on August 29th.

Considering that these two clubs faced each other less than a week ago, with United winning 1-0, I have a good feeling about this match tonight. Yes Burch is suspended due to too many yellow cards and yes I know, HE will be playing, but considering everything else surrounding the Galaxy, they should hardly be in any real shape to play United. They are missing three of their main players, just finished a three match in a week road trip and have barely been in LA for 72 hours when the match kicks off. United hasn't played since the 1-0 victory over FC David Beckham and are in line to get Gomez back into the line up.

All in all, I expect a victory over Lalas's "Crown Jewel of MLS."

While everyone is waiting for the 10pm kick off, go check out the Washington Posts coverage of the match tonight & their expose of Barra Brava.

Match Recap: DC United 1 - 0 LA Galaxy

Well, he played.

David Beckham did play. Considering the situation he came onto the field in the 71st minute, he didn't do badly. He had a very nicely placed free kick into the penalty box and he sent a great pass into Landon Donovan. It looked like his ankle held up. LA fans, give him four more matches and he should be alright.

Ok, now that he is out of the way, United went out and picked up alot more than just three more points. They were able to build on the Sunday shutout of New England without Gomez. They were able to collect a second straight clean sheet. The back four of Boswell, Namoff, McTavish & Burch looked very well, even when they had defensive breakdowns, they covered for each other. Troy looked amazing in the box, controlling the crosses and displaying pretty good judgment on when to come off his line.

United picked up a narrow, yet not so narrow 1 goal victory over the same club that has destroyed United at RFK in several of the last few matches. They also beat the team that they face next Tuesday in the SuperLiga Semi-Finals.

All of this greatness happened in front of 46,000+ spectators and in alot of rain at times, however, the finishing still needs to be worked on. The score could have very well been 4-0, but the last touch for several players in the black & red failed them. United was very lucky to get the one goal passed Cannon, as he was on fire for most of the evening. I would rather not see United be forced to rely on a 1 goal victory on Tuesday*. Granted that the Galaxy have a match in between tonight's match and Tuesday nights match, we should be the fresher side, I want to see better finishing.

I have one bone to pick and it is with Fred. Fred returned from his red card holiday and played pretty well...but he also on several occasions, stopped runs and started ball watching. He stopped runs right when guys would pass the ball where he would have been had he continued the run. These all became turnovers. I am really trying to figure out why Fred has turned into a ball watcher as of late. If he would cut his site seeing times in half, he would be in so many more positions to create chances. Instead, he effectively turned the ball over by stopping his run and watching the play.

Over all, I was happy with the team composure and the team effort. United kept trying to crack the Galaxy defense and with one strong kick from Emillio, they broke through with the 1 goal that was needed. If United was the type of club that can score in the 12th minute then run the entire match into the ground for about 80 or so minutes like Chelsea can, then 1 goal a game would be fine. We all know that United haven't been able to do that very often, infact counting SuperLiga matches, United has only posted three 1-0 victories this season. They have also lost 1 1-0 lead, so I am still not that convinced that they can do it.

Anyways, United are now in second in the East, with a match in hand over Kansas City. Next up is an away match at LA (SuperLiga) then an away match at Columbus. United finish August at home to RBNY then away at BMO Field to take on Toronto FC. Hopefully the defensive trend of clean sheets carries the club to several more points over these next matches.

* - Edit. I thought that the SuperLiga match was on Tuesday. It is actually on Wednesday.

Soccer News & Notes: 7/25/2007

LA Galaxy win first SuperLiga Match; FC Dallas Draw
God I love Landon Donovan! This guy has a nack for making people eat the same stuff that they throw at him. After the Beckham circus match Saturday night, pretty much everyone dropped Donovan on his head for missing the open header late in the match and basically being invisible through out the entire match. I even said that the Galaxy would finish dead last in their SuperLiga group.

