Edson's Back!

When Edson Buddle stepped onto the field last Saturday, it didn't take long for his presence to be felt. Edson's first shot led to the Galaxy's game-tying goal in Colorado. Exactly what Galaxy fans have been waiting for, right? Of course.

Edson, who finished third in the league with 15 goals, has been working hard and is hoping to crack the starting 11 this Saturday night, when the Galaxy face off against the New York Red Bulls at The Home Depot Center. The Galaxy (0-1-4, 4 pts.) is on a three-game winless streak while New York (1-4-2, 5 pts.) is coming off a 2-1 win Wednesday night in the U.S. Open Cup.

Last season, Galaxy lost just twice when Edson would score a goal and were 5-2-5 when he tallied a goal or an assist. Also, Edson and Landon Donovan combined for 35 goals and 12 assists and played a role in 42 of the Galaxy's 55 goals. To put it another way, the duo accounted for 76% of the Galaxy's scoring.

We caught up with Edson and few other Galaxy players after today's training session.

Here's what they had to say...

Edson...


Ricketts...


Magee...


Franklin...


Be sure to be in your seat for the pregame as the night will start early, and not just because of BritNight. Prior to the start of the game, there will a ceremony honoring Chris Klein, who is joining the 300 Club. Chris recently sat down with Larry Morgan to talk about his career. The 2007 LA Galaxy MVP said he still remembers "like it was yesterday."
Here are some other pictures from today's training session.

Brit Night Comes to The HDC

For the second straight season the Galaxy are hosting Brit Night this weekend in conjunction with the club's game against the New York Red Bulls.

In addition to the Galaxy's game against the defending Western Conference Champions (odd, we know) fans will have the opportunity to watch some of their favorite celebrities from the worlds of sport, music, film and television do battle on the stadium field starting at 4:30 p.m. There will also be music from the Ballas Hough Band (as seen on Dancing With the Stars) and Carly Smithson (from American Idol), traditional British cuisine from the Olde King's Head in Santa Monica and much more.

Gates open at 3 p.m. for all the festivities so be sure to show up early and take in a full day of soccer in Southern California at The Home Depot Center. Click here to see a full list of everything that will be going on at the stadium on Saturday (and to see all future promotions) and visit lagalaxy.com to purchase your tickets today.

Readying for the Red Bulls

The full team was back on the field this afternoon for a fast-paced session under the watchful eyes of the coaching staff and much of the front office, who popped out to the field to catch a glimpse of the team in action.

Tristan Bowen worked out on his own on the side of the field while Yohance Marshall remained inside to rehab his right knee, but the rest of the squad was on the field, giving Bruce 22 first team players to choose from.
A number of tactical and positioning drills were followed by an 11v11 game with the coaches electing to step in and stop the action at times to emphasize many of the points that they had been working on earlier, with players often switching from one position to another or even from one team to the other, giving the coaching staff a number of different options to look at going into the weekend.
Following the game, the team split into two groups with many of the attacking players at one end of the pitch, working on their attacking movements and finishing, with Cobi and the more-defensive players heading to the other end of the field with Dave and Trevor to work on their shape and positioning, with Bruce jumping back and forth between the two groups.
The Red Bulls are in action tonight in San Jose for an Open Cup Play-In Game against the Earthquakes. Following the game they'll make their way South to Los Angeles for a few days of training ahead of Saturday's game.


Trivia Time - The Galaxy have four players on their roster who used to play for the Red Bulls and all of them were there during the 2006 and '07 seasons and played under Bruce Arena when he was the Red Bulls head coach. Can you name those four players and which of them ranks as the sixth leading scorer in the club's history?

(Congrats to everybody for guessing the correct answers.)

Back at Home

Before receiving their customary day off on Tuesday, most of the Galaxy were on the field for a light training session on Monday morning. For the first time in three weeks, the club is preparing for a home game, with the New York Red Bulls coming into town on Saturday.

Most of the players made their way up to the training field and participated in a lively session that last just over an hour of mostly small-sided games.

The players who played significant minutes on Saturday stayed inside for a regeneration session that included time in the cold plunges, whirlpools and saunas, as well as a good amount of time with the Galaxy medical staff, as they begin to get their bodies ready for another physical match this weekend against New York.

Once they wrapped up in the trainer's room, everyone headed up to the training field to watch the end of the training session before everyone made the short walk over to the Athlete's Performance for a light gym session and some yoga.

After missing the last two games with an irritation in his right knee, Kyle Patterson was back on the training field along with the rest of the players who did not travel or play on the weekend. Tristan Bowen also did some work after missing the game in Colorado with a knee sprain, while Yohance Marshall, who went on the Disabled List on Friday, spent the day inside to work with the medical staff.

The preparations for Saturday will begin in earnest on Wednesday when the team returns to training with the full array of video sessions and daily meetings to go along with the training sessions.

But before we get to tomorrow, let's look back one more time at the 1-1 draw at Colorado last weekend with Chris Klein, Eddie Lewis, Donovan Ricketts and Todd Dunivant.

