Exactly X and Vanney both make boat loads of money, we might as well pay a guy a rookie salary to make mistakes who has an upside. It's sad when guys like X and Vanney make Franklin who is a rookie look like the rock in defense.
Huge win for our team. Let's keep it up and pick up 3 points next weekend in Utah! Hopefully Robbie doesn't take it to us...
Cronin is responsible for the second goal as well. He should catch that ball in the first touch. Yet he bounced the ball out ,then X made the second mistake. Cronin can not hold a ball. Everytime Chivas kicked the ball inside penalty area, he always bounced the ball out instead of catching it. This happened several times and that is a big threat.
It's great to see Donovan shooting. Two left-footed goals from the 18? I never would have guessed. His confidence right now is the highest I've ever seen it. Ever. This was Japan/Korea fearless Donovan. I loved this bit in the final few minutes of the game. Ball goes out wide to Beckham. He's around mid field. He takes a touch. Watches. Waits. Unleashes a ball across the 18 as four of our players, all parallel with each other, are rushing into the box to meet it. It was a feeding frenzy, and Becks was chumming the water all ********ing night. Franchino is massive. McDonald continues to improve. Franklin is solid. Randolph impresses me. It's starting to look like we have a good thing going offensively. Is Ruiz going to help or hinder us? Time will tell.
hey guys, im new here...so just wanted to say GREAT game today, like always cronin shows tiny bit size glimpses of his confidence, but then just makes stupid mistakes, like all the times he wouldn;t stay at his goal and let x defend the ball....i didn;t like that at all...but anyways.....great game for donovan, and haha gordon......can't wait for next week against rsl coming off a 4-1 loss....
Great game overall. Franklyn has played D great. X reddemed himself on D. Gordan redeemed in O. Beckham was a little quiet this game. I'd like to see yres and Franchino in the mid. They would both be dominating the midfield. Other than that, the Galaxy has huge potential for the season D-wise.
did I say how watchable this game is? This is the most watchable game in MLS. The fast pace, the big scores, the electrified atmosphere...Galaxy played the most watchable game in MLS.
Over on the Chivas site, I found dismissive post by a Chivas fan (written in response to a post by dmhines), and I debated with myself whether or not to simply click "Quote" in order to repost it in all of its hubristic glory. In the end, I decided not to do so because it would have been rude. And then I noticed that the thread was locked, so my great nobility of spirit was moot anyway. Still, I can't resist the temptation to post the highlights here. If nothing else, come the next superclásico, it may make those of us on this board remember that certain kinds of smack-talk are likely to make the talker look silly after the final whistle:
awesome, awesome win was the ref as shit on tv as he appeared during the game. despite some mistakes our defense was much better tonight. sascha's goal was pure class columbus gave up a similar one. there's no shame in that. second goal was a bit of a shambles, but x looked much, much better tonight. where he fails is when he misreads the game and has to play catch up. can you imagine how bad we would have raped them if it was ruiz in there instead of buddle? holy shit it would have dallas98 all over again. franchino really sews up the defense and mcdonald is pretty rock solid. we're still going to need to score 3+ goals a game to win, but it sure looks like we can. does anyone else think becks has inspired this new donovan we're seeing? the guy is playing like every game is a playoff which is what becks does.
