Weekend Wrap

The guys were back on the field this morning for their first full training session since the 3-1 loss in Chicago last week. There were a few notable faces who stopped out to today's session, with LA Angels outfielder Juan Rivera swinging by to see a few old friends, as well as former MLS defender David Vaudreuil and former Galaxy defender Abel Xavier stopping by.

Bruce and Co. put the squad through an intense session this morning, no doubt impressing the interested observers while starting the process of getting the group ready for Saturday evening's game in Columbus.

Here are a few other notes from the past weekend.

- Eduardo is back from Argentina. For those who forgot, he returned to his native country for the birth of his first child earlier this month. He has not been available for selection in any of the last three games.

- Steve Cronin was back on the field today, doing some light work on the side. Cronin has missed the last month after breaking his right hand against New England on August 30. Josh Wicks and Josh Saunders handled all of the goalkeeping duties in today's small sided games, with Cronin still not cleared to participate in all drills.

- Israel Sesay finished off a Peter Vagenas cross, but it was not enough as the Galaxy Reserves lost 2-1 to the Chivas USA Reserves on Sunday. Sesay scored his second goal of the year just before halftime to give LA a 1-0 lead at the break, but Keith Savage and Maykel Galindo scored after the break to give Chivas USA the win. The Galaxy Reserves are back in action on Sunday, Oct. 12 when they host Colorado.

- But everything was not lost this weekend as the Galaxy Rios opened play in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy on Saturday. The U-16 squad defeated Nomads 4-1 in San Diego, with Eric Verso scoring twice and Cameron Souri and Trent Clifton each adding goals. Immediately after that game, the Rios U-18 squad knocked off the Nomads U-18s, winning 4-3. Josh Borja, Jonathan Zurita, Brian Angel and Alan Hernandez scored for the Rios to give them a winning start to their season.

Galaxy Fall 3-1 in Chicago

LA Galaxy 1, Chicago Fire 3
September 25, 2008
Toyota Park – Bridgeview, Ill.

Scoring Summary:
CHI – Chris Rolfe 5 (John Thorrington 2) 13’
LA – Eddie Lewis 1 (Chris Klein 6, Landon Donovan 9) 35’
CHI – Cuauhtemoc Blanco 5 (Unassisted) 57’
CHI – Chris Rolfe 6 (Gonzalo Segares 2, Logan Pause 1) 59’

Misconduct Summary:
CHI – Bakary Soumare (Yellow Card) 72’
LA - Brandon McDonald (Yellow Card) 88'
LA – Troy Roberts (Yellow Card) 90’

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Josh Wicks, Chris Klein, Sean Franklin, Troy Roberts, Ante Jazic, Greg Vanney (Brandon McDonald 80’), Eddie Lewis, David Beckham©, Landon Donovan, Edson Buddle (Bryan Jordan 77’), Alan Gordon (Peter Vagenas 63’).

Subs Not Used: Josh Saunders, Julian Valentin, Joe Franchino, Ely Allen.

Chicago Fire: Jon Busch, Gonzalo Segares, Bakary Soumare, Wilman Conde, Brandon Prideaux, Logan Pause, John Thorrington, Justin Mapp (Mike Banner 79’), Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Diego Gutierrez 89’), Chris Rolfe (Stephen King 84’), Brian McBride.

Subs Not Used: Nick Noble, Lider Marmol, Diego Gutierrez, Andy Herron, Tomasz Frankowski.