Klein

Lewis

Ricketts

Dunivant

Weekend Highlights

To get you started off on the right foot on this Monday morning, here are the highlights from Saturday night's 1-1 tie at Colorado.

Post-Game Reaction

The team will travel back to Los Angeles this morning so to hold you over, here is the MLS quote sheet from last night's 1-1 draw with Colorado.

LA Galaxy
Head Coach Bruce Arena
About the Game overall
“We had a good defensive posture, had a chance to catch them on the break.”
“We wanted to be smart and conserve our energy and not chase the ball too much.”
“We had a couple of opportunities with Landon that we didn’t capitalize on, but for the most part we did ok. In a game like this, opportunities when they come you’ve got to convert them and we failed to do that…we were fortunate to get that goal. I think it was a well earned goal.”
“This is a game; no one comes into Colorado and dominates because of what happens of the last 20 to 30 minutes. We had our chances and if we would have lost tonight I would have been disappointed.”
“We’re moving a positive direction. We had a solid performance and now we’ve got to get our first win and focus on getting it next week at home.”

#21 Alan Gordon
On Colorado being a tough place to score…
“This is a completely different team and I think we proved that tonight. We got a goal and were showing some character and some resiliency coming back and battling it out. We’d like to get a win, but a tie and a point is not bad.”
On hitting the crossbar
“You always want those to go in, but that’s part of the game. If I keep at it they’ll go in, so I’m not going to put any added pressure on myself.”
“I think I’m in the right spots and me and Landon were working good together. As long as were successful as a team that’s all that matters. I think I’m doing my part and I’ll just keep at it and the goals will come.”
On the defense in the second half
“After they got their goal its natural for a team to sit back and kind of play defense. Then the team that’s down has got to push it, so we were pushing a little bit and we were fighting back and getting opportunities and I knew one was going to come so I’m just glad we got a goal. Hats off to Klein and Landon for a good goal and we move on to next week.”

#10 Landon Donovan
On the goal and having a hard time scoring in Colorado
“It feels good, that being said we had a chance at the end to score if we were a little sharper on that play between me and Edson when the goalie comes out.”
“Overall were pretty happy, I think we had quite a few good chances that just missed and probably could have scored a few more goals.”
Successful road trip
“There’s two ways to look at it, one is that we haven’t won a game yet, and the second is that were one of a handful of few teams that have only lost once. We still feel good about where going, but especially at home we’ve got to start winning games.”

Colorado Rapids
Head Coach Gary Smith
On the game:
“It took far too long for us to get in our stride. I feel like LA made life very difficult, but it is our job to break them down and create opportunities. When we scored that goal the game had finally began to open up. Sadly, from the goal on we didn’t really manage the game that well. LA started to get a little bit more possession and look a little bit more threatening. Our biggest problem will be big mistakes that offer up opportunities. I felt the goal was a gift, although it was finished well, it was scored from a dreadfully bad mistake.”
“We are a group that is learning and growing all the time. In these stages that we have to adapt and we hope we are going to pick up more points than not. If not for one mistake, I would be sitting here very pleased that after a bit of a flat start, we started to produce better football.”
“I am sorely disappointed not to get three points.”

#23 Colin Clark
On the game
“It is nice to walk away with a point tonight. It is disappointing to come in here having only been 15 minutes away from racking up three. We were fortunate to get away with one play. When we went up I think it just switched off. We stopped playing and they got on top of the play and took it to us.”
On his goal:
“I got the ball and turned on my left foot and showed a little patience and was able to put it on the back post.”
On his first goal of the season:
“I don’t think it’s going to get me going necessarily, I think that is going to come with time, but it was good to score.”

#4 Ugo Ihemelu
On the game:
“It was very disappointing. It’s a game that I think we should have won. We had the lead, we fought hard for it, and a simple mistake led to their goal. It definitely feels like a loss.”
On next week’s game:
“This game is over; tomorrow we start over again and get ready for Salt Lake. It’s a home game and we need three points. So this game is in the back of our minds.”

LA 1 - COL 1: Galaxy Earns Second Road Point

LA Galaxy 1, Colorado Rapids 1
April 25, 2009
Dick’s Sporting Goods Park – Commerce City, Colo.

Scoring Summary:
COL – Colin Clark (Omar Cummings, Mehdi Ballouchy) 60’
LA – Landon Donovan (Chris Klein) 82'

Misconduct Summary:
LA – None
COL – None

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Donovan Ricketts, Todd Dunivant, Gregg Berhalter, Omar Gonzalez, Sean Franklin, Stefani Miglioranzi, Dema Kovalenko (Edson Buddle 69'), Chris Klein (Bryan Jordan 89’), Alan Gordon (Jovan Kirovski 88’), Landon Donovan©.

Subs Not Used: Josh Saunders, Tony Sanneh, A.J. DeLaGarza, Josh Tudela.

Colorado Rapids: Preston Burpo, Jordan Harvey, Scott Palguta, Ugo Ihemelu, Kosuke Kimura (Nick LaBrocca 44’), Terry Cooke (Jacob Peterson 72’), Medi Ballouchy, Pablo Mastroeni©, Colin Clark, Conor Casey, Omar Cummings.

