Galaxy Focus On Chicago Fire

It was no just another day at Galaxy training. The squad followed up yesterday's solid training session with another high-paced, high-energy workout on Tuesday.

This is not Pee-Wee's Playhouse, so there is no word of the day. But if there was, focus would probably have been it.

Just take a look a look at following photo...

As you can see by the look on the faces of Michael Stephens, Chris Birchall and Eddie Lewis, there was a toughness, a blue-collar mentality to Tuesday's proceedings. These guys definitely looked focused on getting things back on track in Chicago.

While the above three provided the toughness, A.J. DeLaGarza provided the speed-- he was all over the field, flailing his body in front of shots and would be attackers to help the defense.

David Beckham continued to work on his fitness. Beckham, who was placed on the DL on July 15, is eligible to come off the Disabled List for this weekend's game.

After working on some five-on-five and seven-on-seven drills, a lot of the guys stayed behind to work on finishing. Mike Magee, a Chicago native, would like nothing more than to come home and score one in front of family and friends.

Josh Saunders was not making it easy on Magee, Bryan Jordan, Edson Buddle, Tristan Bowen and the rest of the guys that were participating in this drill.

Buddle did manage to score a few, though. He's looked pretty good in training the last few days.

After training, Bowen talked to Troy Bardy about the upcoming game in Chicago and if the 3-2 loss on Aug. 1 was still something the team was thinking about. Check out what Bowen had to say on Galaxy Raw tomorrow, only on lagalaxy.com.

Not sure what A.J. is trying to do in this photo, but we definitely don't want to mess around with these guys. Hope Chicago is ready.

Ricketts Available on Saturday

Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts will be available for selection in Saturday’s game against the Fire after originally being called in by the Jamaican National Team for their friendlies at home against Costa Rica on Sept. 5 and in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. against Peru on Sept. 7. Ricketts will now train with the Galaxy all week before heading to Chicago with the club on Thursday.

After Saturday’s game, the 33-year-old goalkeeper is scheduled to fly to Florida for Tuesday’s game against Peru. He will return to Southern California on Wednesday, Sept. 8 ahead of the Galaxy’s game against Columbus at The Home Depot Center on Saturday, Sept. 11.


Ricketts has appeared in 21 of the Galaxy’s 22 games this season, compiling a 13-5-3 record with a 0.76 goals against average. His 13 wins are the most in MLS, while his 10 clean sheets are tied for the league high. His goals against average is the third best in the league this season, behind Kevin Hartman and Nick Rimando, but would still eclipse Pat Onstad’s 0.82 GAA, which is the best GAA ever recorded by a goalkeeper in a single MLS season. For his Galaxy career, Ricketts has a 23-10-13 record in the regular season with 19 clean sheets and a 0.91 GAA, which is the lowest in MLS history for a goalkeeper that has played more than 100 minutes all-time.

Redemption Week

The Galaxy completed Monday’s training session at The Home Depot Center with a series of five-on-five games that yielded some impressive goals as well as clever passing and tactics from both sides. Today was the first training session leading up to Saturday’s game with the Chicago Fire and the team left no doubt that they are completely focused on winning the game and getting back to the form that has led them to the top of the league standings.

Today’s training session began with and extended warmup and a mix of drills that focused on fundamentals and precision passing that featured plenty of one-on-one instruction from Bruce Arena and Dave Sarachan.

David Beckham was running and cutting at full speed and looked impressive in five-on-five action and continues to prepare himself for a late season return with the team. He set up his teammates with some inch-perfect passes and also knocked home an impressive goal with a well placed shot past Josh Saunders. He even found time to share a laugh with Eddie Lewis on a throw-in midway through one game.

Gregg Berhalter continued with his running program in the hopes of returning to game action this weekend. He also stayed on the field after the training session to speak with Omar Gonzalez about defensive tactics and positioning and continues to mentor the young defender.

The five-on-five games maintained a furious pace throughout as both sides were attacking and counter-attacking constantly to create some impressive scoring opportunities. None of it fazed Donovan Ricketts who looked impressive as always with some diving saves and defensive play. He certainly faced plenty of powerful strikes during today’s training session including a Tristan Bowen screamer that he saved with ease.

The Galaxy will continue to train at The Home Depot Center through Thursday before leaving for Chicago with hopes of leveling the season series after a 3-2 loss at the beginning of August.

Look Back One Last Time at Kansas City Defeat

For those gluttons for punishment out there, look back one more time at Saturday's defeat to the Wizards and hear what Bruce, Todd and Chris Klein had to say after the game.

Reaction to 2-0 Loss to Kansas City

Here is what Dave Sarachan had to say immediately following Saturday's loss to the Wizards. And continue below for the complete postgame quote sheet.

LA Galaxy Head Coach Bruce Arena
On the result:
“I think that we got outcompeted tonight. All this was about tonight was fighting and scrapping and we lost that fight. I think that was the difference in the game; they played harder.”

On the team’s recent mistakes:
“I don’t think tonight’s mistakes were the same as some of the previous mistakes. The second goal was a bit of an accident. I can’t figure that one out. The first goal, they outworked us on the play. Whether the linesman or the referee missed the call is immaterial because there were two other versions of that play afterwards, dealing with the cross and the runner. That is not an excuse.”

On the play of Kansas City:
“We were outcompeted. I wouldn’t say it is a lack of effort. I think there is an edge an athlete has to have and tonight, at too many positions, they made a few more plays that add up to make a difference over 90 minutes.”

On coaching out of a slump:
“I think we make it clear how we feel the outcome of this game occurred. I think we were outcompeted. It has to be clear that the next time we step on the field each and every player has to have a better effort. There were too many guys that did not win their battles tonight and that made a difference. A number of their players just had an edge on ours physically for the night.”

On Juninho’s absence:
“Juninho has been very good for us. Certainly, we missed him, but that’s all part of it. Throughout a season, you are going to miss players for a variety of reasons. Whether it’s an injury, a suspension, or personal reasons like Juninho’s, that’s all part of it, but we can’t use that as an excuse.”

On opponents limiting Edson Buddle’s chances:
“There is certainly a real strong sense of focus on Edson. To his credit, he battled really hard in the second half. He is getting fouled a lot. I think it goes with the territory and he understands that.”

LA Galaxy Midfielder Landon Donovan
On going down a goal early:
“We again gave up an early goal. It hurts. They played harder. They played like a team that’s more desperate. They out competed us. They came out here to our place and out fought us. That is unacceptable.”

