Getting Ready For The Fire

The Galaxy's intensity at training was taken up a level on Wednesday. Guys like A.J. DeLaGarza and David Beckham, pictured above, continued to work their way back to match fitness by going through a number of 11 v 11 drills.

Beckham look good at training, and so did DeLaGarza, who went trained with the entire day with a brace over his right knee (see picture below).


Both teams will participate in a press conference on Thursday, so be sure to check back tomorrow for a recap of the presser as well as audio from other players talking about Friday's all-important match against the Chicago Fire at The Home Depot Center (8 p.m. PT, ESPN2). A win on Friday coupled with a D.C. United loss or tie on Saturday, and the Galaxy would clinch their first playoff berth since 2005.

Larry Morgan breaks down the math and talks to the guys about the possibility of clinching a spot in the 2009 MLS playoffs over the weekend.

Also, don't forget to check out Fox 11 at 10 p.m. tonight. Tony Sanneh will be featured in FOX 11's "Wednesday's Child" segment with Christine Devine.

Born to Run

Last week, Bruce Springsteen, one of the nation's most legendary songwriters and musicians celebrated his 60th birthday. Now, we know that our President of Business Operations, Tom Payne, is a big fan of the Boss, but it appears that after this morning's training session, that the coaching staff is as well.

Because at the end of today's practice, the players looked like they were born to run, doing a number of sprints of varying lengths to complete their workout.
In addition to the running, the players went through a traditional training session, playing some possession and small-sided games before heading inside for a lengthy meeting and video session.

In a welcome sight, David Beckham and Dema Kovalenko were both out on the field doing some work as they aim to get back to full fitness ahead of Friday night's game against the Fire. Additionally, A.J. DeLaGarza and Eddie Lewis, each of who entered the Columbus game carrying slight injuries, trained at full speed. In fact, Lewis scored the sessions' game-winning goal, beating Josh Saunders in extra time of the small-sided game. Lewis took a left-footed shot that settled in the side-netting to give his team the win, and the requisite high-fives that go along with it.
Lewis, Beckham and the rest of the team will train twice more this week before Friday night's game, a game that will go a long way in deciding the playoff hopes of both sides.

Birchall Chats with ESPN.com

Chris Birchall has started in each of the Galaxy's last two games and he earned the first start of his MLS career the first time that LA played the Fire. Most of you already know this.

He has helped the Galaxy to a 5-1-0 record in the six games that he has played in. Additionally, before Saturday's loss to Columbus, LA had allowed just one goal with the Trinidad and Tobago international on the field.

This afternoon, after training, he participated in a chat with fans at ESPN.com, answering 10-12 questions ahead of Friday night's game against the Fire. Click here to read a transcript of the chat and then head over to lagalaxy.com to pick up your tickets for Friday night's all-important game against the Fire, a game that can be seen live on ESPN2 starting at 8 p.m. (PT).

Locker Room Reactions

Here is what a number of players and coaches from both sides had to say following last night's 2-0 loss to the Crew.

LOS ANGELES HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA
His overall thoughts on the match:
“The game had no rhythm; a lot of fouls were called, a lot of yellow cards. It was a sloppy game, but I think Columbus for 90 minutes was first to most of the plays all night. It was a scrappy game, and they basically won all of the match-ups all over the field. Give them credit, their effort was very good”

On his team’s effort:
“Even though the soccer wasn’t good, the competing and the mentality wasn’t what it needed to be either to position ourselves to win or get a point tonight. The goal we gave up in the 33rd minute was a big part of the game. We needed to be even at halftime to position ourselves to get a result.”

LOS ANGELES MIDFIELDER STEFANI MIGLIORANZI
On L.A.’s effort tonight:
“We fell short maybe in our effort a little bit today and you can’t do that against a team of the quality of the Crew. We expect effort in every game; sometimes the game doesn’t go your way or the ball isn’t bouncing the way you want it or you’re just a second too late into plays and we certainly played like that for long periods and like I said before, you can’t have that against a team the quality of the Crew.”

LOS ANGELES MIDFIELDER/FORWARD LANDON DONOVAN
On L.A.’s play tonight:
“We just had too many guys that couldn’t make simple plays, simple passes, simple traps, just simple soccer plays that we didn’t pull off tonight and that’s a bad combo.”

His overall thoughts on the match:
“I give them credit. They played hard and they played pretty well, but that’s a team we should beat and we know that and that’s frustrating.”

On L.A.’s lack of rhythm:
“There was no rhythm at all, all night. We had a bunch of fouls called against us that stopped the rhythm, we never had a chance to get going and we certainly didn’t play well enough to create a rhythm so it was a bad combo all around.”