Subs Not Used: Matt Pickens, Greg Dalby, Michael Holody, Ivan Guerrero, Ross Schunk.

Notes:
• With the draw, the Galaxy are now 0-1-4 on the season, leaving them with four points. They move into a tie with FC Dallas for seventh place in the Western Conference, nine points behind the leaders Chivas USA, who have 13 points from six games this year.
• Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena made three changes to his lineup from the 1-1 draw to San Jose last weekend. Gregg Berhalter and Alan Gordon returned from one-game suspensions, while Colorado native Todd Dunivant made his first start of the season. It is the most experienced lineup the Galaxy have used this season as only Gonzalez (1) and Franklin (2) have less then five years of professional experience.
• The Galaxy were without Leonard Griffin and Yohance Marshall, who are both on the Disabled List, while Kyle Patterson and Tristan Bowen also missed the game through injury.
• All-time the Galaxy are just 7-15-4 in Colorado, with their last win coming on July 13, 2002 when Danny Califf, Ezra Hendrickson and Carlos Ruiz all scored in a 3-1 win over the Rapids. Since that game, the Galaxy have played 12 regular season league games in Colorado, going 0-8-4 and have been outscored 18-4 in those matches.
• In the 60th minute, Colorado’s Colin Clark scored his first goal of the season and his fourth career goal against the Galaxy, tying him with Conor Casey for second all-time in scoring for the Rapids versus the Galaxy. Former Galaxy Director of Soccer and current Rapids Technical Director Paul Bravo (6 goals) has the most goal vs. LA in Rapids history.
• In the 69th minute the Galaxy’s second leading scorer with a career-best 15 goals last season, Edson Buddle returned to the field after missing the first four games of the season.
• Todd Dunivant was issued a red card in the 74th minute for a tackle on Colorado’s Omar Cummings, who was dribbling in alone on the goal. Following a protest from the Galaxy, referee Alex Prus consulted his assistant on the near side who had a better view of the play and determined that there was not a foul and therefore Dunivant remained on the field.
• Landon Donovan tallied his team-best third goal of the season, to go along with his three assists, knocking in a cross from Chris Klein. Donovan has factored in all six of the Galaxy’s goals this season. This is the third straight season in which he has been constantly involved in the Galaxy attack at the start of the season. In 2007, Donovan scored or assisted on each of the Galaxy’s first seven goals, while in 2008 he scored or assisted on each of the Galaxy’s first eight goals
• The attendance for today’s game was 12,180.
• The Galaxy are back in action next Saturday night when they play host to MLS Cup finalist New York Red Bulls on Saturday, May 2 at The Home Depot Center.
• For more about this afternoon’s game, please visit www.lagalaxy.com.

All Set For Kickoff

We're about 10 minutes away from kickoff here at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park and the lineups are in.

Gregg Berhalter and Alan Gordon return to the lineup after serving their one-game suspensions, while Colorado native Todd Dunivant will earn his first start since returning to the club. Another new lineup for the Galaxy, who have now used a different lineup in each of the first five matches.

Here's are tonight's lineups.

LA
-----------Donovan-------Gordon----------

Lewis---- Kovalenko---Miglioranzi ----Klein

Dunivant---Berhalter---Gonzalez---Franklin

-------------------Ricketts------------------

Subs: Saunders, Sanneh, DeLaGarza, Tudela, Kirovski, Buddle, Jordan.

Colorado
---------Casey-------Cummings-------

Cooke---Mastroeni---Ballouchy---Clark

Harvey----Palguta---Ihemelu----Kimura

------------------Burpo----------------

Subs: Pickens, LaBrocca, Dalby, Guerrero, Holody, Peterson and Schunk.

The referee tonight will be Alex Prus.

Arriving at DSGP

The Galaxy arrived at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on time and headed straight to the lockerroom. Everyone has different ways of preparing for the match to make sure they are ready to play. Most guys headed to the field to check the grass and then it was back inside to listen to their ipods or watch Columbus-Chicago match on TV.

Be Back with lineups in a few.

Rocky Mountain Ready!

Despite an 80-minute flight delay last night, the team arrived safe and sound in Denver just after 11pm. Originally set to depart a 6:30pm, the flight was delayed to 8:50pm but ended up leaving an hour early as the airline found another plane. Thankfully, everyone made the flight depsite all of the time changes. Once we touched down it was time to get to some rest, so the guys grabbed the team bags and headed to the hotel in downtown Denver.

This morning, the players are on their own for breakfast, then will meet for a team lunch and meeting with a pre-game meal at 4:30pm. Then it is off to the stadium at 5:45pm.

Don’t forget that tonight’s game is tape delayed on FS West starting at 10 p.m., or live through the MLS Direct Kick television package and online at MLSnet.com. The game will also be available live on the radio in Spanish at KWKW 1330 AM ESPN Deportes Radio and online in English at www.lagalaxy.com.

Here are a few notes about the match and a preview video to get you ready for kickoff.