On what the team needs to do next week:
“The good thing is that we have a pretty clear blue print about what works and what doesn’t. If we go back and look at all our games this year, minus one or two games where you get a little lucky or you don’t have a little luck, when we compete well, when we defend well, when we are organized, more often than not we win or get points out of games. And when we don’t we lose. We need to get back that again next week. Maybe we were a little complacent tonight and we got punished for it.”

On the team’s struggles tonight:
“We don’t mind playing well and competing well and giving up a goal at some point and losing a game. That’s not the issue. The issue is you don’t want to get out competed especially on your home field. That’s a little embarrassing and we can’t let that happen.”

On playing without Gregg Berhalter and Juninho:
“We missed Juninho and Gregg quite a bit. I think that Gregg’s leadership in the back helps. Juninho’s ability to pass the ball really helps us and I think that we lacked that a little bit tonight. They both would have helped a lot.”

LA Galaxy Midfielder Chris Klein
On the result:
“Kansas City played like a team that was fighting for their playoff lives, and we played like a team sitting on the top of the table with nothing to lose. I think we have to get back to the mentality of fighting and scratching and clawing for every point and every goal. We’ve given up way too many early goals this year. That makes us have to chase the game and allow teams to sit in and counter against us, which hasn’t made it easy for us.”

On the Galaxy’s ability to have more possession of the ball but not as many chances:
“I think that if you go back and look at some of the games that we won, maybe we didn’t have more of the possession, but we still got at teams, we were tight defensively and we got our chances. But we’ve gotten away from that a little bit, we’ve gotten away from the bite that we played with when we were on our run and it has showed in some of the results we’ve had recently.”

On the team’s struggles to play from behind:
“It’s really indicative of our style of play when we go down early. We have to chase the game and chase the game and chase the game. It allows teams to sit in and be tight against us. Usually, teams have to and spread themselves out, and that’s when we can catch them. When you give up that early goal, you aren’t able to do that. That’s been one of our issues lately.”

LA Galaxy Defender Todd Dunivant
On giving up the early goal:
“That’s the problem with giving up early goals and haven’t responded well after. It’s kind of a two-pronged thing. Again tonight, we fell into the same trap. It was a foul. It did happen, but we could have still made the play. You can’t point to play for the whole game. You have 90 minutes to do something about it, and we didn’t.”

On the team’s recent struggles:
“We haven’t responded well enough. That is something that we did very well last year, coming back, especially the early results, we were coming back and getting draws by fighting and scrapping and I think that our mentality has to change a little bit. We have to be more of a scrappy team, a blue collar team. We’ve gotten away from that. I think that we’ve listened too much to the hype of being in first place and gotten a little complacent.”

LA Galaxy Defender Sean Franklin
On allowing another early goal:
“We know we have a good team and a good defense and it showed the first half of the season. We’ve just got to go back to what we were good at and I know our team will bounce back from this. We’ve got a good group of guys, a good group of veterans and we’ve just got to prepare better for the games.”

Two wins in the last seven games, would you call this a slump?
“A little bit considering the success we had at the beginning of the year so yeah, this is a slump for us. We can’t come out like we did tonight and get outcompeted.”


LA Galaxy Forward Edson Buddle
QUESTION INAUDIBLE
I think Kansas City did a good job overall. They won a lot of second balls where they had time to look up and find the open player and attack with numbers. We found ourselves down early again and chasing the game. We didn’t make it easy on ourselves and we just have to stay disciplined and get back to how we got all these points.

Two wins in the last seven games, would you call this a slump?
We don’t want to get too low and we don’t want to get too high. Like I said, I think we got away from what got us here.

Kansas City Wizards Head Coach Peter Vermes
On winning in LA:
“Coming in, we knew that it was going to be a very difficult match based on the fact that LA is the leading team in the league and they have a great pressing game, especially at home. They have a lot of weapons. Obviously, Edson has been on fire for most of the season and Landon can hurt you at anytime in a game. The key for us was to not sit back a try to absorb pressure. You can’t do that in this venue for 90 minutes. We tried to have our attacking moments, and I thought the guys did a good job, and this was probably our best 90 minute performance of the whole season.”

On how the team has performed of late:
“I think in our last seven games, we didn’t have a good sense of how we reacted when we are down a goal, tied, or up a goal. I think over the course of the season, we have gotten better and better at that. It is all just coming to a head that the players have a sense that they have the ability to do certain things on the field in regards to whether we are down, tied or up. The other thing is, within this league, every team is very competitive and from week to week we have to be extremely prepared and very competitive from game to game.”

On the play of his flank players:
“In our formation, we have some pretty decent speed on the outsides, especially [Kei] Kamara and Ryan Smith. It provides us with a three pronged attack and sometimes, when they send their players forward, they don’t respect the speed that those guys have, they can hurt you.”

Kansas City Wizards Defender Jimmy Conrad
On what was it like having 185 friends and family at attendance and getting a goal:
“Well, it was 1-0 and I knew Edson was marking me, so I knew that if I went up that it would probably take some energy out of him too, and make him play honest defense. I got fortunate to get on it and it bounced my way.”

On the play of the Wizards defense:
“It feels great and when we went up 2-0, I made sure to tell the back four that we want to keep it zero here. I thought Jimmy [Nielsen] made a couple good saves for us to keep it there and it was a good collective team effort. I don’t know if we played the most aesthetically pleasing soccer, but we got the result and that’s what we need right now.”

Kansas City Wizards Midfielder Davy Arnaud
On the importance of scoring early:
“I think it’s very important. We’ve seen during this year that, generally, when we’ve gotten the first goal, we’ve gotten positive results. Tonight it happened and for us to get on top about 10 minutes in was a good time for us to get a goal. It was a great ball that Kei played to me for a goal.”

On the importance of this win in the Wizards push for a playoff spot:
“I think everybody put the work in tonight. We see what we can do when everybody’s on the same page and everybody’s working hard for each other and tonight I thought was the best example of it that we’ve had all year. This isn’t an easy place to come and play and the work that every guy put in tonight, the guys that started and the guys that came on was great. It’s what we need every week.”

Struggles Continue as Galaxy Fall 2-0 to Kansas City

LA Galaxy 0, Kansas City Wizards 2
Saturday, August 28, 2010
The Home Depot Center – Carson, Calif.

