Stunned might be an understatement when referring to the Galaxy's 6-3 loss to FC Dallas this past weekend. Yes, I have been wrong before, but I expected LA to come out with passion and energy, and as I said on the PrimeTicket broadcast, "possibly put together their most convincing win of the season."
I could not have been further from reality.
The Galaxy were outplayed, out hustled, and thrashed for one of their worst performances, not just in 2009, but maybe ever. Insert positive cliché here: It's not how you start, but how you finish. The measure of a good team is how they respond after a bad performance. Perspective is everything. Take your pick. The bottom line is that LA needs to get back up on the horse and come out and win this game Saturday at the HDC... PERIOD!
Toronto FC are currently on the outside looking in for the playoffs, but a win Saturday would put them right back in the hunt in the Eastern Conference. Saturday will be the second meeting between the teams, after LA earned a surprising 2-1 win in Canada in early June, behind goals from Alan Gordon and Edson Buddle. The Galaxy played that match without Landon Donovan, Gregg Berhalter, and David Beckham, while Jovan Kirovski was an unused sub by Bruce Arena that afternoon. Keep in mind that LA was still a team trying to establish their identity early in the year at that time, having stacked up eight draws and a win coming into the match at BMO field. Sure that seems great because the Galaxy were taking points from matches, but there were still roster additions made by Arena, and in addition the team was still finding the right mix of players, specifically in defense that would make up the heart of the team.
Looking at TFC, they have some great talent and plenty of attacking options. It starts with Dwayne De Rosario, Chad Barrett, Amado Guevara, and Ali Gerba, and now you can add the recent signing of Julian De Guzman into the mix. The Canadian International is likely to make his debut for TFC against the Galaxy and he is a player that brings immediate excitement to the Reds. His stats might not indicate that he is coming to TFC to score goals, but what he will do is allow players like Guevara and De Rosario to have much more freedom on the field. De Guzman can cover plenty of ground playing in front of the Toronto defenders and be the point where the attack will start for the Reds. Look for him to sit in the passing lanes, and eat up loose balls in the middle of the field, only to spray them into the feet of other who will run at the Galaxy defenders. There have been a few teams that have made moves in the past few weeks, heading in to the final weeks of the season, and this could be the move that sends TFC into the playoffs for the first time in their club's brief history.
I said I was interested to see how LA would respond after having a couple of weeks off following the game against Chivas USA, and heading into the game with FC Dallas. That would be an understatement going into this week's game with Toronto. In my eyes, it is crucial for LA to come out and play well in the opening five minutes of the game. Bruce Arena said that he took full responsibility for the team's lackluster effort the past week, but to me that is just the coach taking one for the team. Some of these players have to appreciate that their coach is willing to publicly shoulder the blame. Now it is up to the players to respond and have their coach's back this weekend.
Looking at some specifics for the game, here is what sticks out for me. LA was beaten to 85% of the loose balls in the game against Dallas. Not once did I see players sticking in hard to win tackles and send a message to the Hoops that they were coming into the Galaxy's house. I do not mean being reckless, but there are moments in games, when players can tackle hard and even give up a freekick, to send a message to the other team. I would like to see this area of the game really pick up in the midfield. Really, about the only time that happened was in the closing moments of the game when Jeff Cunningham and David Ferreira were dancing on the ball in front of the Galaxy bench, and Landon delivered a hard tackle to the ankle of Ferreira and pointed to the scoreboard. I was happy to see LD send a message, even if it was in the last moments of the match.
Secondly, and it really goes without saying, the defending has to be 100% better. Maybe it was just the one game where things became completely unraveled, but that was not good by any means. Berhalter looked like he was more than 36 years old and far from the organizer in the back that LA fans have come to rely on. Donovan Ricketts had to be scratching his head, wondering what happened. He came into the match one of four keepers in the league with a GAA under 1.00, and walked off the field surrendering six goals, almost a third of the total goals he had given up in the previous games all season.
Finally, the return of Edson Buddle was the one positive LA can take from their last match, and a welcome site for Galaxy' fans. Buddle has played well against TFC in the past, not just scoring the winner earlier this year, but also tallying the game-winning goal against Toronto after the team traded him to LA for Tyrone Marshall in 2007. If Edson is feeling healthy coming into these final weeks of the season, it might be a blessing in disguise that he has missed so many games this year with injuries. Buddle is a player that can get hot, very hot... and become a handful for defenders to deal with when he is motivated and hungry to find the back of the net.
Things looked bad last weekend, but as I said, I think that was more of an anomaly rather than a sign of things to come. Now I just need the guys on the field to prove me right.
