Players React to Scoreless Draw

We spoke to both coaches and a number of players from both sides to see what they had to say about today's game.

Here is what they had to say…

LA GALAXY HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA

On the game …
“Houston is a real difficult team to play when they’re at home, obviously, with the small field and the physicality. Their quality on set pieces is good. It was a battle for 90 minutes. I like the mentality of our group and the concentration they showed for 90 minutes.”

On the atmosphere …
“I think that game was good practice for the players. I think on the road, we’re going to see that kind of atmosphere and that kind of intensity in the game.”

LA GALAXY GOALKEEPER DONOVAN RICKETTS

On the game …
“This is the same kind of atmosphere you get in the playoffs. Playing on the road, I think we did enough to get the point.”

On their road mentality …
“When you play on the road, you have to play different then when you play at home. At home, you should be aggressive and defensively, that can be a problem for me.”

LA GALAXY FORWARD LANDON DONOVAN

On the game …
“I thought it was an exciting good game. I think we expected a physical game. There were good chances both ways, and in the end I think it was a fair result.”

LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER DAVID BECKHAM

On playing in Houston for the first time …
“It was a great turnout, suitable for the stadium, and obviously this is the first time I’ve played here. You could feel it was a great atmosphere, a friendly, fun atmosphere; an atmosphere of people that are proud about their team. It’s a nice atmosphere to play in.”

About the red card to Brian Ching …
“It had nothing to do with me. He pushed someone in the face. He wasn’t really pushed in the face, but you can’t really do that in the game. But it’s really nothing to do with me because I wasn’t the one pushed in the face.”

On the game …
“Both teams wanted to win the game. Both teams had good chances but just couldn’t put it away. Both teams kept on pressing to the end. There were two good teams with talented players, but they just couldn’t get a goal.”

HOUSTON DYNAMO HEAD COACH DOMINIC KINNEAR

On the game …
“I thought we played OK. You’re never going to have a full 90-minute game where everything goes your way. They had some opportunities, they defended well. The two center defenders for them - I think there were a lot of missed fouls, but they are very physical.”

On Bruce Arena not starting Landon Donovan …
“I take it as a sign he is trying to rest Landon. He has put in a lot of minutes and a lot of travel, and maybe he felt he needed a rest and would be a better option coming in off the bench. I’d rather have Landon on the field for 35 minutes than for 90.”

On the result …
“You always want to get three points every time you step on the field, but I thought Ricketts had some great saves off of Landín and Holden as well. Both teams didn’t give up a lot. There were some chances there, but they were spread out. Of course we wanted to give the fans a treat and win.”

HOUSTON DYNAMO FORWARD BRIAN CHING

On the red card …
“I ended up touching the guy in the face, and the ref saw it and gave me a yellow card. The linesman and fourth official wanted to get more involved, so they came over and told the ref to give me a red. It was a stupid play on my part, but I think it was an intense game and the ref dealt with it fine. I think everyone was fine with the yellow card, but then the red came. It was a stupid play on my part. Back-to-back red cards doesn’t look good. I let my teammates down, but better for it to happen now than in the playoffs. I definitely learned my lesson two weeks in a row.”

On the game …
“It was intense. I think both teams treated it like a playoff game. We played really well in the first half. In the second half, they did a good job of coming in and breaking it up. Overall all it was a tough intense match, we played well, and we just didn’t capitalize.”

HOUSTON DYNAMO MIDFIELDER BRAD DAVIS

On the game …
“It was a tough game. I thought we were all over them in the first half. I think we started to get away from it and play a little too direct in the second half. The guys battled, and we were lucky that their chances didn’t bounce their way. There were some iffy offsides calls there in the first half. It’s tough to have those things in such a tight game and having things like that disrupt it.”

On the Dynamo’s rash of red cards …
“We’ve been hurting ourselves. Almost everybody in here at some point has received a red card. The game against Chivas, we need Ching, but now we don’t have him. We just need to calm down a little bit and keep our heads in the game. I know we all want to stick up for each other, but we need to know that that stuff is going to hurt us.”

Galaxy Play to 0-0 Draw in Houston, Back in Three-Way Tie for First Place

LA Galaxy 0, Houston Dynamo 0
Saturday, October 18, 2009
Robertson Stadium — Houston, Texas

Scoring Summary:
None

Misconduct Summary:
LA – David Beckham (Yellow Card) 82’
HOU – Brian Ching (Yellow Card) 82’
HOU – Brian Ching (Red Card) 82’
HOU – Dominic Oduro (Yellow Card) 86’
LA – Alan Gordon (Yellow Card) 91+

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Donovan Ricketts, Todd Dunivant, Gregg Berhalter, Omar Gonzalez, Sean Franklin, Dema Kovalenko, Eddie Lewis© (Jovan Kirovski 84’), David Beckham, Chris Birchall, Mike Magee (Landon Donovan 53’), Edson Buddle (Alan Gordon 67’).