Scoring Summary:
KC – Davy Arnaud 3 (Kei Kamara 3) 12’
KC – Jimmy Conrad 1 (Davy Arnaud 3) 70’

Misconduct Summary:
LA – Chris Birchall (Yellow Card) 69’
KC – Jimmy Nielsen (Yellow Card) 93+

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Donovan Ricketts; Sean Franklin, Omar Gonzalez, Leonardo, Todd Dunivant Chris Birchall (Jovan Kirovski 77’), Chris Klein (Tristan Bowen 62’), Landon Donovan©, Michael Stephens; Edson Buddle, Mike Magee (Alex Cazumba 73’).

Subs Not Used: Josh Saunders, A.J. DeLaGarza, Dema Kovalenko, Eddie Lewis.

Kansas City Wizards: Jimmy Nielsen; Michael Harrington, Shavar Thomas, Jimmy Conrad, Roger Espinoza; Stephane Auvray, Davy Arnaud©, Craig Rocastle (Jack Jewsbury 66’), Kei Kamara (Teal Bunbury 81’), Ryan Smith (Graham Zusi 87’); Birahim Diop.

Subs Not Used: Eric Kronberg, Korede Aiyegbusi, Jonathan Leathers, Chance Myers.

Notes:
• Despite the loss, the Galaxy remain in first place in the Western Conference with a 13-5-4 record on the season. They Galaxy are now just three points ahead of Real Salt Lake for first place in the Western Conference and two points ahead of Columbus for the best record in MLS.
• Bruce Arena made two changes to the team that fell 1-0 at San Jose last weekend, with Todd Dunivant and Chris Klein each returning to the starting lineup. They replaced A.J. DeLaGarza, who started the game on the bench and Juninho, who missed the game after having to return to Brazil earlier in the week because of personal matters.
• In addition to Juninho, the Galaxy were also without David Beckham, who remains on the Disabled List after undergoing surgery in March to repair a torn Achilles tendon and Gregg Berhalter who was unavailable because of viral complications.
• Tristan Bowen returned to the 18-man squad in place of Bryan Jordan after missing last weekend’s game against the Earthquakes because of flu-like symptoms.
• The Galaxy fell behind 1-0 in the 12th minute behind a goal from Davy Arnaud. They have now allowed the game’s first goal in each of their last three MLS home games and five of their last seven games in the league.
• LA is 0-5-1 now on the season when allowing the game’s opening goal, compared to 13-0-0 when scoring the first goal.
• LA has also allowed a goal in the opening 15 minutes of each of their last three home games in the league and three of their last four, dating back to the 4-1 win over Houston on June 5.
• Chris Birchall was booked in the 69th minute for his fifth yellow card of the season. As a result, he will be suspended for next weekend’s game against the Fire.
• Omar Gonzalez and Juninho, were not booked in the game, meaning each are eligible to play next weekend against the Fire.
• The Galaxy have now lost two consecutive home games in the league for the first time since the 2007 season.
• Including the CONCACAF Champions League defeat to Puerto Rico on July 27, LA is now winless in their last four games at The Home Depot Center, going 0-3-1 in that time. The Galaxy’s last home win came on July 4 against Seattle.
• Tonight’s game was the Galaxy’s first home game in all competitions since the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Third Round win over AC St. Louis, including the friendly against Real Madrid, that did not see at least four goals scored.
• Prior to tonight, LA had only been shutout six times on the season, with only one of those coming at The Home Depot Center.
• This was just the Galaxy’s second loss by more than a single goal this season. They also lost 2-0 at New England on July 10.
• The Wizards shutout the Galaxy in each of their meetings this season. They join Toronto FC as the only two teams not to allow a goal against LA this season.
• Tonight’s win for the Wizards was their first over the Galaxy since September 2008 and their first in Carson since October 2004.
• The attendance for today’s game was 20,112.
• The Galaxy are back in action next Saturday, September 4 when they travel to Chicago to face the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park. That game kicks off at 1 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on Fox Sports West starting with Galaxy Live at 12:30 p.m. and on TeleFutura at 1 p.m.
• For more about today’s game, please visit www.lagalaxy.com.

Ready To See The Wizards

Bruce Arena has made two changes to the team that lost, 1-0, to the San Jose Earthquakes last week in Santa Clara with Todd Dunivant and Chris Klein returning to the starting lineup. They're back in the squad in place of A.J. DeLaGarza, who starts tonight's game on the bench, and Juninho, who had to return to Brazil to attend to a personal matter.

Klein is making just his third start of the season and his first appearance in the starting XI since May 20, when the Galaxy beat FC Dallas 1-0 at Pizza Hut Park.

Here is how the Galaxy will lineup today...

---------------Buddle------------Magee----------------

Stephens--------------Donovan-------------------Klein

---------------------Birchall--------------------------

Dunivant------Leonardo---------Gonzalez-------Franklin

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

Subs: Saunders, DeLaGarza, Cazumba, Kovalenko, Lewis, Bowen, Kirovski.

And here is how Wizards head coach Peter Vermes will line up his team...

-------------------------Diop-----------------------------

Smith------------------------------------------------Kamara

-----------------Rocastle---------Arnaud-------------------

-------------------------Auvray----------------------------

Espinoza---------Conrad---------Thomas------------Harrington

------------------------Neilsen------------------------------

Subs: Kronberg, Aiyegbusi, Leathers, Mywers, Jewsbury, Zusi, Bunbury.

This Week Inside the Galaxy: 2010 - Episode 19

In this edition of This Week Inside the Galaxy, we sit down "In the Seats" with Edson Buddle to talk about his incredible season and catch up with the guys ahead of Saturday's game against the Wizards.

Finishing Strong

The Galaxy completed their final training session ahead of tomorrow's game against the Wizards this afternoon at The Home Depot Center.

Gregg Berhalter was back on the field running to keep up his fitness, but he is not expected to be available for selection because of a viral infection.

However, everyone else who is available was on the field, putting the finishing touches on the week's work. Per usual, it was a light session, primarily focused on set pieces (including one no longer top secret defensive setup that sees Dave Sarachan jump in next to Eddie Lewis in a two man wall), restarts and positioning at both ends of the field. After all of that was complete, some of the guys worked on a bit of crossing and finishing... (under the watchful eyes of Donovan and Cobi)... while the rest played 7v2, before finishing with a stretch and heading inside to go over video one last time ahead of the game.
We caught up with Bruce and a number of the guys to see what they had to say going into Saturday's game against Kansas City. Enjoy...

Bruce...


Landon...


Chris Klein...


Chris Birchall...


Omar...

