PIP: Western Conference Championship Game 2; LA Galaxy vs Seattle Sounders; 11/18/12; 6 P.M. PST

I thought it was Eddel Sonbud?

Is it game time yet?

Having two games a week for the last few weeks has spoiled me.

So who here thinks Becks will join a A-League team in the offseason?

Especially at age 37 ....

Not me. I think he retires a G. If anything I think that next year he will either play part time minutes for us as a fulltime supersub or he outright retires from the game in the offseason, thus freeing up a DP slot that we can either give to Omar or to Frank Lampard, Drogba or my personal favorite dream choices KaKa or Michael Owen as they can play both play striker or midfielder.

This new Becks story is an unwanted distraction.

Need everyone focused 100% on the job at hand, this doesn't help.

The story is a plant by Sigi to mess with everyone's head. Not falling for it.

Meh. Becks rubbished it. He's a professional. I think this is just creating a storyline for "ZOMG BECKS POTENTIAL LAST GAME" this happened last season as well....

I doubt Sigi planted anything... would be his first encounter with a fruit or vegetable in a while... now that's a storyline!

BTW 2-2 sunday.... 5-2 G's on agg

Just got in Seattle for sunday's game. Brought my poncho from last years MLS CUP final.

weather & auto show info:

http://www.weather.com/weather/weekend/Seattle WA 98101:4:US

Ticket holders receive $5 admission to the Seattle Auto Show this Sunday at the CenturyLink Field Event Center. Simply show your Western Conference Finals tickets to this Sunday's game and get in for $5 between 10am and 5pm. Please note that children 12 and under are free. For more information visit SeattleAutoShow.com.

For Sunday’s match, the Galaxy have three key players listed as questionable because of injury, namely Landon Donovan, Juninho and Edson Buddle. Here is a link to the most recently updated MLS Injury Report (last updated on Tuesday, November 13):

http://www.mlssoccer.com/mls-injury-report

I will assess various line-up options assuming none, some or all of three players are healthy enough to start on Sunday.

1. If None of Donovan, Juninho and Buddle are Able to Start

If all three players are unable to start because of injury, what line-up should the Galaxy start on Sunday night? I’ll list and assess what I think are the two best options. Option 1:

-------------------------------------Saunders-----------------------------------

Franklin----------------Gonzales--------------Meyer----------------Dunivant

---------------------------Beckham------------Sarvas---------------------------

Wilhelmsson--------------------------------------------------------------Magee

-----------------------------Villarreal-------------Keane-------------------------

Option 2:

---------------------------------------Saunders----------------------------------

Franklin-----------------Gonzales---------------Meyer---------------Dunivant

----------------------------Sarvas----------------Stephens-----------------------

Wilhelmsson-------------------------Beckham--------------------------Magee

-----------------------------------------Keane-----------------------------------

If Donovan, Juninho and Buddle are unable to start on Sunday, it is difficult for me to decide whether the Galaxy should start Option 1 or Option 2. On the one hand, across all competitions, the Galaxy have started in a 4-4-2 formation in all but two games this season. The two games that they started with only one forward were their 1-0 June 17 win against Portland at the HDC and their 3-2 June 20 win against Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinton Stadium (in Utah). So, I think the team is more used to playing a 4-4-2 than a one-forward or three-forward formation. I would be uneasy about taking them away from their comfort zone for Sunday’s game, which is a hugely important game. In addition, in the limited number of minutes that Jose Villarreal has played for the Galaxy this season, he has been a pretty good player. He has held the ball well, been fairly active and passed pretty well. He also scored the game-tying goal against Vancouver on July 18, played well in the Galaxy’s impressive 5-2 win against Metapan (in the CONCACAF Champions League) on August 23, and played well and scored a goal in the Galaxy’s 4-0 win against the Puerto Rico Islanders (in the CONCACAF Champions League) on August 29. Also, because Villarreal is a forward, if he were to make a defensive mistake against Seattle on Sunday, it would be very unlikely to cost the Galaxy a goal. In contrast, if Michael Stephens were to start on Sunday, he likely would start at central midfield. Thus, if he were to make a defensive mistake on Sunday, there is more than a slim possibility that it could cost the Galaxy a goal. In addition, although Stephens has played much better for the Galaxy since July than he did before July, I’m still worried that he could make important mistakes on Sunday. At the very end of the U.S. Olympic Team’s 3-3 tie against El Salvador in Olympic qualifying, Stephens failed to effectively clear the ball, which may have contributed to El Salvador’s tying the U.S.