TOUGH PLACE TO PLAY: Saturday’s game will be the Galaxy’s fourth trip to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park since it opened at the start of the 2007 MLS season. In the previous three games, the Galaxy have allowed eight goals and failed to score any, while losing all three matches. In 2007, LA suffered 1-0 and 3-0 loss on the road to the Rapids before opening the 2008 MLS season with a 4-0 defeat.

All-time the Galaxy are just 7-15-3 in Colorado, with their last win coming on July 13, 2002 when Danny Califf, Ezra Hendrickson and Carlos Ruiz all scored in a 3-1 win over the Rapids. Since that game, the Galaxy have played 11 regular season league games in Colorado, going 0-8-3 and have been outscored 17-3 in those matches.

However, LA is 3-1-0 all-time in Colorado during the postseason, including a 2-0 win over the Rapids in their last postseason trip to Colorado for the 2005 Western Conference Final.

FAMILIAR FOES: Tonight’s game is the third and final game on the schedule between the Galaxy and Rapids this season. On April 4, Conor Casey scored three times, including the game-winner in the 84th minute, giving the Rapids a 3-2 win at The Home Depot Center. Three days later, the same two sides met in a U.S. Open Cup Play-In Game, with the Rapids coming out victorious 4-2 on penalties after the game finished 0-0 after 90 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of extra time.

In 2008, the Galaxy did not finish their first season series with an opponent until May 31, when they played their second and final game of the year against Toronto FC.

AGAINST THEIR FORMER CLUB: Jovan Kirovski and Tony Sanneh will each be facing their former club later today. Kirovski joined Colorado from the Galaxy in September 2005 and spent two and a half years with the club, scoring 12 goals in 61 games for the club before being traded to San Jose in midway through the 2008 season.

Sanneh played for the Rapids at the end of the 2007 season, playing in nine games for the club before sitting out the 2008 campaign.

BERHALTER AND GORDON RETURN: After serving their one game suspensions for receiving red cards against Chivas USA two weeks ago, Gregg Berhalter and Alan Gordon are eligible to be back in the squad for tonight's game against the Rapids.

Gordon has two goals in 10 career games against the Rapids, including one in the two side’s first meeting this season when he tapped in from close range in the 48th minute to give LA a 2-1 lead.

Berhalter made his Galaxy debut against Colorado , playing 74 minutes in central defense in the U.S. Open Cup Play-In Game between the two sides on April 7.

BUDDLE BACK ON THE PRACTICE FIELD: The Galaxy’s second leading scorer with a career-best 15 goals last season, Edson Buddle is closing in on a return to the field after missing the first three games of the season. Buddle, who also missed Tuesday’s Open Cup Play-In Game against Colorado, has been out since suffering a right quad injury at a training session in early March.

The 27-year old returned to training last week and could feature in the club’s game tonight.

He played two games against Colorado last season, both at home, scoring two goals and adding an assist in those games. He tallied a hat trick in LA’s 3-0 win over the Earthquakes on June 14 and then tied the score at 2-2 on August 3, a game that LA went on to lose 3-2.


We're ready! Are you?

Getting Ready for The SuperClasiquito

Gyassi Zardes perfectly remembers last year's encounter with Chivas USA's Youth Academy team. The match was like no other Academy match before. Zardes, who is the captain of Galaxy Academy U-18 Team, points out that the match wasn't even a match, but rather "a battle."

"It's not just, like, a regular game," Zardes said. "It's a rivalry."

The rivalry renews Saturday at The Home Depot Center as the second installment of the SuperClasiquito (Little SuperClasico) takes place on University Field #2. The game is free and open to the public. Fans are asked to enter the stadium through Gate D on Victoria St.

Last year, Galaxy won both games, 1-0 (U-16) and 3-0 (U-18). The U-16s take the field first, with kickoff scheduled for 2 p.m. The U-18s will "battle" at 4 p.m., or after the first game ends.

Both games have playoff implications. In the U-16s, Galaxy sit in third place of the SoCal Division, seven points ahead of seventh place Chivas USA. Chivas is coming off an impressive win over first place Arsenal FC. The roles are reversed in the U-18s, Chivas is third and Galaxy is seventh, but both clubs are only seperate dby five points-- and only the top three teams in each division make it to the playoffs.



The Galaxy Academy held its last training session ahead of Saturday's game on Thursday. We stopped by and caught up Assistant Coach and Director of Player Development Trevor James, who's in charge of the Galaxy's Youth Academy program, both captains, Zardes and Juan Perez Jr.

We also interviewed Alejandro Covarrubias, who's playing for bragging rights, literally. Covarrubias, a midfielder, will be playing against friend and high school teammate Daniel Castro, a midfielder on Chivas USA's U-18 team. Covarrubias said he will greet Castro prior to the game, "but once the whistle starts, that's it, we're not friends. I'm going to go in with everything."



Here's the rest of the audio:

Gyassi Zardes...



Juan Perez Jr...



Alejandro Covarrubias...



Trevor James...

Packed And Ready To Go

The bags are packed and the guys are ready. The preview is done and Rogo's View From The Booth has been posted. Nothing left to do but travel to Colorado and play the game.