Putting in the Work

After a day off on Wednesday, the Galaxy were back in training on Thursday. With just two days of preparation available ahead of Saturday's game against the Wizards, the team open things up a bit by closing the session with 30 minutes of full field, full squad play.

With nearly the full squad available for the game (only Beckham, Berhalter and Brian Perk did not take part) and the team coming off a loss last weekend, the intensity level was ratcheted up a few notches with a handful of players trying to catch the eye of the coaches and get into the first team this weekend.

As such, a number of team changes were made at the midway point of the game, giving Bruce and the res of the staff a chance to observe an judge a number of different options for Saturday's game.
Following the game, about half the squad made their way to one end of the training field where they worked on finishing, bringing back a game that was popular with the guys at the end of last season.

The 10 players, split into teams of two had to score a total of four goals to win, with each teammate having to serve the ball in from the wing, once from the right with their right foot and then again from the left with their left.

In the end, it was the midfield duo of Birchall and Dema that came out on top, edging out Landon and Mike Magee as well as Tristan and Edson.

While he has never scored as a member of the Galaxy, it is not unusual for Dema, one of the most competitive guys in the squad, to win these types of games at training. To learn more about Dema and his competitive nature, be sure to set your DVRs for Galaxy Live, which airs at 7 p.m. on Saturday night on Prime Ticket, immediately before the Galaxy-Wizards game.

Galaxy Raw - Week 21

The Galaxy were back in training earlier this week as they look to put last Saturday's loss to San Jose in the rearview mirror, and begin to focus on this weekend's opposition, the Kansas City Wizards.

One player who could see a role in that game is Todd Dunivant, who has missed the last two games with neck and back spasms. We caught up with Todd, as well as fellow defenders Sean Franklin and Omar Gonzalez to see what they had to say.

Check it out...

Locker Room Reaction to 1-0 Loss in San Jose

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER QUOTESHEET
SATURDAY, AUGUST 21, 2010 -- SJ Earthquakes 1, LA GALAXY 0

LA GALAXY HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA

Thoughts on the game:
“That’s certainly a game that we gift-wrapped for them. No question about that. Our start of the game was poor and it cost us in the end. That’s a game we really should have gotten three points out of. But we didn’t, and there is nobody else to point the finger at but ourselves. We didn’t play well, and I like I said I feel that we gift-wrapped the three points for San Jose today”.

On Earthquakes’ Goalie Jon Busch:
“He made the save on Landon (Donovan) in the first half on the one-on-one and some of the other shots were right at him, but he held on. He played very clean when dealing with some of our shots. Give him credit, he did a good job and I might say he was the player of the match; he did a good job”.

LA GALAXY FORWARD LANDON DONOVAN

On Galaxy’s Performance:
“It’s hard to believe we didn’t score in that game. Give them credit, they defended well. (Jon) Busch played well and they got the goal that they needed which allowed them to sit and defend from there. It’s unfortunate, but I’m still proud of how we played, we just have to finish our chances”.

On playing the Earthquakes in 2010:
“Both times we’ve played them, we’ve given them early goals. My guess is if either of those games had been scoreless before we scored, they would have had no chance and we would have won easily. Once they have the chance to sit back and defend that a big advantage for them. They have two big center backs that can just sit and clear balls out of the back and it makes it difficult to score on them. Should they make the playoffs and we face them again, then we’ll have to be better and make sure we don’t give up an early goal”.

LA GALAXY FORWARD EDSON BUDDLE

On giving up an early goal:
"On the road that's always tough to comeback from. I thought we had a few good chances... Jon Busch did a good job of keeping in the game."

On San Jose's performance:
"They packed it in and they did what they needed to do to come out with the victory. They did a good job."

LA GALAXY FORWARD MIKE MAGEE:

On his first start since undergoing Sports Hernia surgery in June:
"It was great to get a start and get back on the field after a lengthy injury, but obviously we were looking to get three point and we came up a bit short by not getting so there is a lot of disappointed."

On not scoring a goal:
"It was one of those games. Jon Busch obviously made some big saves. There were some chances we could have done a lot better with-- we either didn't put on frame or put kind of in his bread basket."

On moving forward:
"Next game we will be better, we have to put this one behind us. Even though we lost, we played fairly well we just gave a away a crappy goal to start the game and then didn't take our chances well."

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH FRANK YALLOP

On the result:
“I’m very happy. Obviously L.A. had chances to score, and to get a clean sheet against a team like that shows the character in our dressing room right now. We’ve had two clean sheets in a row at home. We got the one goal, probably could have had a couple more, but I’m very happy not only for our players, but the fans that follow us and for the club. It’s a good position to be in and it’s in our hands to see where we go from here.”

On the performance of goalkeeper Jon Busch:
“Jon had a great game. We brought him in to make sure we were going to be solid in that position and it proved today that it was great move for us. You know Joe (Cannon) broke his ankle earlier in the week and he would have played in the game, he played very well against Kansas City, but we have a good goalkeeper in Jon and I thought he was outstanding today, outstanding.”

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES GOALKEEPER JON BUSCH

On two straight home wins:
“It was huge, obviously, and (the Los Angeles Galaxy) are a quality team. We know we played them well last time and we were unfortunate not to win last game. We believe in this locker room. Regardless if we play great or we don’t play great, we believe we’re in every game and we have a chance to pick up points in every game. We got our goal from (Chris) Wondolowski again and the other guys in front of me did a tremendous job and we came away with three (points) tonight.”

On his shutout performance:
“That’s what I get paid to do. I get paid to catch crosses and save shots. (In the) second half especially I was a little busier than normal but it’s fun. For me it’s fun, it’s a challenge. I love being busy. I’d rather have that than stand there and count the fans in the stands because that’s a little boring.”

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES FORWARD CHRIS WONDOLOWSKI

On his game-winning goal:
“I try to pride myself on being opportunistic, try to make the best runs I can. Bobby Convey played a great ball in, Cornell (Glen) battled for it, and they had a little miscommunication in the back. I just continued my run and (was) able to pick up the pieces at the end of it.”

On the performance of the defense:
“We really pride ourselves on that. Like I said, team defending starts up front but I thought our midfield and our backs did a great job. Jon (Busch) had a great game. That one save on (Landon) Donovan, if that’s not the save of the week there must be some amazing save somewhere else because that was something else. He’s a great goalkeeper. Hands up to all of our great defenders back there. They’ve been playing really well and just getting the job done.”