LOS ANGELES FORWARD EDSON BUDDLE
His overall thoughts on the match:
“We expected a tough match; it’s not easy to win here. We wanted a better result, but unfortunately the ball didn’t bounce our way and as a team we could have played a lot better. I think the Crew did a good job of taking advantage of being at home and playing hard for 90 minutes.”

COLUMBUS HEAD COACH ROBERT WARZYCHA
His overall thoughts on the match:
“To be honest with you, I enjoyed the game; that was pretty good. I think that was one of the best performances this year by us, playing against a team that has played well, has a lot of former international players and a good coach. It’s not easy, so I think we performed very well. We were very good on both sides of the ball.”

On his team’s ability to close out the game:
“Today, I think the performance - especially at the end of the game - showed that the guys have some more trust between them and there was a lot of composure and they found out that possessing the ball is the best way to kill the game.”

On his team’s depth:
“We don’t have a reserve team; we have 23 players right now that can step up anytime on the field and win any game… everybody here on this club is contributing. We have a very deep squad, I can go with any player and as long as we are playing as a team, we can be very successful.”

COLUMBUS MIDFIELDER BRIAN CARROLL
His overall thoughts on the match:
“We’ll take it. I don’t care if it’s ugly, if it’s pretty, if it’s a normal game for us; if we win I’m happy. We strung some passes together towards the end of the game, kept good possession at that part of the match and just kept control of the game all the way through. For me, that was a step in the right direction for us.”

On the overall play of the team:
“Guys stepped up, we used a number of different players tonight and they all gave their good effort and did what they needed to do to for the team to win, and I thought we played pretty solid tonight. It was a good team effort and we came away with a win tonight and we’re happy.”

COLUMBUS DEFENDER ERIC BRUNNER
On the Crew’s mindset coming into the match:
“They’re [Los Angeles] a really good team, they’ve had some great results this year and only lost a handful of games this season and we knew they were going to come in tough. We just wanted to outwork them and just let the ball do the work on a fast pitch.”

COLUMBUS MIDFIELDER EDDIE GAVEN
On the Crew’s roster depth:
“I think it shows that we have a very deep team. I think every guy can come on the field and do their job and help this team win, so hopefully that’s going to help us as we keep on going through the season.”

On his game-winning goal:
“He [Emmanuel Ekpo] played a great ball and I just kind of jumped up, got my head on it and tried to play it to the back post and luckily it hit off the post and went in.”

Galaxy Fall 2-0 at Crew Stadium

LA Galaxy 0, Columbus Crew 2
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Columbus Crew Stadium — Columbus, Ohio

Scoring Summary:
CLB – Eddie Gaven 6 (Emmanuel Ekpo 6) 33’
CLB – Steven Lenhart 3 (Unassisted) 59’

Misconduct Summary:
CLB – Frankie Hejduck (Yellow Card) 28’
LA – Jovan Kirovski (Yellow Card) 56’
CLB – Eric Brunner (Yellow Card) 61’
CLB – Alejandro Moreno (Yellow Card) 69’
LA – Chris Birchall (Yellow Card) 71’
LA – Gregg Berhalter (Yellow Card) 73’
CLB – Steven Lenhart (Yellow Card) 75’
LA – Alan Gordon (Yellow Card) 93+

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Donovan Ricketts, A.J. DeLaGarza (Alan Gordon 54’), Gregg Berhalter, Omar Gonzalez, Todd Dunivant (Eddie Lewis 62’), Stefani Miglioranzi (Jovan Kirovski 34’), Chris Birchall, Sean Franklin, Landon Donovan©, Brian Jordan, Edson Buddle.

Subs Not Used: Josh Saunders, Yohance Marshall, Chris Klein, Mike Magee.

Columbus Crew: William Hesmer, Frankie Hejduk, Eric Brunner, Danny O’Rourke, Jed Zayner, Brian Carroll, Eddie Gaven, Jacob Burns (Adam Moffat 55’), Emmanuel Ekpo, Steven Lenhart (Andy Iro 93+), Emilio Renteria (Alejandro Moreno 69’).

Subs Not Used: Kenny Schoeni, Duncan Oughton, Robbie Rogers, Guillermo Barros Schelotto.

