Record: 5-6-5 (W-D-D-L-L-W-W-D-D-D-L-L-W-W-D-L), 21 pts, 6th in the West VS ...16 pts, 6th is East Venue: MAPFRE Stadium Time: 4:30 PM PST TV: Time Warner Cable Sportsnet; Time Warner Cable Deportes I don't have a good feeling about this. We haven't won on the road since last Aug. 20, the come-from-behind 4-3 win over the Rapids in Colorado. We are 0-7-7, including MLS Cup playoffs, outside of SHC since that win. We've also been outscored 23-11 in those away games.
Normally this is the time of the year that the Galaxy are the main attraction as we start the turnaround. This year, I am gonna just kinda pretend I don't care about the Galaxy so I don't go crazy while we struggle for longer. Women's World Cup? Yes! Copa America? Cool! Gold Cup? I'm all in! Gonna just pretend I don't care about the Galaxy's record and live in denial for about the next 40 days.
If Dan Gargan and Robbie Rogers are healthy enough to start and play 90 minutes tomorrow, I would be inclined to start the following line-up: Gargan----------------------Gonzales-----------------Leonardo------------------Rogers --------------------------------Juninho----------------Husidic---------------------------- Ishizaki-----------------------------------------------------------------------------Maganto -----------------------------------Gordon-----------Villarreal (or Buddle)----------------- 1. Outside Backs If Gargan and Rogers are healthy enough to start and play 90 minutes, I would start them at outside back over Oscar Sorto. In the last two games, Sorto’s defensive positioning has been suspect. He often got too far forward and neglected his defensive responsibilities, and his being out of position contributed to goals both by Teal Bunbury and Kekutah Manneh. Meanwhile, Gargan and Rogers are more proven in terms of their defensive positioning. They’re also much more experienced than Sorto, who is inexperienced. If only one of Gargan and Rogers is healthy enough to start tomorrow, I would have a hard decision as to whether to start Baggio Husidic or Sorto at the other outside back spot. Sorto is good on the ball and played well against Houston on May 22. And if Sorto starts at outside back, then Husidic can start at central midfield, where I think he could help the team quite a bit tomorrow. So, there is a part of me that would want to start Sorto at outside back tomorrow. However, in the last two games, Sorto’s defensive positioning has been questionable. And Husidic’s defensive positioning at outside back has been good. Husidic also is a very steady person who rarely makes important mistakes. So, I might be inclined to start him at outside back and either Kenney Walker or Rafael Garcia at central midfield. But I probably would start Husidic at central midfield and (if one of Gargan or Rogers can’t start) Sorto at outside back. It seems to me that Sorto has the ability to play a better positional game than he did against New England and especially Vancouver. He seems bright, well-coordinated and alert. And it would be nice to start Husidic in central midfield. He is more proven there and better at winning the ball than Kenney Walker or Rafael Garcia. If Sorto does start, I would start him at right back rather than left back, so that he is not matched up against Columbus’ Ethan Finlay, who generally starts at right midfield. Finlay is fast, dangerous and a good dribbler. He seems to be more of a threat than the players that Columbus likely would start at left midfield. 2. Central Midfield If at least two of Gargan, Rogers and Sorto are healthy enough to start, I probably would start Baggio Husidic at central midfield, next to Juninho. If at least two of those three are healthy enough to start, then Husidic wouldn’t have to start at outside back and could instead start at central midfield. On May 31, Husidic played solidly at central midfield in the Galaxy’s 2-2 draw against New England at Foxboro, which is a good result for any MLS team right now. And the Galaxy’s record this season when Husidic has played significant minutes at central midfield is 2 wins, 0 losses and 4 draws, for a winning-percentage of .666 percent. The Galaxy’s overall record this season is 5 wins, 5 losses and 6 draws, for a winning-percentage of .500. In addition, Husidic is better at dispossessing the opposition and winning the ball than Kenney Walker, Rafael Garcia or Mike Vayrynen. Husidic also seems better in the final-third than those three players. Finally, Walker, who I thought played pretty well in his 34 minutes against Vancouver last Saturday, has played a total of only 97 minutes all season. So, he is less integrated into the team than Husidic is. My second choice would be to start Walker at central midfield (next to Juninho) and Husidic as one of the outside backs. As mentioned, Walker played pretty well in his 34 minutes last Saturday. Also, if one factors in his turnover that lead to Kekutah Manneh’s goal (which one should factor in), Vayrynen was poor against Vancouver last Saturday. The positive contribution Vayrynen made against Vancouver was modest, and the turnover that led to the goal was a major mistake. On the turnover, Vayrynen didn’t play within himself. He tried to do something