Well, he proved me wrong and showed the rest of the media that he can still step up in matches. Donovan scored the match winner as the Galaxy, minus Golden Balls, defeated Pachuca 2-1 last night. As FC Dallas drew with Chivas de Guadalajara 1-1, the Galaxy currently sit at the top of the Group A standings.

FC Dallas draw with Chivas.
The other SuperLiga match of the night had FC Dallas draw with Chivas de Guadalajara 1-1, despite an apparent hand ball that lead to the Chivas goal that tied the score at 1-1. FC Dallas played a man short for the end of the match as Drew Moor was sent off for shoving Chivas captain Hector Reynoso.

I watched the first half of this match and I was shocked at how hard these guys were hitting each other. The hitting was fierce and the passing was horrible. FC Dallas had terrible passes through out the entire first half, and it made me wonder if it was only time until Chivas snuck in with a goal. Chivas themselves weren't that much better, but they did have faster build ups in the offense, which I thought would be the difference. I figured teh score would be 1-0 for Chivas.

Freddy off to Benfica?
The AP is reporting that MLS and Benfica have agreed to a $2 million dollar transfer for Freddy Adu, but Freddy and Benfica have yet to agree to personal terms of the contract. Freddy was back in the Real Salt Lake line up as they hosted Boca Juniors in an international friendly last night, which finished 1-1. Negotiations appear to be on going.

I really, really like this move, assuming that Freddy can agree to personal terms with Benfica. Moving to Portugal provides Freddy with the chance to face an entirely different environment and get alot more playing pressure on him, rather than marketing pressure. At Benfica, Freddy will have to fight for playing time in training, something that Peter Nowak was trying to get him to understand and what he said he figured out with his two week training session last year with Manchester United. He won't be the media darling of the entire league, like he head been over here. His game should improve greatly, assuming that he moves. I am just happy that he wants the greater challenge, unlike some other guys.

Eddie Johnson turns Derby down.
Speaking of Americans getting chances to move overseas, Eddie Johnson has reportedly turned down Derby's offer to joining the EPL side this season. Derby has just been promoted to the EPL and were looking to bring EJ in to bolster its offense. In 2005, Benfica offered MLS a reported $6 million for EJ's contract, but the league turned them down.

As I said before, I think that EJ should move, especially with his stock so "high." The guy has been lighting up MLS, 12 goals in 11 games, but his game needs to go higher, especially if he wants to truly be an international goal scoring threat for the USMNT. Playing in the EPL would have forced him to become quicker, not only on his feet, but in his head.

Poor decision EJ, poor decision.

Here it comes…SuperLiga!

Ok, so how long has it been since the inaugural SuperLiga tournament was announced along with the participants and the bitching? After all of the complaining, arguing and debates, we are finally set to see inform MLS clubs go against pre-season Mexican clubs with 1 Million dollars up for the winner.

So what should we expect? Should we see the MLS clubs wipe the field with their Mexican opponents? The Mexican clubs are in preseason form after all, so they should be rusty and ripe for the picking.

I doubt that we will see anything other than some interesting matches. Clubs on both sides of the Rio Grande should do well, but I think we will see something of a Houston vs. Pachuca final. Houston is playing very well right now and Pachuca seem to have everything falling into place for them.

I am worried about two of the MLS clubs, the LA Galaxy and DC United. The Galaxy will be entering their second straight international tournament in pretty much as many weeks. They lost 3-0 to Tigres and 1-0 to Chelsea this last week. Considering that they have already faced a pre-season Mexican club and fared poorly, how are they going to do against two of the better Mexican sides? The Galaxy are still trying to figure out who is playing which position and what formation works the best. Pavon picked up a knock in the Chelsea match and that other guy from England doesn’t seem to be ready to really play until maybe Saturday against Chivas. I was impressed with their defensive form against Chelsea. Xavier played out of his mind in central defense and Cannon saved their bacon 4 or 5 times. That said, I expect the Galaxy to finish last in their group, using the three matches essentially as a pre-season run at the new players and see which formation works the best and to get them back in form for the MLS regular season.