Haven't been able to watch the Galaxy play since the San Jose game, but I liked what I saw! I thought we looked really good in the first half hour, then not so well before and after the break... after Chivas scored their second goal I was a little worried, since our chances seemed to be drying up. And I was disappointed to see Buddle leave the field for Gordon, but I am so glad I'm not coach. Cronin - 4 - Still not very good or confident. Could have done better on both goals, but not entirely his fault. Looked a bit shaky otherwise.. Klein - 5.5 - Wasn't as solid on defense for the middle third of the game, all the Chivas attacks were coming down his side. Solid for a converted right winger though.. Franklin - 8 - Not noticeable which is a good thing for a defender. Still don't know how he's successfully playing centerback when he's so small.. but I like him a lot. Xavier - 5 - So inconsistent! Looks really good for most of the game, but I place most of the blame on him for both of Chivas goals. Kljestan had so much space for his wondergoal because Xavier got faked out into believing the right footed player was going left. Then he tried to do his fall on his back clearance and the ball went under his foot for the second goal.. Vanney - 7 - I like him a lot more as a left back. Not many attacks got past him. Beckham - 7 - I don't think he actually got an assist tonight, but he played well. Not so much defense tonight though.. McDonald - 7 - Color me impressed. Made his presence felt in the first half, for sure. Franchino - 7 - I don't really know many players outside of the Galaxy, so I didn't know anything about Franchino before he came. I think he's a great pickup though, solid today. Randolph - 8 - Never going to look good with his crosses compared to Becks, but he's quick enough that he creates multiple chances on the left. Buddle - 7 - I thought he looked good tonight.. not particularly dangerous, but linked well and is fairly quick. Donovan - 10 - . Gordon - 8 - I'm not a fan, but my jaw was on the floor when he out leaped Guzan. Excellent impact from the bench. I really liked this starting line up and I would keep it for our next match. I don't even think Pires or Allen should come in for McDonald or Randolph.
Awesome freakin game. Donovan is going to be a shoe in for the golden boot. Flash Gordon scores two goals as a second half substitute. The defense looked great... all around great game. The only trouble I saw during the game was when two Galaxy fans were about to fight each other at halftime over some spilled beer, Other then that, I proud to say the atmosphere was incredible. I saw Galaxy fans and Chivas fans laughing together as the goals poured in... well actually, the Chivas fans stopped laughing after a certain point, but still, it was a terrific sporting event
Are you related to Buddle or something? OMG, the highpoint of the game was when Gordon came in for Buddle. And Gordon scored two goals tonight. What has Buddle done in six games? Yeah, yeah, he was "robbed" last game vs. Houston. The bench is where he belongs. I was wondering why it took Gullit that long to see the light. Not only did Gordon get two goals tonight, he had an assist as well. Buddle was quick and linked well? What game were you watching, man?
I wish I could agree with these optimistic assessments of our defense in general and X in particular. But I cringed whenever Chivas was in the attacking third. I hold Xavier partly responsible for the first goal (he gave Kjlestan way too much space to shoot) and largely responsible for the second (he fell over during a routine clearance). We were better tonight in the back than against, say, Colorado, but that, sadly, says nothing. I have hope for us, but realistically I think we need to trade X, Vanney, or both. Surely the money that we're paying them could get us somebody a little more reliable. I wondered about that. Or maybe it's Gullit. Or a combination of him & Becks. Or maybe Donovan just got sick of losing winnable games. Whatever it is, I really hope it continues.
Man, I have so much to say about the game but I can't....I'm speechless.....5-2?? Really? Did Gordon really score twice in less than 5 minutes? Man, I'm going to frame my ticket and sell it in about 20 years....it will be worth alot
To be fair, Gordon was Gordon on crack tonight. But I still think Buddle is better at wearing down defenses. Randolph is now officially our Left-mid. If he can cover for Vanney, we're in pretty good shape. If you didn't notice Franklin, you weren't paying attention. He won about 95% of his 50/50 balls in the air. Un-********ing-real.
Negative note - was it me or did we seem completely incapable of clearing a ball tonight? Also - Cronin, if you are reading this, come by my house this week, we'll do some ball handling drills. BTW - my favorite moment of the whole night was Cronin juking the Chivas attacker, and then seeing the Chivas attacker falling over after over-running the ball.
I just got back from the game.....what an amazing game!!! The energy in the stadium was awesome! Much props to all the supporters groups they did an great job. My favorite chant came towards the end of the game. It was started by the Riot Squad......."This is our House!" BTW, did any see the sign I made? I hooked up with some of the Angel City Brigade guys before the game and they put it up at the top center of the GA section. The sign was about 40 feet long and had a Galaxy shield on each end......it read..... "This is our house! Time to pay the rent!!!" I know it was kind of hard to see since people were sitting in front of it.