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES DESIGNATED PLAYER GEOVANNI
On his debut:
“I am very happy to be here in San Jose and I was glad to make my debut today. I appreciate the support from the fans and the club today and this week. The important thing is that the team got a big win and three important points. We are looking forward to next week, and hopefully the team can get another good result.”

Galaxy Fall to San Jose 1-0 at Buck Shaw

LA Galaxy 0, San Jose Earthquakes 1
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Buck Shaw Stadium – Santa Clara, Calif.

Scoring Summary:
SJ – Chris Wondolowski 8 (Bobby Convey 9, Arturo Alvarez 1)4’

Misconduct Summary:
LA – Omar Gonzalez (Yellow Card) 48’
SJ – Arturo Alvarez (Yellow Card) 54’

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Donovan Ricketts; Sean Franklin, Omar Gonzalez, Leonard, A.J. DeLaGarza (Bryan Jordan 77’); Chris Birchall, Michael Stephens (Alex Cazumba 67’), Juninho, Landon Donovan©; Edson Buddle, Mike Magee (Eddie Lewis 59’).

Subs Not Used: Josh Saunders, Jovan Kirovski, Chris Klein, Dema Kovalenko.

San Jose Earthquakes: Jon Busch; Tim Ward, Bobby Burling, Brandon McDonald, Bobby Convey©; Joey Gjertsen, Sam Cronin, Khari Stephenson, Arturo Alvarez (Ryan Johnson 77’); Chris Wondolowski, Cornell Glen (Geovanni 72’).

Subs Not Used: Alex Horwath, Steven Beitashour, Omar Jasseh, Brad Ring, Scott Sealy.

Notes:
• With the loss, the Galaxy are now 13-4-4 on the season and remain alone in first place in the Western Conference with 43 points. The Galaxy are still four points ahead of Real Salt Lake, who do not have a league game this weekend, for the best record in MLS and the conference.
• The Galaxy made two changes to the team that defeated New York 1-0 last week in Red Bull Arena, with Leonardo replacing Gregg Berhalter at central defense and Mike Magee starting in place of Tristan Bowen at forward. Both Berhalter, who did not travel, and Bowen, who did travel but did not dress, were experiencing flu-like symptoms.
• Magee was making his first appearance in the Galaxy Starting XI since undergoing Sports Hernia surgery in June. His last start prior to today came in Columbus on May 29, when the Galaxy beat the Crew 2-0. Magee played 59 minutes in that game before being replaced by Eddie Lewis.
• A.J. DeLaGarza made his second consecutive start at left back in place of Todd Dunivant.
• In addition to Berhalter, Bowen and Dunivant, the only other Galaxy player to miss the game through injury or illness was David Beckham, who remains on the Disabled List after undergoing surgery in March to repair a torn Achilles tendon.
• With his 17th start of the season, Michael Stephens extended his consecutive games-played streak to 21. Stephens, the Galaxy’s first round draft pick out UCLA, is the only Galaxy player to have played in all 21 of the club’s regular season games this year. Stephens played 67 minutes in midfield against the Earthquakes, he was replaced by Alex Cazumba.
• San Jose made six tactical changes from the last time they faced the Galaxy on July 22, including Tim Ward in for the suspended Jason Hernandez, Brandon McDonald moving to central defense in place of the injured Ike Opera, Bobby Convey moving to left back in place of the injured Ramiro Corrales, Joey Gjetersen starting at left midfield, Khari Stephenson starting in the middle of the midfield and Arturo Alvarez starting at right midfield.
• Chris Wondolowski’s goal in the fourth minute was the fourth goal the Galaxy have allowed in the first five minutes of a game this season. The fastest goal the club allowed this year came against these Earthquakes back at The Home Depot Center on July 22. In that game, Bobby Convey scored a goal in the second minute to give San Jose a 1-0 lead in a game that ended 2-2.
• Jon Busch, who made several key saves to protect the lead, made seven saves en route to his second shutout of the season.
• The Galaxy out shot the Earthquakes 18-15. LA also had 11 corner kicks in the game compard to just one for San Jose.
• This was just the third time that the Galaxy had been shutout in league play this season.
• Donovan Ricketts had four saves on the day.
• The Galaxy are now 7-3-2 in 12 games on the road this season, including 4-2-0 against the Western Conference.
• Neither Chris Birchall nor Juninho were booked in the game, meaning that both are eligible to play next week at home against Kansas City. Both players are one caution away from an automatic one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation.
• This was the Galaxy’s first-ever game at Buck Shaw Stadium. LA are now 14-14-5 all-time when playing their first MLS game at a new stadium.
• The attendance for today’s game was a sellout crowd of 10,799, a new Buck Shaw Stadium record.
• The Galaxy are back at The Home Depot Center next Saturday, August 28 when they host the Kansas City Wizards at 7:30 p.m. and can be seen live on Prime Ticket starting with Galaxy Live at 7 p.m.
• For more about today’s game, please visit http://www.lagalaxy.com/.

All Systems Are Go in San Jose

For a second time in as many weeks, the Galaxy are playing in a stadium they had never played before-- last week it was Red Bull Arena, today is Buck Shaw Stadium on the campus of Santa Clara University.

Bruce Arena has made two changes to the team that beat New York 1-0 last week, Leonardo in place of Gregg Berhalter at central defense and Mike Magee in place of Tristan Bowen at forward. Magee is making since returning after undergoing Sports Hernia surgery. His last start prior to today came on May 29 in Columbus. A.J. DeLaGarza is making a start at left back for a second consecutive game.

Here is how the Galaxy will lineup today...

---------------Buddle------------Magee----------------

Stephens-------------Juninho-------------------Donovan

---------------------Birchall---------------------------

DeLaGarza------Leonardo---------Gonzalez-------Franklin

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

Subs: Saunders, Cazumba, Jordan, Kirovski, Klein, Kovalenko, Lewis.

And here is how former Galaxy head coach Frank Yallop will line up his team...

----------------Glen-----------Wondolowski--------------

Alvarez--------------------------------------------Gjertsen

-----------------Cronin--------Stephenson------------------

Convey------McDonlad---------Burling------------Ward

------------------------Busch------------------------------

Subs: Horwath, Beitashour, Geovanni, Jasseh, Johnson, Ring, Sealy

Special thanks to LA Galaxy photographer Robert Mora for the photo of Juninho and Mike Magee warming up prior to kickoff here at Buck Shaw Stadium.

This Week Inside the Galaxy: 2010 - Episode 18

Check out the latest episode of This Week Inside the Galaxy as we look ahead to Saturday afternoon's showdown against the rival San Jose Earthquakes and get to know the club's latest acquisition, goalkeeper Brian Perk.

