Well, things haven't been going quite like we would like them to when it comes to the Galaxy. This season has been one of hype and raised expectations. The arrival of Beckham shifted our schedule in such a way that most of our away games would be played when he joined the team. The logic behind it was that he would be used as a draw for people who wouldn't head out to the soccer stadiums. Basically he's a brand name that most people would recognize. Also, let's not forget that we were thrust into 3 tournaments this year during the regular season: The Open Cup, The World Series of Football, and The Superliga. Not to mention that 13 our roster are injured or in other forms unable to play with the team. That being said, we the fans have been made to endure one disappointment after another. And this past week, unfortunately, has been no exception.
Last Thurday night we squared off against our hometown rivals, Chivas USA, in what has come to be called the Super Clasico. It's a friendly rivalry that establishes the pride of the fanbase. 4 of these Super Clasico games take place during the regular season. The previous 2 installments have ended with a win for the Galaxy, and a tie. Understandably, these games get very heated, not just with the fans, but with the players as well. Temperatures flare, and frustrations begin to boil over. There is no question that the Galaxy was playing hurt. Beckham had just returned from England that afternoon after playing with the British National team the previous day. Likewise Landon Donovan and Jonathan Bornstein (Of Chivas) had returned that afternoon from Sweden after playing with the U.S. National team the day before. So, two of our best guys were not just tired, but also jet lagged. That meant that our attacks were minimal at best. Also, there are holes in our defense that you could drive a tank through, primarily due to the fact that we have almost no defensive players. Ultimately, the Chivas didn't need a tank to get not 1, not 2, but 3 goals into our net. It was a devastating loss for the team, as well as the fans. There is one more Super Clasico game left, and if we win it, then at least we still win the series. Here's to hoping.
This past Sunday, the Galaxy continued their roadtrip as they flew to Colorado to take on the Rapids. Both Beckham and Donovan decided to sit this one out as they recovered from their jet lag and from the strain of having to have played the following day. That put us greatly at a disadvantage as we were still missing most of our talent, and our 2nd stringers had to stop up to take up the slack. Things were touch and go early in the 1st half, but in the 26th minute, the Rapids had their first goal, and we just deflated. The 34th and the 43rd minutes saw two more goals from the Rapids, and that would be all the scoring for this one. It would be our 5th consecutive loss, and the second with a score of 3-0. The fans aren't happy. The staff isn't happy. The talent can't be happy. And with this much unhappiness, the talk of replacing the coach grows from a whisper to a bloody roar. Frank Yallop was treading on thin ice, and he had to pull of the Superliga victory in order to have any hopes of continuing with the Galaxy.
The Superliga final was played this past Wednesday at the Good Ol' Home Depot Center in front of a reduced crowd. (It was the 1st day of classes at Cal Stated Dominguez Hills, which shares the campus with the HDC). The galaxy wore white with black armbands (a few soccer players around the world had died in the days prior to the match), and the Mexican representatives, Pachuca, wore black. Classic good vs. evil material. This was perhaps the Galaxy's finest hour since the beginning of the season. The started off a bit disorganized, a little sloppy, but they quickly tightened up as Pachuca began to attack. The team finally coalesced into a single unit, and fought back hard the wave after wave of Pachuca attacks. It was both luck and the quick reflexes of Joe Cannon that saved the Galaxy from a greated humiliation, although the humiliation arrived nonetheless in the form of an auto-goal by Pete Vagenas in the 28th minute. Despite that low blow, the Galaxy seemed never to falter, not even when Beckham requested an substitution in the 33rd minute after a violent tackle left him with a sprained right knee (Word is that he's out for the rest of the season!! D'oh!!!) to go along with his hurt left ankle. Disappointing as this was, the Galaxy never let up, but neither did Pachuca. Both teams had numerous near misses, either saved by awesome goaltending or by the goal posts themselves. But just when it seemed that time had run out for the Galaxy, Chris Klein pulled of perhaps one of the greatest goals in recent Los Angeles Galaxy history to save us in stoppage time. Being tied, the game went into extra time (Two 15 minute halves), and when that remained scoreless, the game was unfortunately thrust into penalty kicks. It went back and forth between goals and saves, ultimately leaving the final winning goal in the leg of Landon Donovan. Thinking we had it in the bag (Donovan is one of our greatest penalty kickers), the Pachuca goalie was able to guess right, and blocked the shot, throwing us into sudden death. The Galaxy's Abel Xavier was left to answer Pachuca's additional goal in this round. But, for some unseen reason, Xavier completely missed the goal with a severely veered kick. This gave Pachuca the first ever Superliga titles, $1million dollars, the trophy, and another devastating loss for the Galaxy.Currently, the state of the team is in shambles. Frank Yallop has been asked to resign, and that could take effect in the coming days. Alexi Lalas, former U.S. National great and current Galaxy President and General Manager, may also be asked to step down. It is rumored that former German national Jurgen Klinsmann may be asked to take the reins of the Galaxy once Yallop is removed. The rumor is further strengthened by the fact that Klinsmann resides in Orange county, and has expressed desires to not travel abroad to accept offers from a few teams in the British Premier League. The Galaxy has now lost a valuable asset in Beckham, and the MLS has lost it's poster boy. Our next match is on Saturday at the HDC against Real Salt Lake, which has just moved past us in the rankings, leaving is firmly in last place in the West. We may see a very different team for this match, possibly under new leadership. Either way, there are only a handful of matches left before the playoff spots are ultimately decided. Life has given us lemons, A LOT of lemons, and we've got to make a s**tload of lemonade!!!!
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