Subs Not Used: Josh Saunders, Yohance Marshall, Chris Klein, Bryan Jordan.

Houston Dynamo: Pat Onstad, Mike Chabala, Bobby Boswell, Geoff Cameron, Andrew Hainault, Ricardo Clark, Brad Davis, Stuart Holden, Brian Mullan, Brian Ching© (Sent Off 82’), Luis Angel Landin (Dominic Oduro 83’).

Subs Not Used: Tally Hall, Wade Barrett, Ryan Cochrane, Eddie Robinson, Craig Waibel, Abe Thompson.

Notes:
• With the draw, the Galaxy are now 11-6-12 on the season, giving them 45 points. LA is now in a three-way tie with Houston and Chivas USA at the top of the Western Conference. Seattle remains in fourth place, one point behind those three clubs heading into the final week of the regular season.
• With the draw, the Galaxy win the season series against Houston, going 1-0-1 against the Dynamo. LA did not allow a goal in either of those contests.
• Bruce Arena made three changes to the team that beat Chicago 1-0 on October 2 in the Galaxy’s last game. A.J. DeLaGarza missed this game through injury, while Landon Donovan and Chris Klein each started on the bench. In their place, Todd Dunivant, Dema Kovalenko and Mike Magee.
• In addition to DeLaGarza, the Galaxy were also without Alecko Eskandarian, Stefani Miglioranzi and Julian Valentin, who all missed the game through injury.
• For Kovalenko, it was his first appearance for the club since leaving the 2-0 win at Chicago on August 19 at halftime with an right Achilles tendon injury. He played 90 minutes for the first time since June 13 today.
• Todd Dunivant returned to the starting lineup after missing the win over Chicago. He was an unused substitute in that game, marking the first game that he had not started since the 1-1 draw with Columbus on May 17.
• This was the fifth consecutive game in which the Galaxy had made a change to their starting back four after using the same four players every game in the back from June 13-September 12, a span of 12 games.
• Landon Donovan entered the game in the 53rd minute, replacing Mike Magee. This was just his second appearance as a substitute this season, with the other coming in the 2-0 loss to Seattle on August 15.
• Donovan Ricketts made four saves to earn his second consecutive clean sheet and his eighth of the season.
• The Galaxy have now kept 11 clean sheets on the season, tying a team record that was first set in 1999.
• This is the seventh Galaxy game this season that has been tied 0-0 at the half. LA is now 1-0-6 in those seven games.
• This was the Galaxy’s third 0-0 draw of the season and first since Augsut 22 at D.C. United.
• Alan Gordon was booked in the first minute of stoppage time. That was his fifth yellow card of the season meaning that he will now miss the season finale against San Jose. Gordon is the first Galaxy player to be suspended for yellow card accumulation this season.
• Gregg Berhalter, Jovan Kirovski and Eddie Lewis all also entered the game with four yellow cards, leaving them one away from a mandatory one-game suspension, but none were booked, meaning that those will be available for the Galaxy’s final game of the season against San Jose next weekend. If any of those four players are booked in that game, they will not be forced to miss the Galaxy’s first playoff game.
• Bruce Arena used all three of his available substitutes in the game. LA has made all three changes in all 29 of their regular season games this season.
• The attendance for today’s game was a 29,470.
• The Galaxy return to action on Saturday, October 24 when they host the San Jose Earthquakes on Fan Appreciation Night at The Home Depot Center. That game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on FS West, starting with ‘Galaxy Live’ at 7 p.m.
• For more about tonight’s game, please visit www.lagalaxy.com.

Top of the Table Showdown

Chivas USA may have jumped to first place in the Western Conference with their draw last night, but both the Galaxy and Dynamo can overtake them with a win this afternoon at Robertson Stadium.

A Galaxy win leaves them alone atop the West heading into the final game of the season next weekend while a draw would once again create a three-way tie at the top between LA, Houston and Chivas USA. However, a Galaxy loss would drop them into a tie for third-place with Seattle, one of the few teams that owns the head-to-head tiebreaker with LA.

Here is the team that Bruce Arena will put on the field this afternoon as they look for their second straight win and a complete of the season sweep of the Dynamo. Dema Kovalenko is back in the team for the first time since the 2-0 win at Chicago on August 19 while Todd Dunivant is back in as well in place of A.J. DeLaGarza, who misses out with a right hamstring strain. Additionally, after playing 90 minutes in Honduras last weekend and against Costa Rica on Wednesday, so he starts the game on the bench, with Mike Magee partnering Edson Buddle up front.

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

Lewis--------------Beckham------------Birchall

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

Dunivant----Berhalter----Gonzalez------Franklin

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

Subs: Saunders, Marshall, Klein, Jordan, Kirovski, Donovan, Gordon.

And here is how the Dynamo will line up...