Ready for the Quakes

After having a game last Saturday, the Galaxy go a full week between games as they travel north to the Bay Area tomorrow ahead of Saturday's game against San Jose.

Given the club's schedule the rest of the regular season, this will be the norm, with seven of their final 10 games being played on a Saturday and only once do they have fewer than six days between contests. Here is what some of the guys had to say about the favorable schedule going into the final third of the season.

Back in Business

After a day off on Wednesday, the Galaxy returned to training this afternoon with a high energy session that began in earnest the club’s preparations for Saturday’s game at Buck Shaw Stadium against the rival San Jose Earthquakes. Bruce Arena, still recovering from Dengue Fever, led the team through a series of crossing and finishing drills as well as a game of possession.
With the conditions on the day closely mimicking the conditions that the team will face in the Bay Area on Saturday, the guys began the day with some possession, that featured David Beckham donning the orange bib that indicated he was playing for which ever team was in possession of the ball.

After more than 15 minutes of that, the group broke up to do some attacking movements, with David, Klein and Stephens sending crosses in from the right and Todd, Alex and Eddie whipping balls in from the left for the group of forwards that included Landon, Edson, Mike and Tristan. The goal for the drill was simple, get in behind the defense and get shots off. But as simple as that sounds, it was not all fun and games for the Galaxy's attacking players, as they had to go up against the best defense in MLS...their own.

Training continued with a small sided game before finishing as most of these do, with a competitive finishing game that saw a number of different players firing balls into the box for the forwards to try and put past Josh or Brian with their head or on the volley.

A New Number

Following the trade of Alan Gordon to Chivas USA on August 5, Dema Kovalenko received approval from MLS to switch his uniform number from 8, which he has worn since joining the Galaxy last season, to 21. The Galaxy are Kovalenko’s fifth MLS team since joining the league in 1999, having also spent time with Chicago, D.C. United, New York and Real Salt Lake. Kovalenko wore the 21 shirt for part of his stay at each of those locations.

Prior to Gordon and Kovalenko, Arturo Torres is the last Galaxy player to wear the 21 shirt, donning it in the 2004 season before joining Chivas USA. Other players to wear #21 for LA are John Garvey, Gerardo Laterza and Roy Myers.

El Salvador Calls Up Galaxy U-18 Midfielder Alan Rovira

Galaxy U-18 midfielder Alan Rovira has been called up to the full El Salvadoran National Team or their friendly against Honduras at the Coliseum on September 4. A member of the Galaxy's U-16 team during the 2008-09 season, Rovira played in 20 games for the U-18's this past season, scoring twice.

Born in the U.S. to Salvadoran parents, he is expected to join coach Jose Luis Rugamas' team in training at the end of August ahead of the game against Honduras.

Three days later, El Salvador heads east to Washington D.C., where they will play Guatemala.

Galaxy Double Save Up for Save of the Week

With the Galaxy holding onto a 1-0 lead in 72nd minute of Saturday's game at Red Bull Arena, Donovan Ricketts dove low to his right to save a Juan Pablo Angel header. The rebound fell to Tim Ream whose close range shot was blocked away by Gregg Berhalter, leading to another New York corner kick, but keeping LA in front and en route to their first clean sheet since June 26.

Those saves have now been nominated for the NAPA MLS Save of the Week.

Ricketts won the award back in Week 10 of the MLS season for a save on Columbus forward Steven Lenhart.

Click here to see all of this week's nominees and to vote for your favorite.

Cobi Jones and Elisabeth Shue on Soccer Talk Live

Soccer Talk Live, a new show on Fox Soccer Channel, premiered last night with Galaxy legend Cobi Jones serving as one of the show's inaugural guests.

Hosted by former Galaxy midfielder Kyle Martino, Soccer Talk Live is an hour-long studio show airing every Monday from August through May. Martino's guests will range from world-class athletes to musicians, actors and authors, all discussing their passion for the "beautiful game" and how soccer impacts their lives.

Fox Soccer personality Temryss Lane will also contribute a weekly feature segment to the show, exploring the world of soccer with those who play and support the game passionately. Last night's feature was on Galaxy forward Edson Buddle, who's been using yoga this season to improve his fitness and flexibility.

Next week, Galaxy captain Landon Donovan will be one of the show's guest.

Click here to see a complete schedule of the show and send in your questions for any of the show's guests here.

Coach and Player Reaction to 1-0 Win at Red Bull Arena

LOS ANGELES GALAXY COACH DAVE SARACHAN

On the match:
When you’re on the road its pretty critical if you can get the first goal. It takes the wind out of their sails a little bit, takes the crowd out of it a little bit. I thought Edson (Buddle), besides the goal, had a great night. He was just a handful for them, he held up balls, and defensively as a collective 11 we did a great job of closing space. As the game went on I got a sense they were getting a little frustrated. We almost got the second goal, which we felt would have really put them out, but collectively it was a great effort from everyone tonight.

On Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez:
He’s living the life. For young guys, its not so much the physical stuff, it’s the mental. So now he’s coming off a Tuesday experience starting for the U.S. National Team, a quick turnaround to get ready for a league game and for a young guy I thought he showed a lot of maturity to handle that and to stay in it for 90 minutes. And the guy next to him tonight was terrific, Gregg Berhalther. He keeps him going, so I thought the pairing was excellent.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY DEFENDER OMAR GONZALEZ

On Red Bulls defender Tim Ream:
Watching some video on him I think he’s a very good defender, and could definitely be someone the (United States) National Team coach can look at. There are a lot of young guys coming up now, so it’ll be interesting to see who will be the next in the back.

On defending with his partner Gregg Berhalter:
Tonight, me and Gregg were just talking about being really aggressive. I think that me and Gregg did really well to just get under their skin and make sure they didn’t get too many touches on the ball.

On Juan Pablo Angel and Thierry Henry:
They’re just both two smart players who can play really well off the ball. If you’re not careful they can just run behind you because they always play off your shoulder and play on the line. It’s really tough going against a forward like that. They’re just a different class, and I think the backline did well today.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY MIDFIELDER LANDON DONOVAN

On Red Bull Arena:
The stadium was fantastic. I like the way the seats are built, how close they are, and it just feels really intimate. It’s a good environment it, was fun to play in.

