Wrapping Up the Week

The guys had their final training session this afternoon before Saturday night's all important game against Western Conference foe Real Salt Lake.

Much of the session was spent breaking down what was expected (and seen on video sessions throughout the week) from RSL, as well as working on set pieces. With David, Landon and Eddie all away on international duty, not to mention Ante, there were a slew of new faces left to deliver the ball on set plays. The guys looked good as they practiced both attacking and defending set pieces, so hopefully that work will pay off tomorrow night.

A few quick notes...

• As we said earlier in the week, Vardan Adzemian will wear the #34 shirt and Scott Bolkan will be #30. But we learned earlier today that Mick Graczyk, the League Pool Goalkeeper who is expected to back up Josh Wicks on Saturday will wear the #22 shirt, which was last worn in preseason by Kelly Gray.


• The game will see a battle between Southern Californian goalkeepers as Josh Wicks and Nick Rimando are in line to get starts in goal for LA and RSL respectively. Wicks grew up in San Bernardino before playing college soccer at Cal State Bakersfield, while Rimando grew up in Montclair before going on to UCLA.


• The Galaxy Rios U-16 and U-18 teams will be unveiled and presented to the crowd on the field prior to the game. They begin play in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy later this month.


• Three former Galaxy players, Robbie Findley, Clint Mathis and Nathan Sturgis, are on the Salt Lake roster, while Robbie Russell, a draft pick by the Galaxy in the 2001 MLS SuperDraft who chose to play overseas rather than sign with LA, also plays for RSL. However, only three of those players are expected to make the trip West with the club as Sturgis is listed as out on the club's injury report with a left hamstring strain.
• A win could see the Galaxy jump all the way up to third place in the Western Conference, two points behind RSL for second place and back into a guaranteed playoff position.

Josh Wicks is ready to make his first start in MLS this weekend, while Bryan Jordan could be in the 18-man squad for the first time under Bruce Arena.

Vanney, McDonald and Randolph listen to instructions near the end of training.

Chris Klein talks about his former head coach at RSL, Jason Kreis...


Bruce talks about the play of Josh Wicks...


Troy Roberts looks ahead to Saturday's game...


Mike Randolph is ready for RSL...

Ready for RSL

We caught up with Chris Klein and Josh Wicks earlier this week as they prepared for Saturday night's game with Real Salt Lake. A win could see the Galaxy jump from a tie for sixth place in the Conference all the way up to third and put them in line for a postseason berth.

Here's what the guys had to say.

Wicks Prepares for Starting Role

With four players away on national team duty this week, training was still competitive as players look to impress Bruce and Dave leading up to Saturday’s home game against Real Salt Lake.

The coaching staff was taking a look at a lot of players, but the media zeroed in their attention to one person: Josh Wicks, who trained for the first time this week as the No. 1 keeper. After the session, Wicks said it was business as usual, but did notice a difference. “I was more calm; didn’t press as much.” We’ll have more from Wicks below.

Due to all of the missing players, Eduardo Dominguez could take advantage of this opportunity to return to the starting lineup. If Dominguez sees some action, he could face off against fellow Argentinean Javier Morales, who is one guy to keep an eye out for on Real Salt Lake with his four goals and 10 assists so far in the season.

Be sure to tune in tomorrow at 9am as Dominguez will be a guest on “La Maquima Deportiva” on ESPN Deportes Radio 1330 AM, the official Spanish language home of the Galaxy.

Below are a few sound bites from today’s training session.

Arena on goalkeeping situation and RSL…


Klein break’s down his former team…


Wicks talks about his first taste of MLS action…


Game is this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at The Home Depot Center.

Cronin Suffers Fracture In Hand

Steve Cronin suffered a right hand fracture in Saturday night’s match against New England and is expected to miss 4-6 weeks. With Cronin and Charles Alamo both listed on the Galaxy injury report, Wicks is the only healthy goalkeeper on the roster. As a result, the Galaxy will call up League pool goalkeeper Mike Graczyk for Saturday’s game against Real Salt Lake.

Three Back From Portland

Bolkan (left) will wear #30, while Adzemian will sport #34.

Bruce Arena has recalled three players from their loan assignments with the Portland Timbers of the USL First Division for a week’s worth of training. Vardan Adzemian, Scott Bolkan and Bryan Jordan were on season-long loan agreements with the Timbers after signing with the Galaxy earlier this season. Jordan is the only one of the three to have played, for either the Galaxy or Timbers, appearing in one game for the Galaxy and nine games with Portland.

Their status for both Portland’s game on Thursday night against Miami and LA’s home game with Real Salt Lake on Saturday will be decided later in the week.

Four Called Up For WCQs

Four LA Galaxy players have been called up to international duty for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. The Galaxy will be without David Beckham, Landon Donovan, Ante Jazic and Eddie Lewis for Saturday night’s game against Real Salt Lake. All four players joined up with their national teams following the Galaxy’s 2-2 draw in New England on Saturday and are expected to be back with Los Angeles ahead of the Sept. 13 match in Kansas City. Click here for more info.

Galaxy to Return to New Zealand in December

The Galaxy announced today that they will return to New Zealand for the second consecutive postseason for an international friendly. On Saturday, December 6, the Galaxy will take on an Oceania All Stars Invitational Team made up of players from throughout the Oceania region, at the Auckland Regional Council’s (ARC) Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand.

In December 2007, the Galaxy traveled to Wellington, New Zealand as part of a two-match tour of Australia and New Zealand that saw the club play in front of more than 110,000 fans. After losing 5-3 to Sydney FC at Telstra Stadium in the tour opener, the LA traveled to New Zealand where they held a training session in front of more than 15,000 school children at Westpac Stadium on November 30. One day later, a crowd of 31,853 was on hand to see the Galaxy defeat the Wellington Phoenix 4-1 behind goals from Mathis, Donovan, Pavon and Beckham.

The Oceania All Stars Invitational Team to play against the LA Galaxy is being assembled from member associations across the Oceania football region along with three international players from outside the Oceania region.

Click here for the complete release.