--------------Ching---------Landin-----------------

Davis---------------Holden------------------Mullan

---------------------Clark---------------------------

Chabala------Cameron------Boswell---------Hainault

---------------------Onstad--------------------------

Subs: Hall, Barrett, Cochrane, Robinson, Waibel, Oduro, Thompson

On the Ground in Houston

The Galaxy arrived in Houston this afternoon ahead of Sunday afternoon's all important battle of Western Conference heavyweights.

As is always the case when we hit the road, the media descended on the club's hotel this afternoon to speak with the club's captain, Landon Donovan, who re-joined the team this afternoon following his stint with the U.S. National Team, and David Beckham who is making his first-ever trip to Houston. In 2007, Beckham missed LA's 2-1 win over the Dynamo with a knee injury while he missed the 3-0 loss here last season, a loss that eliminated the Galaxy from postseason contention, because of a suspension for yellow card accumulation.

Before those guys met the press, the entire team hit the gym for a quick workout to get the blood flowing and the legs moving after the three-hour flight this morning from LA.

Once finished with the weights and on the treadmills and the exercise bikes, Landon and David made their way upstairs to speak with the press. Here is what they had to say.

Big Guns Ready for Houston

Landon and David were not with the team at training this week because of international duty, but that did not stop them from being available to talk about Sunday's showdown with Houston.

Here's what they had to say.



And be sure to check out the Galaxy's latest TV spot here.

Hitting the Road - Tomorrow and in the Future

Games don't often come along that are more important than Sunday's showdown between the Galaxy and Houston. The two sides are tied for first place in the Western Conference with two games remaining apiece.
But before we get to the all the playoff possibilities, we just wanted to pass along word that the Galaxy will participate in a postseason tour for the third consecutive season. But unlike the last two years which saw the club travel to Oceania, this year's trip will see the Galaxy travel to Kaiserslautern, Germany to take on FC Kaiserslautern of the Bundesliga 2. This game will be played at the Fritz Walter Stadion (known to many of you as the venue in which the U.S. played Italy to a 1-1 draw in the 2006 World Cup) on Thanksgiving, giving Galaxy fans some soccer to enjoy along with their diet of NFL football on Turkey Day. You can read more about this game here.

Back to more pressing matters such as the Western Conference playoff picture. Suffice to say, it's cloudy.

The Galaxy are in. We know that. They will be joined by Columbus, Houston, Chivas USA and four others. The only teams to have already been eliminated from postseason contention are New York and San Jose, meaning that nine teams are fighting for four spots.

The Galaxy are currently part of a three-way tie at the top of the Western Conference, along with Houston and Chivas USA, but that may have all changed by the time Sunday's game kicks off as Chivas USA and fourth place Seattle (41 points) are each in action on Saturday, as are fellow Western Conference foes Colorado (40 points), Real Salt Lake (37 points) and FC Dallas (36 points).

LA, Houston, Chivas USA, Seattle and Colorado can all still win the west and they can all finish second. The last two could be out of the playoffs all together.

No club can clinch the top seed with a win this weekend, but the Galaxy can clinch a top two spot, which would mean a road playoff game in the first leg of the Western Conference Semifinal Series, with a win over the Dynamo and a Seattle loss or tie.

However, a Galaxy loss combined with a Seattle win and a Chivas USA win or draw would drop the Galaxy all the way back to fourth place, possibly as little as a point above fifth place, depending upon Colorado's result. If the Galaxy finished fifth in the West, they would then cross over to the Eastern Conference to play one of the top two teams in that conference. LA can finish no lower than fifth in the West, though six teams could potentially qualify from the conference.

That means that there are still 11 potential Conference Semifinal Series opponents for the Galaxy; a number that should shrink after this weekend.

With that in mind, we would all like to see LA finish with the top seed in the Western Conference, but who would you like to see us face in the Conference Semifinal Series? And if we advance who do you want in the Western Conference Final or (fingers crossed) the MLS Cup?

Let us know.

Training in the Rain

The conditions at today's training session were not ideal. Far from it (look at above picture).

But the guys (blog staff included, well, sort of) toughed it out and trained outside in the rain. The guys started the session by working on some head-to-head drills, which consisted of one player sending a lob to a player about 30 yards away and then running toward him to prevent him from getting a clean shot on goal.

After that, the group was split into two for a finishing drill that turned very competitive. Each time someone would score, the entire side would loudly cheer in the direction of the other team. The rain was coming down hard at this point and we were trying to stay dry underneath a tent located on the opposite of the field (told you we sort of toughed it out) and were unable to tell who won. The winners did celebrate loudly however.

The day came to an end with the players talking to the media and the group being split into three for a game of keep away. Speaking with the crew from Telemundo, Bruce said that Dema Kovalenko, who has been training at full speed for most of the month could feature this weekend while Stefani Miglioranzi will likely not be available for the final two games of the regular season but could return for the club's first playoff game.

Be cause of the rain, and our location, today's photos are a bit grainy and shot from a distance.

Enjoy...