The Arena Effect

Bruce Arena succeeded Ruud Gullit as the manager of the LA Galaxy on August 18, 2008 ( press release ). In his first game in charge, he inherited a team from which he picked the following line-up against Chicago on August 21st. It was a home game that was lost 0-1. Beckham and Donovan were both away on national team duty.

G Steve Cronin
D Greg Vanney
D Troy Roberts
D Ante Jazic
D Sean Franklin
M Chris Klein
M Peter Vagenas
M Pires Alvaro  (Josh Tudela, 50)
M Ely Allen     (Mike Randolph, 67)
F Edson Buddle
F Alan Gordon   (Israel Sesay, 86)

The next match, which included both Donovan and Beckham, was August 30th, a 2-2 draw at New England. This was a particularly interesting line-up, seeing Greg Vanney in the midfield. Bruce was starting to bring in some fresh faces, with Eddie Lewis being the first.

G Steve Cronin (Josh Wicks, 45)
D Chris Klein
D Troy Roberts
D Ante Jazic
D Sean Franklin
M David Beckham
M Greg Vanney  (Mike Randolph, 65)
M Eddie Lewis  (Eduardo Dominquez, 81)
M Peter Vagenas
F Landon Donovan
F Edson Buddle 

From this pool of 18 players, 11 are no longer on the official Galaxy roster: Cronin, Vanney, Roberts, Jazic, Alvaro, Tudela, Randolph, Vagenas, Sesay, Dominquez, and Allen. Over the past year, Vanney has retired, some have been traded and others let go. The rebuilding culminated, in my opinion, with the signing of Gregg Berhalter in April of 2009.

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A New Direction

On July 16, 2009, L.A. Galaxy supporters were treated to a display of football that hasn’t been seen from this team since the days of of Sigi Schmid. The Galaxy finally showed what was possible from this collection of players, by defeating the New York Red Bulls with class and style. Yes, it was just the Red Bulls, who are definitely a cursed team this season. But, there’s been a return of team unity and organization to the Galaxy that hasn’t been seen in 2 or 3 seasons. With the return of David Beckham, and Landon Donovan’s coming back from Gold Cup duty, there were many questions to be answered (and, I’m not talking at all about the media antics revolving around the supposed Beckham/Donovan war of words).

Coming off a three game winning streak, the Galaxy were in a commanding lead by half-time, 3-nil. Goals scored by Eskandarian (3rd minute), Donovan (31st minute), and Lewis (45th minute) showed that the players are growing more confident and this reflects in their abilities to take chances. Either Eskandarian or Donovan should win goal of the week. The defense did a great job of staying organized and containing the overlapping runs of Jorge Rojas and Juan Pablo Angel. In addition to some outstanding saves by Donovan Ricketts in goal (man of the match, in my opinion), I can’t help but think that the defense is bolstered by knowing that there is such an outstanding net minder behind them.

Even though Beckham was not match fit, there was a noticeable difference in the way the team played with him on the field. I was more anxious to see how newly acquired Chris Birchall would do for the team. Having big man Edson Buddle and speedy Eskandarian up front were sure-fire targets for Beckham’s long passes over the top. This is a weapon put to good use when the opponent is someone like New York (and, by the way, a preseason, less-than-fit AC Milan). Birchall came in for Beckham in the 70th minute and showcased a “muscle-in-the-middle” mentality as well as some nice distribution that will be required for more daunting opponents. He will be a better asset to this team that Beckham’s long balls but you probably won’t hear that from Max Bretos or Christopher Sullivan on FSC.

The team is looking much better and more cohesive that they’ve looked in a long time. This is clearly a new direction for the LA Galaxy. However, something still lingers.

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Donovan’s Diagnosis

In a Washington Post article, After Lackluster World Cup, Donovan’s Focus Is Galaxy by Steven Goff, Landon Donovan acknowledges that he didn’t play well in the World Cup and explains how too much criticism has been given to him personally when the finger should be pointed to the whole team. While I agree that he didn’t play well, the criticism he’s received is not, in my mind, too much. He was the “play maker” of the team, the midfielder that sits right behind the forwards, and distributes the ball. If he plays bad, the whole team plays bad. That’s the reason for the criticism. In my estimation, the criticism has been mild. In any other country, there would be petitions to ensure that he never puts on the jersey again.

The article is telling because Landon himself diagnoses his own problem but doesn’t see it as the reason for not playing well. He says,

“I should’ve been more aggressive,” he said. “I just felt like half the time I was out there I was just going through the motions. What’s the point of being there? “That’s really disappointing for me because I thought I was smarter and I thought I would realize that more. I didn’t until it was over, and that’s frustrating because you can’t go back.”

Want to know why Landon wasn’t more aggressive? Because, in MLS, he’s not expected to be. When all you’re expected to do is “get into the playoffs”, the level of play is degraded and players aren’t held to a higher standard. Landon himself says that his aspiration, by staying in MLS, is to simply be a good player. Not a great player, just good. He continues,

“My world, I’m not on this Earth to go be in Europe and become the best soccer player in the world. My life is about being happy. I want to enjoy it, and I think I can balance all of that and still be a good soccer player.”

Thanks for the clarification Landon.