Sunday, October 24, 2010

All to Play For

The 2010 MLS regular season draws to a close this evening at The Home Depot Center as the Galaxy host FC Dallas at The Home Depot Center. There is everything to play for tonight with the Supporters' Shield and Golden Boot both on the line and a pair of veterans, Chris Klein and Eddie Lewis, playing the final regular season game of their lengthy and distinguished careers.

The Galaxy need a win or a draw to claim their third Supporters' Shield and set up a postseason date with the Seattle Sounders, while a loss would see the Galaxy finish second and play this same FC Dallas squad next week when the postseason gets under way. With that in mind, Bruce Arena makes four changes to his team in that pursuit, bringing A.J. DeLaGarza, Todd Dunivant, Dema Kovalenko and Mike Magee back into the team.

Here is the complete Galaxy squad...

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

Donovan--------------Juninho-----------------Beckham

---------------------Kovalenko--------------------------

Dunivant------Gonzalez-------DeLaGarza-------Franklin

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

Subs: Saunders, Leonardo, Alex Cazumba, Klein, Lewis, Kirovski, Bowen.

And here is how FC Dallas, who have lost just three times all season, including once to the Galaxy back in May, will line up.

----------------------Cunningham------------------------

----------------------Ferreira----------------------------

Chavez--------------------------------------------Harris

---------------Alexander-------McCarty------------------

Benitez--------John------------Loyd--------------Jackson

-----------------------Sala--------------------------------

Subs: Hartman, Ihemelu, Hernandez, Guarda, Shea, Rodriguez

3 comments:

charlesj27 said...

It is clearly evident frm the players that Schellas Hyndman and Jim Ellinger put into place is heavily leaning towards speed of attack. ThIs year's FC Dallas team is LOADED with speedy players; it was not too long ago, that it was NE Revs that had the speedy players... then, Seattle... and, now FC Dallas. Their left and right wing are LIGHTNING. But, I am even more happy that Bruce went with Dunnivant and AJ back in the line-up; without these two players; it would have been a MUCH, MUCH DIFFERENT outcome.

Anonymous said...

I agree charles, I thought AJ & Todd made the difference for the back-line,they were constantly marking anyone that dare come in the middle,and AJ's speed definetly helped twart off the dallas attack.I guess size isn't a factor to play centerback,maybe Omar & AJ are the future tandem. Is berhalter hurt? Does this mean they stick AJ on the bench for the playoffs? DEFENSE wins championships,thats in any sport.Becks is looking closer to being game fit,so lets see where this journey takes us.

charlesj27 said...

I don't know what exactly is ailing Gregg Berhalter... I think he is still recovering from something (severe knee / backache perhaps?) Don't know; I'm not buying into the viral infection excuse. Gregg has shown us that he is an exceptional captain and commnander of the backline. But, he also knows that he's gotten burned by quick speed and footraces all too often. But, I love the way he reads the game - especially during oppositions' passes stemming from midfield. For me, Omar needs to be more commanding and more hungrier to get at his marks - whether they're near him or not. He's got youth, the size, and the teaching... he needs to own it and take off the "training wheels". There are quite a few games where Sir Don is getting sprayed from the corner, from the side, right up in front... and, Omar is off by a step-and-a-half. I think the pair with Omar and AJ works because they have different qualities that when combined actually is synergistic. Todd is a reliable, work-steady, left-back that actually gets forward and tries to feed in balls towards center midfield / final third. When Bruce has played AJ in that position several times, we got NO link up to attacking mid. Again, Bruce and Dave have managed to "putty" together a functional team that has gotten us this far... But, as you aptly stated... "so, let's see where this journey takes us".
What bothers me is that stark "lop-sidedness" in salary make-up of just two players on this team. We're so affected by two players (two important phenomenal players in their own right, of course); but, it hurts how wonderfully this team could be structured without having such lop-sidedness! Yes, I know; I know... I know how much MLS is banking on the right type of DPs to bring about increased ticket sales and increased awareness through publicity.
What will save us next year is that we get some "breathing room" (cap space) next year due to at least four players having moved on:
Alan Gordon, Clint Mathis, Eddie Lewis, and Chris Klein. I just dearly hope that Bruce and Dave chooses extremely carefully and wisely after checking out thoroughly skill level, team fit, athleticism, endurance, and soccer IQ.