On the other hand, if Donovan, Juninho and Buddle are unable to start on Sunday, I can see the case for starting the Galaxy’s starting in a 4-2-3-1 with Stephens as one of the two defensive midfielders. Stephens has much more experience than Villarreal does. The former has been with the Galaxy since 2010 and has played (across all competitions) around 80 games for them. In contrast, Villarreal has, I believe, played only 14 games (across all competitions) for the Galaxy. And, as mentioned, this season Stephens has played pretty well for the Galaxy since July.

Also, since the Galaxy go into Sunday’s game on the road in front of probably about 60,000 fans with a 3-0 lead on aggregate, perhaps it would be reasonable for them to take a defensive posture to start the game. This would weigh in favor of their starting in a 4-2-3-1. A 4-2-3-1 would give the them an extra player in the midfield to close down space and break up the Sounders’ attack. And it is important to note that the two games this season that the Galaxy started with only one forward, they played well and won. The 3-2 win against RSL in Utah was particularly impressive.

I would see how Villarreal and Stephens look in training and see how confident each looks. But at this moment I would be inclined to start in a 4-4-2 with Villarreal at forward along with Robbie Keane. The team seems comfortable in a 4-4-2, and I’m fairly confident that Villarreal can do a solid job, particularly at holding the ball.


2. If Juninho is Able to Start, but Donovan and Buddle are not

If Juninho is healthy enough to start on Sunday but Donovan and Buddle are not, the Galaxy could start the first line-up I list (Option 1), but with Juninho in central midfield instead of Marcelo Sarvas. The Galaxy also could start the second line-up I list (Option 2), but with Juninho starting at central midfield instead of Stephens. Again, it’s a tough call for me as far as which one the Galaxy should start. Juninho is a good MLS player and a better player at this point than Stephens is. So, I would not be reluctant to start Juninho, and I would be much less reluctant to start him than I would be Stephens. And if the Galaxy start in a 4-2-3-1, it could give them a stronger defense and make it easier for them to win the midfield. So, I would probably start a 4-2-3-1 with Sarvas and Juninho as the two defensive midfielders. But it’s a close for me, because, as mentioned, the team has, overall, been good in a 4-4-2 this season, especially since July. And they played very well in a 4-4-2 in the last two games. They beat the San Jose, the Supporter’s Shield winner, 3-1 on the road (in a place where San Jose had not lost all season) and beat a good Sounders team 3-0.


3. If Donovan and Juninho are Able to Start, but Buddle is not

If Donovan and Juninho are able to start, I would probably start Option 1, but with Donovan at forward instead of Villarreal and Juninho at central midfield instead of Sarvas. The team’s comfort and success in a 4-4-2 this season, especially in the last two games, is one of the main reasons why.

On a different note, how healthy is Juninho? It seems that he has been bothered by Achilles inflammation for a few games. If both Juninho and Sarvas are healthy, I think Juninho is a better player right now. For one, he is more capable of creating chances and scoring goals. But Sarvas is also a good player. And I don’t think there is a huge difference between the two. So, if Juninho isn’t moving well, I don’t have a problem starting Sarvas instead of Juninho. And I don’t have a problem substituting Sarvas for Juninho if Juninho is favoring his leg. It might be clear if he is doing so in warm ups.


4. If Donovan, Juninho and Buddle are All Able to Start

The first question: How healthy is Buddle? He could be healthy enough to start if he has to, but still be gimpy. In that case, I wouldn’t start him. I either would start a 4-4-2 with Donovan and Keane as the two forwards or the following 4-2-3-1:

------------------------------------Saunders-----------------------------

Franklin---------------Gonzales------------Meyer-----------Dunivant

---------------------------Sarvas-----------Juninho------------------

Donovan-------------------------Beckham---------------------Magee

-------------------------------------Keane-----------------------------

Buddle has been up and down this year. In fact, I think that, overall, he has been a disappointment so far this season. He has not scored nearly the number of goals that I expected. Part of this, of course, has to do with the injuries he has had. But even when he hasn’t been injured, he has looked somewhat stiff and immobile on the field. Moreover, his stiffness and lack of mobility is accentuated when he is hobbled. So, if he doesn’t look right before Sunday’s match, I don’t think I would start him.