Bruce Arena and Co. trained on last time ahead of this weekend's match here at The Home Depot Center earlier today. The team will meet in a few of hours at the airport and then head out Colorado, where Saturday they will play the Rapids at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

Before we get to audio and pictures from today's training session, the Galaxy have added Yohance Marshall to the Disabled List. By league rule, once on a player goes on the DL he is required to miss the club's next six games, at minimum. Marshall will be eligible to return for Saturday's May 23 game at FC Dallas.

The session was an effective one. Bruce and Dave went over some strategy, Cobi talked about how to get mentally prepared for playing in Colorado and the rest of the time was spent working on communication, on ball work and packing bags.



Former Galaxy player Marcelo Saragosa, in town with FC Dallas for a game at The Home Depot Center this Saturday, stopped by to say hello. Saragosa didn't have to walk far to get here, FC Dallas was training on the field next to us at the same time we were.



Heading into Saturday, Galaxy is 0-8-3 in their last 11 matches in Colorado. Last year, the Galaxy conceded a goal 10 minutes into the match, Abel Xavier got a red card, Carlos Ruiz got injured and the club lost 4-0.

Not all trips to Colorado have ended that badly. In 1998, we won 6-1-- Cobi had a hat trick, Welton scored twice and Cienfuegos added one. In 2001, we beat the Rapids twice in Colorado and swept the season series 4-0. In 2005, the club arguably had their biggest in Colorado, the Galaxy beat Colorado, 2-0, in Western Conference Finals-- Landon Donovan scored both goals to propel the Galaxy to the MLS Cup.

After training, Cobi and Landon talked to the blog staff about those games. Here's what they had to say:

Cobi on how this year's squad is getting ready and how he would mentally prepare himself to play in Colorado...



Landon on last year's game in Colorado...



Landon on the 2005 Western Conference Finals...

Reading Garden - Finished

On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Galaxy Foundation, The Home Depot Center Charitable Foundation and The Home Depot built a Reading Garden at President Avenue Elementary School in Harbor City, Calif. The build also served as the Galaxy’s Earth Day initiative. Here is a before and after shot of the space, but be sure to check back next week for a complete photo and video recap of the build on LAGalaxy.com.

Talking Colorado

None of the guys are happy with the 0-1-3 start, but nobody is hanging their head down either. On Wednesday, Bruce Arena and Vice captain Eddie Lewis highlighted to the media some of the positives the squad has had so far. MLSnet.com writer Larry Morgan focused on the resolve the team has shown in not losing games.

After using his head to score that amazing game-tying goal in Oakland, Morgan also takes a look at Galaxy Super-sub Bryan Jordan.


Here's more audio about the upcoming game:

(From Wednesday) Arena on what's gone for the Galaxy through four games...

(From Wednesday) Eddie on work done in training turning into results...

Franklin on playing Colorado a third time this month...

Dunivant, a Colorado native, on the state's rarefied air...

Former Galaxy Assistant Named Iran MNT Coach

Afshin Ghotbi (left) with the rest of the 2005 LA Galaxy Coaching Staff, Billy McNicol, Head Coach Steve Sampson and Ignacio Hernandez in Spain during the 2005 preseason. (LAG)

A former U.S. National Team scout and assistant to Guus Hiddink with South Korea, Afshin Ghotbi today was appointed Iran's National Team coach.

Ghotbi, 45, who was an assistant coach under Steve Sampson with the LA Galaxy in 2005, is charged with the task of trying to revive Iran's World Cup chances. Iran currently sits in fourth place of the Asian Football Federation's Group B standings with three games to go. The first two teams get automatic bids, the third place team in Group B plays against the third place team in Group A for the right to face a country from Oceania for a place at the World Cup.

Congratulations to Ghotbi on the appointment are in order. Also, check out this insightful Q&A with Jack Bell of The New York Times.

Getting Ready for Round 3

After being given the day off on Tuesday, the guys had today what Bruce Arena describe at the end of the training session as a "good day, guys-- good day of training."

This week the Galaxy will travel to Colorado, where things don't always go as plan. ll-time the Galaxy are just 7-15-3 in Colorado, with their last win coming on July 13, 2002 when Danny Califf, Ezra Hendrickson and Carlos Ruiz all scored in a 3-1 win over the Rapids. Since that game, the Galaxy have played 11 regular season league games in Colorado, going 0-8-3.

Saturday's game will be the Galaxy's fourth trip to Dick's Sporting Goods Park since it opened at the start of the 2007 MLS season. In the previous three games, the Galaxy have allowed eight goals and failed to score any, while losing all three matches. In 2007, LA suffered 1-0 and 3-0 loss on the road to the Rapids before opening the 2008 MLS season with a 4-0 defeat, a game that ended with Abel Xavier getting sent off in the 89th minute and Carlos Ruiz being badly injured shortly thereafter.

Looking to exorcise past DSG demons, the guys started preparations with a good day of training on Wednesday.

The guys worked on ball control, one-touch finishing near 18 and also played a 6v6 game, which was won in the final stages by a group that included Gregg Berhalter, Todd Dunivant, Landon Donovan, Sean Franklin, Omar González, Alan Gordon, Jovan Kirovski, Chris Klein, Dema Kovalenko, Eddie Lewis, Stefani Miglioranzi and Josh Saunders. The group was down 3-1 before unleashing a three-goal flurry during a span of two minutes.