difficult that was risky. The simple ball likely would have accomplished just as much, and it wouldn’t have led to Manneh’s goal. Here is a link to video of the play: http://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/ma...vs-vancouver-whitecaps-fc/details/video/40842 Another option would be to start Rafael Garcia at central midfield (next to Juninho) and Husidic at outside back. Overall, Garcia has been solid for the Galaxy this season, and he played well in the Galaxy’s important 1-0 win against Seattle on April 12. Also, the Galaxy’s record this season when Garcia has played significant minutes is 2 wins, 0 losses and 2 draws, for a winning percentage of .625 percent. In addition, Husidic has played fairly well at outside back. In fact, if Husidic and Sorto are the only outside backs healthy enough to start tomorrow, I would start Husidic at left back so that he -- rather than Sorto -- can be matched up against Finlay. Thus far this season, Husidic has been better at defensive positioning at outside back than Sorto, and, as stated, Finlay is the Crew’s most dangerous outside midfielder; so I would want Husidic on Finlay’s side of the field. 3. Forward According to LA Galaxy Insider Adam Serrano, Gyasi Zardes is expected to be available for tomorrow night’s match. Here is Serrano's tweet: Caught up with Gyasi Zardes & Dan Gargan for an @LAGalaxyTV update here from Columbus. Both are expected to be available for #CLBvLA.— Adam Serrano (@AdamSerrano) June 12, 2015 So, should Bruce Arena start Zardes at forward to tomorrow? For me, it depends on how Zardes has looked in practice since getting back from Europe, how healthy Alan Gordon and Jose Villarreal are, and how Edson Buddle has looked in practice. There is a side of me that would want to start Zardes. He is young (23), so maybe he has recovered well from the games against Holland and Germany in Europe. Also, he is the Galaxy’s second most dangerous forward right now, behind only Robbie Keane. But I probably would start Gordon and either Villarreal or Buddle, and plan to bring Zardes into the match in the second half. Zardes is likely to be tired tomorrow. He has just returned from Europe, where he played 74 minutes against Germany on Wednesday. 4. Watch Out for Kei Kamara Kei Kamara is exceptional in the air. In fact, he may be the best player in MLS at scoring goals with his head. He is 6’ 3”, physically powerful and has excellent leaping ability. It’s important that he is tightly covered by Omar Gonzales or Leonardo on every set-piece and cross.
Given the very sad family circumstances, even I will not gripe if Robbie K decides it is more important to be with family than play this one.
When was the last time we won in Columbus? It seems like a very, very long time ago. My recollection may be fuzzy, but isn't Columbus one of the few teams with a winning record against LA?
We won at Columbus in 2011 thanks to a Chad Barrett goal in stoppage time (1-0). IIRC we also won in 2010 with goals from Bowen and Klein. The last time we beat them was in 2013 at SHC with two PK from Keane, again in stoppage time.
Local Columbus sportswriter's take on the game. Neither team is playing well right now so things could get interesting. With a "normal" Gal defense playing (hopefully Rogers is back) and tight keeping they can stay in this match although it could get ugly up front and in the middle. http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2015/06/13/crew-chart-6-13-g4h124r1k-1.html
Good memory, it's jogged mine. Wasn't the away win a Chad Barret assist to McBean? And was the Robbie Keane double PK for a point?
Anyone know where I can watch the game east of I-605? No bar anywhere near me seems to have Time Warner. ***edit: Black Watch Pub in Upland has it! Hope this info helps someone else.
Our last results again Columbus as far as I can remember : 2010 : a 2-0 win away thanks to a goal from Stephens (his first with the Galaxy, a good volley) and a goal in the last minutes from Bowen on a counter with an assist from Klein (I made a mistake on the goal scorers earlier, sorry!). Then we won 3-1 at home and I have a good memory about this game for a few reasons, and one of them is because one of our favorite players scored his only goal in a Galaxy jersey : Dema Kovalenko. 2011 : like I said we won with a goal from Barrett (a rebound from a Donovan shot) in stoppage time (1-0). We won at home 1-0 from a Franklin goal, his first in MLS with the Galaxy. It came from a deflected FK by Becks, and Franklin scored a lazer (who looked like a little bit like his wonder goal against Salt Lake during the playoffs in 2013). 2012 : 1-1 at Columbus, Keane scored a tap-in after a beautiful nutmeg and a beautiful cross by Franklin. 2013 : we were terrible because we conceded late goals after late goals. I remember Columbus won a FK in the 75th minute, Cobi was saying on TV "the Galaxy have conceded X goals in the last minutes this year" and ON THIS EXACT FREE KICK, Anor opened the score and I was absolutely furious about it.. Then we won thanks to two late PK by Robbie Keane. 2014 : I didn't watch this game because I was at a party. We lost 4-1, Zardes scored a good goal on a Gargan cross.