On the Red Bulls:
They were pretty good. They looked like they were maybe a little tired, I know they played a game mid-week. They’re not a bad team, but obviously it’s going to take them time to gel. You can’t throw in a few new players like that and expect it to just happen overnight. They’re going to be good, they’re going to be around. They’re going to be in the playoffs, and if they put together a few good performances they can do well.

On playing against multiple designated players:
It was great, we need that in our league. We want the opportunity to play in full stadiums and I guess now with (Thierry) Henry and (Rafa) Márquez here, they’re going to have a lot more fans. For us it makes the game a little more intense, a little more real, and it’s fun to play them.

On the addition of star players to the league:
It gives it immediate credibility. It makes the league better. You can see the difference in the skill level, the intelligence, the work rate, the positioning. You can tell when guys like Henry and Márquez are on the field. It brings something a little different, and it’s going to make our league better.
NEW YORK RED BULLS HEAD COACH HANS BACKE

On the match:
I liked this game. It was probably one of the most intense games for us this season. One turnover cost us a goal, but I’m still rather happy with our performance. We didn’t overplay possession, and we played rather relaxed, and still created a number of chances. Once again, it’s a good sign for us that we can compete and control possession against a team like the Galaxy. Sorry for the result, but our performance I’m happy with.

On Rafa Márquez and his turnover leading to the Los Angeles goal:
It’s happens in football today, if you’re in the middle of the park and make some mistakes or side passes, on the highest levels, you will pay a price. It’s difficult to say, he’s not fully fit. Perhaps he took too much time on the ball or tried to do something spectacular in a way. Unfortunate, but still we responded very well after being one down and still controlling the pitch.

RED BULLS MIDFIELDER JOEL LINDPERE

On the game:
Overall I can say we played well. Even 1-0 dow,n we chased them really good, created many chances and hit the crossbar. The goalie saved a couple of chances from the line. I think we had a good game, but lately we have been missing and haven’t scored goals. So I think this is a problem for us. It looks like we can play really good, but if you don’t score maybe we have to do something and change our game plan or I don’t know. Maybe it will just start one day.

On his thoughts of Rafa Márquez:
He’s a new player on the team and he also needs to get used to it (style of play). We have played many good games at home, but we don’t get penalties. We play at home and I don’t think we have earned those red cards or penalties for us. I think we should have it, but it’s the game. Marquez is a new player in the team. Of course he came from Spain so it’s a little different football.

On the play leading up to the Galaxy goal:
Maybe it was a free kick before the goal. Here they don’t give it as easy. I think in Spain it would have been a free kick. So it’s a little bit different here. I think we as a team and him as a player understood this and it was just an unlucky mistake.

NEW YORK RED BULLS FORWARD JUAN PABLO ANGEL

On the match:
I think it was a physical game. Without having that many chances, I think we still managed to hit the post. In the second half I had another one off a corner kick that came off the line, but apart from that there wasn’t that much for the strikers in general in the game.

On Rafa Márquez adjusting to the style of play in MLS:
It’ll be fine. Any player needs to be in a good form in order for him to perform and bring the best out of him. And the only way he’s going to do it is by playing games. We’ve got to have a little bit of patience with him, and also with (Thierry) Henry because people expect too much right from the very beginning. They are going to be absolutely fine, and I think they’re going to be very important for this team. Not just for the rest of the season, but for years to come.

NEW YORK RED BULLS MIDFIELDER RAFA MARQUEZ

On his performance:
I am not happy at all. I need more time to perform to be at my best level. We had many chances to tie the game, but we had no luck to achieve that.

On how much more time he needs to be at his best level:
It’s hard to know how long it’s going to take. But I will try to get to my best level as soon as possible.

On crowds at Chicago and Red Bull Arena:
I think the two crowds at the two stadiums were both incredible. We got a lot of support here and it really had taken me by surprise.

Defense Shines and Buddle Scores in 1-0 Win at New York

LA Galaxy 1, New York Red Bulls 0
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Red Bull Arena – Harrison, N.J.

Scoring Summary:
LA – Edson Buddle 13 (Juninho 2) 10’

Misconduct Summary:
NY – Juan Pablo Angel (Yellow Card) 59’
NY – Roy Miller (Yellow Card) 76’

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Donovan Ricketts; Sean Franklin, Omar Gonzalez, Gregg Berhalter, A.J. DeLaGarza; Chris Birchall (Chris Klein 83’), Michael Stephens, Juninho (Jovan Kirovski 90’), Landon Donovan©; Edson Buddle, Tristan Bowen (Mike Magee 61’).

Subs Not Used: Josh Saunders, Leonardo, Bryan Jordan, Eddie Lewis.

New York Red Bulls: Bouna Coundoul; Chris Albright, Carlos Mendes, Tim Ream, Roy Miller; Rafael Marquez (Macoumba Kandji 71’), Dane Richards, Tony Tchani, Joel Lindpere; Thierry Henry, Juan Pablo Angel© (Sinisa Ubipaipovic 85’).

Subs Not Used: Greg Sutton, Danleigh Borman, Mike Petke, Carl Robinson, Seth Stammler.