Being able to come from behind is something this team has proved capable of doing twice already this season.

This week's opponent is no stranger. Saturday's game in Colorado is the third and final game on the schedule between the Galaxy and Rapids this season. Last year, the Galaxy did not finish their first season series with an opponent until May 31, when they played their second and final game of the year against Toronto FC.

Edson Buddle went through the entire training session and Leo Griffin took another step forward in his rehabilitation by participating in the 6v6 games. Griffin, who took part in some drills last week, will continue to work on his match fitness this week.

University of Maryland Head Coach Sacho Cirovski stopped by to watch the Galaxy's training session, as well as check-in on two of his former players. Proving that soccer is a tight-knit community, a lot of the guys went out of their way to say hello and congratulate Cirvoski on winning the 2008 NCAA Championship.

Galaxy Foundation to Build Reading Garden Wednesday

The Los Angeles Galaxy Foundation, The Home Depot Center Charitable Foundation and The Home Depot will build a Reading Garden at President Avenue Elementary School in Harbor City, Calif. on Wednesday. For the school, the Reading Garden will enhance their language arts, science and math instruction as well as foster parent involvement.

Serving as the Galaxy’s Earth Day initiative, volunteers from Home Depot stores throughout the area, the LA Galaxy and The Home Depot Center along with President Avenue Elementary School students will build planters and plant flowers for the new Reading Garden.

In addition, Galaxy players A.J. DeLaGarza, Alan Gordon and Tony Sanneh will be on hand for the build.

The Reading Garden is funded with proceeds from the Galaxy's August 2008 How Suite It Is! Fundraiser and a $4,000 donation from The Home Depot.

Additional contributions were made by Albertsons, the America the Beautiful Fund, JAKKS Pacific, the National Education Association, and Panera Bread Carson and Torrance.

Earlier today, The Home Depot hosted a clinic for students to paint pots and build birdhouses along with staff and volunteers from the Galaxy and The Home Depot Center.

Here are a few photos from today’s preparations.

A.J. DeLaGarza Featured at CosmoGirl.com

On Monday, Major League Soccer and CosmoGirl.com unveiled an online photo gallery where readers can comment on who they believe is the best looking young player in MLS. The photo gallery of MLS players can be seen here.

The folks over at CosmoGirl.com picked who they thought was the best looking young player from each of the 15 MLS teams and now readers will get a chance to see their selections and leave their comments on who they think is the best looking.

From the Galaxy, A.J. DeLaGarza was the "Eye Candy" that the editors chose, with the 21-year old impressing them with his shorter locks, which he debuted early in the preseason. Follow the above link to see the photos of A.J. and read his responses to a few of the questions that they sent his way. (He can be found at pictures 15 and 16).

Other MLS players featured in the spread include Logan Pause, Colin Clark, Sacha Kljestan, Robbie Rogers, Chris Pontius, Peri Marosevic, Stuart Holden, Chance Myers, Danny Cepero, Chris Tierney, Will Johnson, Arturo Alvarez, Brad Evans and Marvell Wynne, with more than a third of them having ties to Southern California.

Galaxy in the Community

Earlier this month the entire Galaxy team made their way to Palos Verdes to participate in a soccer clinic with MLS Camps and AYSO Region 10. The players interacted, encouraged and met with the young soccer players before signing autographs.

Check it out...


Additionally, on Wednesday, a number of Galaxy players will be at President Avenue Elementary School in Harbor City on Wednesday to help finalize the building of a Reading Garden at the school. Wednesday is Earth Day and Galaxy players and staff will be on hand to help students and other volunteers build planters and plant flowers at the Reading Garden.

UPDATED: Locker Room Reaction

The team will travel back to Oakland this morning so to hold you over, here is the MLS quote sheet from last night's 1-1 draw with San Jose.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA

ON THE GAME:

“I was encouraged by our performance tonight. I thought a majority of the game we played well. We need to keep improving. Obviously the early goal was concerning, but I thought we showed a lot of character. We not only got a point but positioned ourselves to maybe steal it in the end.”

On ADJUSTMENTS IN THE SECOND HALF:

“Bryan Jordan’s pace helped in the second half. It changed our attack to have a little more speed in it. He did a very good job as did (Chris) Klein and (Todd) Dunivant. We brought in Todd to go to a 4-4-2 because he hasn’t played for a long, long time.”

LOS ANGELES GALAXY FORWARD BRYAN JORDAN

ON GOAL:

“On that specific play, Landon (Donovan) got it out wide and I found myself in the middle of the goal. I made a good run and Landon served a good ball and I was there to put it in the net.”

ON GETTING BOOTED IN THE FACE:

“I think the ball came in not as good but it was in front of the goal. I figured I’d attack it. I went down to do a header and I got a boot right in the face. It wasn’t a nice first play for me.”

LOS ANGELES GALAXY FORWARD LANDON DONOVAN

ON THE ASSIST:

“We were putting them under a lot of pressure. We got them cornered. I know there were a lot of guys in the front of the goal so I made sure I made a good cross in front of the goal. And (Bryan) Jordan did a good job getting underneath it.”

