Galatic Outreach -- A Midseason Review Of The LA Galaxy

The new Big Three, courtesy of the LA Galaxy!

Coach Bruce Arena called the match between CD Montagua of Honduras and his LA Galaxy the most important of the year and the Galaxy responded with a convincing 2-0 victory this week. It was fun watching David Beckham set up the second goal, faking out the defender marking him and crossing the ball to team captain Landon Donovan, who scored so ferociously that the net barely contained his shot!



Soccer is different from other American sports in that a team could be in several meaningful competitions at the same time. Winning last year’s Supporter Shield enabled the Galaxy to qualify for the international Concacaf Champion’s League, which runs concurrent with the regular Major League Soccer season.

The start of the CCL gives reason to reexamine the three questions asked in an earlier post when the MLS season got underway in March: 1) Is the star (Donovan) still likeable? 2) Does the sex symbol (Beckham) still have it? and 3) Can the team improve? While the first two questions are an emphatic yes (world-class midfielders Donovan and Beckham are league leaders in scoring and assists, respectively), the third question is a little tougher to answer.

The Galaxy currently boast the best record in MLS, but most of their goals have come from Donovan in the run of play, or from a set piece started by Beckham. Galaxy forwards (where most of the goals should come) have scored only 10 goals altogether through 25 matches, whereas Donovan has scored 11 himself! Even the likeable forward Juan Pablo Angel has been a disappointment this year, only scoring three goals in 22 matches.

Watching the Montagua match made the Galaxy’s problems at forward obvious.  Starting forward Adam Cristman scored the first goal of the match with a wonderful strike, but he should have scored two more, not scoring what seemed to be goals that were impossible to miss!

The Galaxy, to their credit, have addressed the issue by trading Angel and acquiring the services of Irish international Robbie Keane from the English club Tottenham. Keane is a proven scorer (being the first MLS transfer that involved cash paid to another club), and four years younger than Angel. Granted there may be ulterior motives to the transfer (Keane was no longer a starter at Tottenham and his model wife is excited by the opportunities LA offers to a beautiful lady), but Keane’s arrival is welcome.

Opposing defenses have pushed up the field against the Galaxy, hoping to keep the Galaxy out of set piece range. While Donovan has the speed and skill to overcome that formation, crowding the Galaxy when Donovan is fatigued makes them vulnerable, as shown when an expansion club, The Portland Timbers, defeated them last month 3-0. Keane’s arrival should stretch out the opposition, not only giving him chances to score, but also giving time and space for Donovan and Beckham to operate.

Arena does not usually make big changes halfway through a season, but with international play starting and the regular MLS league winding down, he decided to gamble with Keane. But the rewards (national and international success) are great, and well worth the risk!

Update: Granted, it was against the eighth-place San Jose Earthquakes, but what a debut for Keane!