DC United on the other hand really haven’t had that much of a run of good form lately. In their last four matches, they are 0-3-1, having been shut out in the three losses and having blown a 3-0 lead at home n the draw. So now the injury depleted Black & Red have to face two of Mexico’s best then travel to Houston and face the MLS leading Dynamo, one of the clubs that shut them out in those three losses. Considering that Tom Soehn should have both Ben Olsen and Fred available (Olsen had to sit out the RBNY match and Fred gets an MLS sponsored vacation when United face the Revolution on August 5th) I expect them both to be in the lineup for Wednesday nights match against Morelia. If United can get three points against Morelia, a draw against America then hopefully they will not have to worry about their match against Houston. If not, I think based on their current form, United might miss out on playing passed the group phase in this tournament.

Overall, my opinion of this tournament hasn’t really changed. I think that it is a great idea and one that will hopefully grow with each season that we see it. Based on Commissioner Garber’s statements on MLSnet.com, I think that it will:

“Matt from Chapel Hill, N.C.: What are your expectations of SuperLiga this year? Will it ever go to a Home and Away format? Will it expand? Will it be on TV in English?

Don Garber: We're launching SuperLiga in a reduced format this year and still have some work to do to determine the future structure of the tournament. I certainly hope we can achieve a home and away competition with expanded teams but this year have to determine the tournament's success before we move forward.” - MLSnet.com

The biggest thing that will determine its future is if the first run is a success. In order for the tournament to be a success, the current fans need to get behind it. It seems that a lot of MLS fans are shunning this tournament because the teams were selected instead of teams that won some type of qualification to get in.

I think that once the matches get started, there will be plenty of fans in the seats and we will see this tournament become a success. As MLS/SUM/MPD begin planning the next SuperLiga, hopefully they will take any mistakes from this one and eliminate them and expand the tournament to include more clubs. I would ultimately like to see MLS/SUM/MPD begin to invite the top two clubs from Costa Rica as well.

MLS Developments: Expansion & Coaching

If everything that is being reported is to be true, than MLS will add the San Jose Earthquakes back to the Western Conference next season, upping the league to 14 clubs. I like this because the fan base is already built up and with the new DPA rule in place, Lew Wolff has the perfect opportunity to bring in a Designated player into the club at the ground floor. It will also be a good thing to have a regional rival for Salt Lake.

So with San Jose rumored to be rising from the ashes, take that report and then go read this article and consider how these two might actually be intertwined.

With San Jose returning to the league, they are going to have to find a new coach for the Earthquakes. In my opinion, if these two reports are not false, I honestly am expecting to see Frank Yallop either get fired from the LA Galaxy or leave on his own and end up becoming the San Jose Earthquakes head coach once again. As the LA Galaxy would now be in the market for a new head coach, who better to guide Beckham through the rigors of the MLS season that his former coach Capello himself?

Think of it for a moment. Capello has international name recognition that will allow the Galaxy to further itself overseas as it extends its brand. Beckham and Capello repaired their relationship before Becks left Real Madrid, so if Beckham wanted him to be his coach, I am sure that Lalas and AEG would be more than happy to do everything that they could to bring him over to California.

Most of this is based on speculation about San Jose. Considering Don Garber should be announcing the expansion sometime later today during his State of the League address in Denver, we should know more as the day goes on.

That said, with Beckham playing for the LA Galaxy makes having Capello the head coach a very high possibility. Then again, I also know of a pretty successful European coach who lives in LA and is currently without a coaching job...maybe Klinsmann would be interested in coaching Golden Balls and Landycakes?

New LA Galaxy Uniforms/Logo

I am not sure if anyone has really seen these before, I personally haven't been scouring the internet to find this out before they unveil them later this week:

So I guess this is what LA will be wearing for the rest of the season. I am still wondering Beckham won't be wearing #7 again.