ON STILL BEING WINLESS:

“We’re doing almost everything right. We got to stop spotting teams a lead early. They didn’t have a lot of chances and it is unfortunate. Our run of play was good. We were very good defensively.”

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH FRANK YALLOP

ON THE GAME
“Obviously, taking the lead again in the game and not winning was not good for us. I think that we haven’t played very well, which is disappointing. I thought that in the attacking third, it was decent and dangerous, but our defensive side of the game, we just give up to many chances to the opposition and we are not quite on our game in that way.”
ON THE TEAM’S PLAY
“I feel as though in the second halves of the games, we are just always on our heels. The best we have played this season was in the game against New England, and we lost that one-nil, but we played well. I don’t think we’ve played well since then, and I want to make sure our guys know that, and they do.”

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES GOALKEEPER JOE CANNON

ON THE GAME:

“Defensively we did a much better job than against Chicago. We played with a bit more energy, maybe it was because it was a night game. We had a great crowd behind us and I want to thank the fans for coming out and hopefully we can build on this.”

ON THE TEAM’S MORALE

“Some days are better than others. I still think we are trying to find our identity. I think we have our thumbs on the problem but at the same time we need to figure it out.”

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES FORWARD PABLO CAMPOS

ON HIS FIRST CAREER MLS GOAL:

“It’s a great feeling. I can’t describe it. It’s my first goal and I was waiting for it and I finally got it. I had some problems with my fitness at the beginning of the season but now I’m in shape, so I am feeling good out there.”

ON TEAM’S PLAY:
“When we get a lead like that, we need to move the ball around better and keep possession. It seems like that we did not keep the ball as well as we liked, especially in the second half. We need to work on that for next week.”

UPDATED: Here are the MLSnet.com highlights from yesterday's game.

Galaxy Fight Back to Earn 1-1 Draw with San Jose

LA Galaxy 1, San Jose Earthquakes 1
April 18, 2009
Oakland Alameda Coliseum – Oakland, Calif.

Scoring Summary:
SJ – Pablo Campos 1 (Chris Leitch 3) 5’
LA – Bryan Jordan 1 (Landon Donovan 3, Dema Kovalenko 1) 76’

Misconduct Summary:
LA – Dema Kovalenko (Yellow Card) 25’
SJ – Ramiro Corrales (Yellow Card) 67’
LA – Stefani Miglioranzi (Yellow Card) 73’
SJ – Nick Garcia (Yellow Card) 90’
SJ – Quincy Amarikawa (Yellow Card) 91+

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Donovan Ricketts, Omar Gonzalez, Tony Sanneh, A.J. DeLaGarza (Chris Klein 65’), Eddie Lewis, Sean Franklin, Dema Kovalenko, Stefani Miglioranzi, Landon Donovan©, Mike Magee (Bryan Jordan 56’), Jovan Kirovski (Todd Dunivant 79’).

Subs Not Used: Josh Saunders, Yohance Marshall, Josh Tudela, Tristan Bowen.
San Jose Earthquakes: Joe Cannon, Chris Leitch, Nick Garcia, Ryan Cochrane, Nick Garcia, Eric Denton, Simon Elliott (Davide Somma 86’), Ramiro Corrales©, Arturo Alvarez, Bobby Convey, Pablo Campos (Quincy Amarikawa 65’), Ryan Johnson (Cam Weaver 79’).

Subs Not Used: Andrew Weber, Jamil Roberts, Brandon McDonald, Michael Zahar.

Notes:
· With the draw, the Galaxy are now 0-1-3 on the season, leaving them alone in sixth place in the Western Conference with three points.
· Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena made four changes to his lineup from the 0-0 draw with Chivas USA last weekend. Tony Sanneh, Dema Kovalenko Jovan Kirovski and Mike Magee were all brought back into the team, replacing Gregg Berhalter and Alan Gordon who were suspended and Chris Klein and Josh Tudela who started the game on the bench.
· In addition to Berhalter and Gordon, the Galaxy were also without Edson Buddle and Leonard Griffin who missed the game through injury.
· Chris Klein started the game on the bench, ending his MLS record streak of 118 consecutive starts, which began in June 2005 when he was a member of the Kansas City Wizards. Klein did enter the game as a second half substitute, meaning that he is now just two games away from his 300th career game played in MLS.
· As a result of Pablo Campos’ first half goal, the Galaxy have now surrendered the opening goal in three of their four games this season.
· That was the only goal allowed by the Galaxy in the game, meaning that the club has only allowed one goal in the last two games. At no point during the 2008 season did LA allow just one goal over any two game span.
· Bryan Jordan’s goal was the first of the season and the second of his MLS career. Jordan scored his first career goal in the 2-2 draw with Real Salt Lake on September 6, 2008.
· Landon Donovan assisted on Jordan’s goal, meaning that he has now scored or assisted on all five of the Galaxy’s goals this season.
· Donovan, who used to play for the Earthquakes, has now scored or assisted on nine of the 13 goals that LA has scored against San Jose since the start of the 2005 season. He has five goals and four assists in that time.
· Three of the Galaxy’s five goals scored this season have come in the final 15 minutes of the game.
· Todd Dunivant entered the game in the 79th minute, making his first appearance of the 2009 season. Dunivant had missed each of the first three games while rehabbing from ankle surgery.
· Dema Kovalenko was shown a yellow card in the first half of the game, meaning that he has been either booked or sent off in all three MLS games in which he has appeared in for the Galaxy.
· The attendance for today’s game was 15,682.
· The Galaxy are back in action next Saturday night when they travel to Colorado to take on the Colorado Rapids. That game will be played at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo.; starting at 7:30 p.m. FS West will carry the game on tape delay starting at 10 p.m.
· For more about this afternoon’s game, please visit www.lagalaxy.com.