Notes:
• With the loss, the Galaxy are now 10-6-11 on the season, leaving them with 41 points. LA remains in second place in the Western Conference, two points behind first place Houston, who do not play this weekend and three points ahead of third place Seattle, lost 2-1 to New England at Gillette Stadium.
• Bruce Arena made two changes to the team that beat Toronto FC 2-0 last weekend at The Home Depot Center. A.J. DeLaGarza and Bryan Jordan return to the starting lineup, replacing David Beckham, who missed the game with inflammation of his right ankle, and Eddie Lewis who was on the bench but did not start after spraining his left ankle last weekend.
• In addition to Beckham, the Galaxy were also without Alecko Eskandarian, Dema Kovalenko and Julian Valentin, who all missed the game through injury.
• DeLaGarza returned to the lineup after missing last weekend’s win over Toronto FC with a bone bruise on his left knee.
• For Jordan, it was just his second start of the season and his first since the 1-1 draw with Columbus on May 17.
• Stefani Miglioranzi left the game in the 36th minute with a left groin injury and was replaced by Jovan Kirovski. This was the first time that Miglioranzi had left a game since halftime of the 2-0 loss to Seattle on August 15.
• Kirovski made his 20th appearance of the season in the game. It was the fifth time in his six years in MLS that he had appeared in 20 or more games.
• Alan Gordon also made his 20th appearance of the season for LA, replacing A.J. DeLaGarza in the 54th minute. This is the second straight season that Gordon has played 20 or more games.
• Chris Klein did not play in the game, snapping his MLS record consecutive games played streak at 141. This was the first time since June 4, 2005 that Klein did not play in a game for his team.
• With their yellow cards tonight, Gregg Berhalter, Alan Gordon and Jovan Kirovski are now on warning. If either of them gets a yellow card in any of the final three regular season games, they will be forced to serve a one-game suspension.
• The 23 fouls committed by the Galaxy tonight are the club’s most this year.
• Tonight’s loss was the Galaxy’s first of the season against an Eastern Conference opponent, dropping their record against the East to 7-1-5 with one game remaining against them.
• The first half goal by the Crew’s Eddie Gaven was the first goal given up by the Galaxy against an Eastern Conference team since the 83rd minute of the 2-1 win at New England on August 8. The Galaxy had gone 310 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal against the East.
• This was the first time since the season opening 2-2 draw with D.C. United that the Galaxy had allowed more than one goal in a game with an Eastern Conference team.
• The Galaxy were shutout for just the fifth time this season and second by an Eastern Conference team. However, LA is 2-1-1 after a shutout.
• The attendance for tonight’s game was a sell out crowd of 20,966.
• The Galaxy return to action on Friday, October 2 when they host the Chicago Fire at The Home Depot Center. That game kicks off at 8 p.m. and can be seen live on ESPN2.
• For more about tonight’s game, please visit www.lagalaxy.com.

Time to Take on the Champs

It's a gray and rainy day here in the Ohio capital as the Galaxy look to move to the top of the MLS standings against the Columbus Crew. With 41 points, the Galaxy currently sit second in the Western Conference, two points behind Houston and also two points behind Eastern Conference leading Columbus, who are also still on 43 points. The Dynamo are not in action this weekend, meaning that the a win today would push the Galaxy to first place in the overall league standings for the first time this year.

Here is the lineup that Bruce Arena and Co. will put out on the field against the defending champs as they look for their second straight win.

-----------------Jordan-----------Buddle-----------------

Donovan------------------------------------------Franklin

-----------------Miglioranzi------Birchall------------------

Dunivant-------Berhalter---------Gonzalez-----DeLaGarza

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

Subs: Saunders, Marshall, Klein, Lewis, Magee, Kirovski, Gordon.

Bryan Jordan makes his second start of the year and first since May 17, while A.J. DeLaGarza returns at right back, pushing Sean Franklin up to the right side of midfield.

Here is the lineup that the Crew and Robert Warzycha will counter with.

---------------Renteria-----------Lenhart--------------------

Ekpo---------------------Burns------------------------Gaven

--------------------------Carroll-------------------------------

Zayner-------O'Rourke-----------Brunner-------------Hejduk

----------------------------Hesmer---------------------------

Subs: Schoeni, Iro, Moffat, Oughton, Rogers, Barros Schelotto, Moreno.

This Week Inside the Galaxy - Episode 18

In this episode of This Week Inside the Galaxy, we look back at the win over Toronto FC, check out the third annual corporate partners appreciation event at Lucky Strike Lanes and ahead to the game against the Columbus Crew.

Enjoy all that and more, This Week Inside the Galaxy.


When you're done with the video, be sure to read Mark Rogondino's latest View from the Booth, Larry Morgan's preview of Saturday's game with Stefani Miglioranzi and Buddle’s thoughts on returning to face his old club as well as Craig Merz’ preview from the Crew perspective with comments from Bruce Arena.

In addition, check out the MLS preview, complete with all the stats and trends heading into the game with the Columbus Crew.