However, if Buddle looks good in training, a reasonable case can be made that the Galaxy should start on Sunday in a 4-4-2 with Buddle and Keane as the two forwards and with Donovan at right midfield. Buddle looked pretty good and helped the Galaxy in their 3-1 win against San Jose at Buck Shaw in the second leg of the Western Conference semifinals. He won a number of high balls, made good runs (three of which may have contributed to the Galaxy's goals) and held and passed the ball pretty well. In addition, he has looked better for the Galaxy since he has come back from the knee injury that he suffered this year. Also, about two years ago, Buddle scored a 35-yard wonder goal against Seattle at CenturyLink Field in an MLS playoff game. Here is a link to highlights of the match (the sequence leading to Buddle’s goal starts at minute 3:32):



But right now Bubble is not the player he was then. In 2010, Buddle scored 17 goals in MLS’s regular season and two goals in the playoffs. This season, Buddle has 3 goals for the Galaxy. So, unless he is moving really well in training and looking very sharp prior to Sunday’s match, I would be reluctant to start him on Sunday -- as much as I like him as a person.

Good post... also like the new, maybe not intentional nickname for Budson, when he is in bad form... poor Bubble

Poor Buttle.

I think that we will play the same starting lineup that we used in the last game or we will go with the one that we used in the 2nd leg of LA vs SJ. After a Full Week's rest their is no way that any potential starter misses this match unless they absolutely can not play.

Either lineup is more than capable of getting the job done. From the video we are going to play a ground game again so it maybe helpful to have Buddle as the Target forward next to Keane to hold up the balls from Becks or Juninho and lay it off to Landon so that he can pass it to a cutting Robbie Keane. This is going to be very important because if playing the ground Beckham will likely not go 90 on that turf and will not run as much thus he may attempt the longball from time to time and Buddle is our best weapon at pulling that thing out of the air on a most consistent basis. Sarvas and Chippen will come into the game for Becks and Buddle and we will continue the ground game with more speed on the pitch.

I hope Michael Stephens gets 35 minutes. He plays simple and has a great work rate and is less likely than Sarvas or Juninho to get caught on the ball, and he's not going to be spraying long balls all around the field, and he's got the fitness and the youth to handle the turf. And if he's out there instead of Juninho, Sarvas, or Beckham that bodes well for the aggregate score line.

My dream DP's for LA Galaxy are Ronaldinho or Diego Forlan...those are idols of mine...great popular players in the latin community.

Wrong thread for this kind of nonsense.

This too.

I hate to see it but I think Bruce has to start with Landon on the bench. We're not playing to win the West Conference Championship. We are in it to win the MLS cup. Resting a recurring bad hamstring for LD so that he gets 2 weeks rest and some practice time, when we are up 3-0 on Seattle is what gives us the best chance to win it all. You have him available but I think he has to start on the bench, even if he tells Bruce he's fine to go, I don't know if you let him start. Same goes for Juninho. I think we have to trust in our depth some. I know I'm getting greedy, but I think you have to think of this as the first game of a two game series.

Man... I forgot how good Ricketts looked when he was in form. He was SO solid for us.

I firmly believe Ronaldinho would be a disaster for us as a DP. Talk about a guy with a poor work ethic who is going to enjoy the lifestyle in LA...

I think Forlan, on the other hand, would be great. He's the type of hard working, no-nonsense player that would do well in MLS (much like Keane).

Smack talk from a Dallas fan. Ouch!

Sounds like an epic substitution:

Beckham (Retires) > Frank Lampard

Donovan (Everton) > Diego Forlan.

OR MLS tweaks the DP rules again and allow us to buy a 4th DP slot, and we keep Donovan till the end of his contract. Either way would make me a happy G fan.

Sounds like somebody expects to play.

We have to score first,they will not be the same after that....
Go Galaxy,keep the cup here in LA

And our passing must be better,hold the ball just a little longer then pass...No fancy play please....