California Clasico Ready to Go

We're ready to go here at the Oakland Alameda Coliseum as the Galaxy look for their first win of the season against San Jose, who the Galaxy beat for their first win of 2008.

Here is the lineup that Bruce will put on the field this evening...

-----------Kirovski------Magee--------------

--------------------Donovan-----------------

----------Miglioranzi-------Kovalenko---------

Lewis----------------------------------Franklin

---------DeLaGarza---Sanneh---Gonzalez

--------------------Ricketts-------------------

Subs: Saunders, Dunivant, Marshall, Tudela, Klein, Jordan, Bowen.

And the Earthquakes come out like this...

------------Campos-------Johnson-----------

Convey--------------------------------Alvarez

------------Corrales-------Elliott-------------

Denton------Garcia-------Cochrane-----Leitch

-------------------Cannon--------------------

Subs: Weber, Roberts, Somma, Zahar, Amarikwa, McDonald, Weaver.

Life on the Road

The Galaxy's first road trip of the 2009 MLS season officially began after Friday's training session at The Home Depot Center.

Following training, all of the players made their way down to the airport before jumping on the short flight to Oakland... after a few hands of cards.

The guys were excited to be flying JetBlue as the in-seat TVs would give everyone the chance to watch the first half of the New England-D.C. United game on ESPN2. But much to our chagrin, ESPN2 was not available and we were all left to follow along on the scroll at ESPN News.

The bags came out quickly with Raul making sure that all of the gear was accounted for before loading up the bus and hitting the road. After checking in at the team's Oakland hotel, the players were given the night off to go get dinner on their own and relax as they saw fit. The only people who were on the clock so to speak were the trainers, who handled all treatments after grabbing a quick bite.

After a night of sleep, everyone gathers for a team breakfast which was followed today by a walk through at Oakland Alameda Coliseum. Just a 10 minute drive from the hotel, the walk through gave the team a chance to get out of the hotel for a bit, but also to check out the field surface at the Coliseum.

Only five of the 19 players who travelled north on this trip played in this stadium last year (trivia, can you name them?) so this was a new surface for most of the guys, making the walk through all that more important. Plus it allowed more than a few guys the chance to act like Major League Baseball players at the home of the Oakland A's.
Once back from the Coliseum, the team had a lunch scheduled, but nearly everybody wanted to catch the final seconds of regulation in the Celtics-Bulls game on ESPN, with Magee and Dema actively cheering for their Bulls. Check the link above to see if they went into lunch happy.

After a quick meeting where the coaches go over some final tactics and other items, it's all downtime for the guys. Everyone has their own way to get ready for games, so rather than building a structured schedule, the coaches leave everyone to do what they need to do.

A pregame meal will follow three hours before kick off and the team will arrive at the stadium 90 minutes prior to the game, which everyone can watch live tonight on FS West at 7:30 p.m.

We'll have more from the stadium including lineups, formations and much more.

We're ready for the game, are you?

Final Preparations For San Jose

Kirovski, Landon and Dunivant are three of four players on the Galaxy that have played in San Jose...

The LA Galaxy held it's final practice of the week earlier today at The Home Depot Center ahead of Saturday's California Clasico in Oakland against the San Jose Earthquakes. A familiar foe, more so for some than others.

MLSnet.com writer Larry Morgan previews the game by taking a look at the people involve in the match that have ties to San Jose (Landon Donovan, Todd Dunivant, Jovan Kirovski and Eddie Lewis) , and viceversa, those in San Jose that have ties to the Galaxy (Head Coach Frank Yallop, Joe Cannon, Simon Elliot, Kelly Gray and Brandon McDonald).

...Eddie Lewis is the fourth, he played in San Jose from 1996-99

We asked Eddie about facing his former team for the time prior to boarding the team flight to Oakland. This is what he had to say...

We also caught up with Landon, Jovan, Tony and Dema. Here's what they had to say...

Landon...

Jovan...

Tony...

Dema...

Dema Kovalenko rejoins Bruce Arena's squad after serving a one-game suspension

Also, as promised, here's a video to get you ready for the game. Donovan Ricketts speaks out on being named MLS Player of the Week, Sean Franklin tdiscusses his move to the midfield and A.J. DeLaGarza talks about the Earthquakes' midfielders.



Bonus video:

Meet the 2009 LA Galaxy goalkeepers...