Notes:
· With the loss, the Galaxy are now 7-11-8 on the season, leaving them on 29 points and in a tie for sixth place in the Western Conference with the San Jose Earthquakes. Both teams remain two points behind Real Salt Lake and the Colorado Rapids for the third and final guaranteed playoff spot in the West.
· Bruce Arena named the same starting XI that he used in the 5-2 win over D.C. United on Sept. 20. It is the first time since Arena was named the head coach of the Galaxy on August 18 that he has used the same lineup in consecutive games and just the fourth time this year that the Galaxy have put out the same lineup in consecutive games.
· Eddie Lewis’ goal in the 35th minute was his first-ever goal for the Galaxy and his first in MLS since September 19, 1999 when he was a member of the San Jose Clash.
· Chris Klein started for the 111th consecutive game, extending his own MLS record. He is the only Galaxy player to appear in all 26 of the club’s games so far.
· Defender Eduardo Dominguez missed his third straight game while in Argentina with his wife, who gave birth to the couple’s first child on Sept. 15.
· With Chris Rolfe’s goal in the 13th minute, the Galaxy have now allowed the first goal in seven of their last nine games, including each of their last five games away from The Home Depot Center. This year the Galaxy are 2-11-4 when allowing the first goal of the game and 5-0-2 when scoring the first.
· The Galaxy are now 0-4-0 all-time at Toyota Park, losing all three of their league games there as well as the 2006 U.S. Open Cup Final.
· The attendance for tonight’s game was a sellout of 20,156.
· For more about tonight’s game, please visit http://www.lagalaxy.com/.
· The Galaxy are back in action at home on Saturday, October 4, when they take on the Columbus Crew at Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. The match will kick off at 4:30 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on FSN Prime Ticket. The match will also be available live on the radio on KTLK 1150 AM (English) and KWKW 1330 ESPN Deportes (Spanish).

On the Field and Ready To Go at Toyota Park

The lineups are in, and the Galaxy's starting XI has a familiar feel. Bruce and Co. will go with the same lineup from last week, when the club beat D.C. United, 5-2, at The HDC.

Here's who the Galaxy will go with against the Fire.

--------------Buddle------Gordon-------------

Lewis---------------Donovan----------Beckham

---------------------Vanney-------------------

Jazic---------Franklin-----Roberts--------Klein

----------------------Wicks--------------------

Subs: Saunders, Valentin, Franchino, Vagenas, McDonald, Allen and Jordan

Ready to Fight the Fire

We trained in Chicago today, or Bridgeview specifically, on the Fire's training field in the shadows of Toyota Park.

There was a police driving training session going on in one of the parking lots next to the training field with police cars swerving and screeching all over the place, but the real noise was on the field as the guys made the final preparations ahead of tomorrow night's game, which can be seen live on ESPN2, starting with the pregame show at 6 p.m., with the game starting at 6:30.

A number of the guys addressed the media after today's session and we spoke with a few others, so here is what they had to say.

Be sure to check out the pictures after the audio.

Bruce


Landon


Becks


Klein


Wicks

Becks Talks About his Old Boss

David was Eriksson's captain of choice with England.

Mexico plays a friendly with Chile tonight at the Coliseum at 8 p.m., a game that marks Eriksson's first game with El Tri outside of Mexico.

The television network Televisa was out at training late last week and asked Becks about his former manager as well as Cuauhtémoc Blanco, who recently announced his retirement from the Mexican National Team. Blanco, coincidentally, is Beckham's opponent this week as the Galaxy take on the Fire this Thursday at Toyota Park at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.

Here's what David had to say about Sven and Blanco.

Player of the Week Up For Goal of the Week

Landon's first goal from Saturday night's win has been nominated as the Sierra Mist Goal of the Week. Go here to vote for LD and give him his second Goal of the Week award of the season.

We just heard that he has won the Player of the Week award for the fourth time this season. We may be partial, but it really couldn't have been a contest this week. This is the ninth time in his career that Landon has won the Player of the Week award, tying an MLS record.

So Landon now has one award this week, now it's up to you to make it a perfect two for two with the Goal of the Week.

The Streak is Dead; Galaxy win 5-2

LA Galaxy 5, D.C. United 2
September 20, 2008
The Home Depot Center – Carson, Calif.