Notes:
• With the win, the Galaxy are now 13-3-4 on the season and remain alone in first place in the Western Conference with 43 points. The Galaxy are now seven points clear of Real Salt Lake, who host the Columbus Crew later tonight, at the top of the Western Conference and six points ahead of Columbus in the race for the best record in MLS.
• Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena was not on the bench for the game after being released from the hospital earlier in the morning. Arena was admitted to the Hackensack University Medical Center on Thursday because of viral complications and spent two nights there before being released this morning. He watched the game from a private box at the stadium.
• In Arena’s absence, Associate Head Coach Dave Sarachan and Assistant Coach Cobi Jones led the team.
• The Galaxy made two changes to the team that lost 3-2 to Chicago in their last league game back on August 1, with A.J. DeLaGarza replacing Todd Dunivant at left back and Juninho replacing Jovan Kirovski in central midfield.
• DeLaGarza was making his first start since July 18 at D.C. United.
• In addition to Dunivant, the only other Galaxy player to miss the game through injury was David Beckham, who remains on the Disabled List after undergoing surgery in March to repair a torn Achilles tendon.
• Mike Magee was back in the 18-man squad for the first time since May 29 in a 2-0 Galaxy win at Columbus. He underwent surgery to repair a bilateral sports hernia in late June. He was placed in the Disabled List on June 24 and missed the next six games before returning tonight.
• He entered the game in the 61st minute, replacing Tristan Bowen.
• Edson Buddle, Landon Donovan, Omar Gonzalez and Donovan Ricketts were all in the starting lineup for the Galaxy after playing for their respective national teams in the middle of the week. Buddle, Donovan and Gonzalez were all in action for the U.S. in their 2-0 loss to Brazil in New Jersey on Tuesday, while Ricketts played in goal for Jamaica in their 3-1 win at Trinidad & Tobago on Wednesday. All four trained with the club on Friday before starting in today’s game.
• Buddle scored his MLS-best 13th goal of the season in the 10th minute. The goal was his first in the league since July 22 against San Jose and his fourth in six games since returning from the World Cup.
• Juninho collected the only assist on the goal for his second assist of the season and first since April 17 against Real Salt Lake. Both assists came on game-winning goals scored by Buddle.
• That goal gave the Galaxy a 1-0 lead in a game for the first time since the 2-1 win at D.C. United on July 18. LA had allowed a goal in the opening five minutes of each of their last two league games before today’s match.
• This was also the first time since that game that the Galaxy did not allow a goal in the first half of play.
• Donovan Ricketts made two saves to earn his 10th clean sheet of the season and his first since June 26 at Toronto FC. The 10 shutouts are one more than Ricketts recorded in 2009, his first year with LA.
• Ricketts is now one shutout shy of tying Kevin Hartman’s record of 11 clean sheets in a single season, which he set in 1999.
• LA is now one clean sheet away from tying the club record of 12 shutouts in a season, which they set in 2009.
• LA had allowed a goal in their last five league games before tonight.
• The win was the Galaxy’s 13th of the season in MLS, one more than they recorded in all of 2009. Additionally, the Galaxy’s 43 points are just three fewer than they had last season.
• The Galaxy are now a perfect 13-0-0 when scoring the game’s opening goal, compared to 0-3-1 when allowing the first goal.
• The Galaxy are now 7-2-2 in 11 games on the road this season, including 3-1-2 against the Eastern Conference. This was their eighth clean sheet away from home this season.
• With Todd Dunivant missing today’s game, Micahel Stephens is now the only Galaxy player to have played in all 20 of the club’s regular season games this year. He started and played the full 90 minute in midfield against the Red Bulls.
• Donovan Ricketts played the 45th game of his MLS career tonight, while Sean Franklin played the 55th.
• Neither Chris Birchall nor Juninho were booked in the game, meaning that both are eligible to play next weekend at San Jose. Both players are one caution away from an automatic one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation.
• No Galaxy players were booked in the game after the club tied a club record with five yellow cards on August 1 against Chicago.
• This was the Galaxy’s first-ever game at Red Bull Arena. LA are now 14-13-5 all-time when playing their first MLS game at a new stadium.
• Prior to the game, the Red Bulls honored former New York and Galaxy star Clint Mathis, who retired last week.
• Injured Galaxy midfielder David Beckham accompanied the team to New York and sat on the bench with the team’s coaches during the game.
• The attendance for today’s game was a sellout crowd of 25,000.
• The Galaxy are back in action next Saturday, August 21 when they head north to take on the San Jose Earthquakes at Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. That game kicks off at 1 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on Fox Sports West starting with Galaxy Live at 12:30 p.m. and Telefutura.
• For more about today’s game, please visit http://www.lagalaxy.com/.

The Teams are In

Bruce Arena will not be on the bench for the Galaxy tonight but two familiar faces are as Mike Magee suits up for his first MLS game in two months and David Beckham, who made the trip to New York to join his teammates, will occupy one of the nine bench personnel seats that all teams are allotted.

Just as Bruce will not be available to coach tonight's game, Todd Dunivant will miss his first game of the season after starting each of LA's first 19 games of the regular season.

Here is the complete team that Dave Sarachan will put on the field tonight.

------------Buddle--------Bowen-------------

Donovan---------Juninho------------Stephens

------------------Birchall---------------------

DeLaGarza---Berhalter---Gonzalez---Franklin

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

Subs: Saunders, Leonardo, Jordan, Lewis, Klein, Kirovski, Magee.

And here is how Hans Backe and the Red Bulls line up...

-------------Henry------Angel------------------

Lindpere---------Tchani---------------Richards

------------------Marquez----------------------

Miller-------Ream-------Mendes-------Albright

------------------Coundoul----------------------

Subs: Sutton, Petke, Borman, Robinson, Ubiparipovic, Stammler, Kandji.

Bruce Arena Will Not be on the Bench for Tonight's Game

The following statement is from the LA Galaxy regarding the health of General Manager and Head Coach Bruce Arena.

"After consulting with club physicians and those in the New York area, it has been decided that Galaxy General Manager and Head Coach Bruce Arena will not be on the bench for the club tonight when they take on the New York Red Bulls. Arena was taken ill on Wednesday and was hospitalized over night on Thursday at the Hackensack University Medical Center. He was diagnosed with viral complications and remained in the hospital on Friday night before rejoining the club on Saturday morning. Arena is expected to make a full recovery and will be in attendance for tonight’s game but will watch from a private box. He will return to Los Angeles with the club on Sunday. In his absence, Associate Head Coach Dave Sarachan and Assistant Coach Cobi Jones will coach the team on Saturday.”

With Bruce in the New York area for his induction to the National Soccer Hall of Fame on Tuesday, Sarachan and Jones have run the club's training session's all week, including on Friday at Montclair State in New Jersey.

Jersey Boys

Some friendly faces met the team as they arrived at their New Jersey hotel on Thursday, with the U.S. National Team trio of Edson, Omar and Landon all staying in the area after playing against Brazil on Tuesday night.

Those three, as well as Donovan Ricketts, who arrived last night from Trinidad, where he helped Jamaica to a 3-1 victory over Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday, were on the field at Montclair State this afternoon as the Galaxy went through their final workout ahead of tomorrow night's game against the Red Bulls.
Coming on the heels of yesterday's six hour flight East, the team went through a lengthy warmup and played a series of 7v2 games before getting down to the bulk of the training.

Once that was done, the guys were divided into two teams for some possession, that saw the guys playing eight on eight with BJ (in orange), playing for both sides. Connect 10 straight passes, get a point - team with the most points wins - it's as simple as that.
Once the guys got their instruction...
it was game on for Jovan and the guys in blue...
with Leonardo keeping the ball under the watchful gaze of Birchall...
Gregg was looking for an open option...

and BJ getting free to receive a pass amid a sea of green pinnies.

While the guys were doing that, David Beckham, who made the trip to New York for tomorrow's game, worked out on the side with Armando Rivas and Ben Yauss as he continues his rehabilitation.