Off to See the Wizards

We're not actually going anywhere to see the Wizards, but rather they are coming to us.

The Galaxy held their final training session of the week this afternoon under a light mist at The Home Depot Center. Like most day before the game sessions, today saw the team working on set pieces and going through a lot of what they thought the Wizards would do on Saturday.

After those functional parts of the session, the players broke up into groups with some playing soccer tennis, some playing in a small-sided two-touch game, some hitting crosses and of course, a lot of finishing.
Here is what Bryan Jordan and Landon had to say following today's session.

Landon

BJ


There was also a special guest out at training today as well as former Scotland international Richard Gough stopped by to speak with some of the center backs and goalkeepers. A big and physical presence at the back, Gough played in England for Tottenham and Everton but made his name in Scotland (where he began his career with Dundee United) at Rangers, serving as their captain during their run to nine straight Scottish Premier League titles, before playing in MLS with Kansas City and San Jose during the 1997 and 98 seasons.

Here is what Omar had to say, not only about Saturday's game, but also about having a resource like Gough available to him and what he was able to learn from the veteran.

Omar


It also appeared as there was a new Russian goalkeeper at training today, but it was just the goalkeepers and their coach Ian Feuer having some fun with Kevin Guppy. His fellow goalkeepers gave him the distinction of being the first player this season to wear the famous "Leteminski" jersey, which the keepers will be voting on each week. We've started seeing more and more pranks in the locker room throughout the year (most of which we're not allowed to show), further bringing the guys together.

Even better (in our opinion) than the "Leteminski" shirt was the football style helmet that Feuer fashioned for Donovan Ricketts out of tape and one of Julian Valentin's Full 90 headgears after Donovan made a great save in Colorado with his face late last month.

Check it out for yourself. And if that photo doesn't do the "mask" justice, we forced one of our many blog staffers to don the mask as it was meant to be worn. Good job him.

Finally, be sure to read Mark Rogondino's View from the Booth and Larry Morgan's look at the impact of Eddie Lewis, as well as his preview of Saturday's game. Lastly, read the league preview and download the game guide for all the latest stats, figures and trends to get you ready for Saturday's game.