Scoring Summary:
DC – Devon McTavish 1 (Ivan Guerrero 4) 2’
LA – Landon Donovan 17 (Chris Klein 4) 23’
LA – Landon Donovan 18 (David Beckham 9) 35
LA – Alan Gordon 5 (Unassisted) 38’
DC – Thabiso Khumalo 1 (Gonzalo Martinez 2) 48’
LA – Peter Vagenas 1 (Landon Donovan 8) 81’
LA – Landon Donovan 19 (Chris Klein 5) 92+

Misconduct Summary:
LA – David Beckham (Yellow Card) 20’
DC – Clyde Simms (Yellow Card) 33’
LA – Alan Gordon (Yellow Card) 56’
DC – Marc Burch (Red Card) 63’

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Josh Wicks, Chris Klein, Sean Franklin, Troy Roberts, Ante Jazic (Joe Franchino 87’), Greg Vanney (Brandon McDonald 80’), Eddie Lewis, David Beckham©, Landon Donovan, Edson Buddle, Alan Gordon (Peter Vagenas 62’).

Subs Not Used: Josh Saunders, Julian Valentin, Ely Allen, Bryan Jordan.

D.C. United: Louis Crayton, Bryan Namoff, Gonzalo Martinez (Ryan Cordeiro 79’), Devon McTavish, Marc Burch, Clyde Simms, Ivan Guerrero, Fred, Santino Quaranta (Rod Dyachenko 83’), Thabiso Khamalo, Luciano Emilio© (Francis Doe 87’).

Subs Not Used: Zach Wells, Mike Zaher, Quavas Kirk, Craig Thompson.

Notes:
· With the win, the Galaxy are now 7-10-8 on the season, leaving them on 29 points and in a tie for fifth place in the Western Conference with the San Jose Earthquakes. Both teams are now two points behind Real Salt Lake and the Colorado Rapids for the third and final guaranteed playoff spot in the West.
· The win snaps the Galaxy’s 12-game winless streak, which had been the longest in club history. The Galaxy were 0-6-6 during the streak and were outscored 28-16, allowing two or more goals in 10 of the 12 games.
· The win is also Bruce Arena’s first career win with the Galaxy.
· Bruce Arena made one change to the team that lost 2-0 against the Kansas City Wizards last weekend, with Alan Gordon replacing Bryan Jordon in the starting XI.
· With his three goals tonight, Landon Donovan now has two hat tricks this season, tying him with Edson Buddle for the most in MLS this season.
· Donovan now has 19 goals in the season, tying him with Cobi Jones for the third-best single season goal tally in club history. Donovan now only trails Carlos Ruiz (24 goals in 2002) and Eduardo Hurtado (21 goals in 1996) for the most goals in a season for the Galaxy.
· Alan Gordon’s goal just before halftime was his fifth of the season. He is the fourth different Galaxy player this season to score five or more goals.
· Peter Vagenas goal in the 81st minute was his first goal of the season and his first for the club in MLS competition since September 30, 2006 in a 3-0 win over Chivas USA. He is the ninth different Galaxy player to score this season.
· Chris Klein started for the 110th consecutive game, extending his own MLS record. He is the only Galaxy player to appear in all 25 of the club’s games so far.
· Josh Wicks posted his first win as an MLS goalkeeper.
· Defender Eduardo Dominguez missed his second straight game while in Argentina with his wife, who gave birth to the couple’s first child on Monday.
· Joe Franchino entered the game in the 87th minute, replacing Ante Jazic. It was his first appearance since July 10, a 1-1 draw with Chivas USA. He missed the last two months with an ankle injury.
· With his 20th minute yellow card, David Beckham has now been booked four times this season. If he receives a yellow card in any of his next three games, Beckham will receive an automatic one match suspension.
· Alan Gordon also picked up his fourth booking of the year in the 56th minute, leaving him one card away from a mandatory one match ban.
· Devon McTavish’s 2nd minute goal for D.C. United was the fastest goal allowed by the Galaxy this season and tied the mark for the fourth fastest. Three times in their history the Galaxy have allowed a goal in the first minute. Before tonight they had allowed a second minute goal just once.
· The attendance for tonight’s game was a sellout of 27,000. It was the sixth consecutive home sellout for the Galaxy and their ninth in 13 home games this season.
· For more about tonight’s game, please visit www.lagalaxy.com.
· The Galaxy are back in action at home on Thursday, September 25, 2008, when they take on the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill. The match will kick off at 6 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on ESPN2. The match will also be available live on the radio on KWKW 1330 ESPN Deportes (Spanish) and at lagalaxy.com.