It was nice to see Becks back in the lineup but he was not his usual self. I thought his distribution was good but his touch was a little off. He waisted two corners but he got stuck in on a few tackles which is always good to see. Granted he has been out for 6 weeks but when you get put on the pitch your performance should be expected to be up to standard...atleast thats the way it is over seas.
celect, I think that you are being a little harsh there mate. It's generally accepted that after an injury, it takes a little while to get some match "sharpness" and no amount of training will get you match fit. Yallop was right to start him on the bench and no doubt they will be working hard to ensure he is fully fit. In England, if a player is struggling to get match-fit then the club will arrange a friendly (behind closed doors) so that the player can get their intensity levels back up. It;s seems that this would be a good idea as Galaxy will need Becks firing on all cylinders for the next game. It's just good to see him free from injury and playing again.
He wasted two corners kicks...are you serious? Mr. wonderkin-face-of-US-soccer Landycakes wastes most of his free kicks. And you are going to get on Becks for two bad ones? ...after being out weeks and weeks with injury? LOL.
He ignites fire and drive in teammates around him. He knows the game and how to handle refs. He corners are still superior than Donovans by far. When was the last time we scored off of a Donovan corner? At all this year? Becks is still getting back into the game, no doubt. We didnt see his beautiful crosses and vision we normally see...although I some some nice attempts, our other guys didnt envision what he did.
Subpar? Given his condition and how long he has been out, I would say that he performed well above par, or what should be expected of him. He totally changed the game. Once he came on, LA was in continual attack mode. Two of his corners were weak but a couple were deadly. What do you want, a hat trick of bicycle kicks? Save that for the next match.
If we win in Chicago, we will make the playoffs i am telling you, the other results wont both go against us. I was impressed with New York they could knock the revs off in the playoffs, they have some dangerous forwards.
One month ago, Sept. 16, against Houston. Galaxy also scored off of Donovan corner kicks July 31 in the Superliga goalfest against Dallas and May 12 against New England. I also remember the US scoring off of a Donovan corner in February against Mexico. In comparison, we've only scored off of one Beckham corner kick this year, August 18, against New York. Granted, he hasn't played that much this season, but then again, let's consider the targets that Donovan and Beckham have to work with.
Why is everyone so defensive? Becks can handle a little criticism. I can guarantee you he is not satisfied with his performance last night. Don't try and sugar coat it that the game changed when he came in - because it didn't really. We were in attack mode during the entire 2nd half, with or without Becks. His passes overall weren't weighted properly; he had 1 good corner and the rest not so good. He was a little slow as well, though he got stuck in a few times, which was good. He had the right ideas, but was just unsuccessful in their execution. None of that is his fault. Without reserve games to get match fit and with little time with the team throughout his entire time here, much less since the knee injury - this was to be expected. I expect a better performance from him vs. Chicago.
Heres your on. Look watched the game last night from my SEAT at the stadium. not my couch. Which most of you TV viewers dont understand is that you only see what the camera allows you to see. And so at the game you get to watch all the field players movements off the ball and see that they continually look for becks to pass to. This constant re-affirmation to becks disrupts the Galaxy offensive flow. You see they want to get him the ball at every moment, probably hoping he can do something special with it that they can't... but moreover what it does is cause panic and poor distribution of the ball, unnecessary waiting to see it becks is free to pass to, resulting in turnover or defensive safe pass as the defender charges in with the offensive players moment of hesitation. That is what becks brings.... beyond the 3 or 4 corners becks took last night, his 25 plus minutes resulted in only 1 shot... and none on goal. The team is completely disrupted by him...... donovan essentially took himself out when becks came in... giving up the middle of the park he cherishes to go out wide where sees none of the ball and never plays that position. It sounds weird but I have watched all of there games...... the rest of Galaxy just dont look comfortable when becks is in the game. I will let you guys speculate as to why that is.
Well, Chicago does the same thing with Blanco but it seems to work for them. Why can't it work for us? (Legit question, I'm not being facetious or anything.)
Re: Heres your on. I had never followed Beckham in the past, so I didn't really know how good of a player he was... now I think he is an incredible player. I think he does things so much quicker than anyone else, sees and reads the field much better than anyone else... and so he does things no one expects him to do or he does them ahead of a developing play. Last night I caught at least a couple of those plays and it took me by surprise, maybe the samet thing happens with his teammates. One example, while Donovan was still arguing with the Ref. David took a quick free kick that "landed" on Buddle's chest and .. then.. well nothing from Edson. They haven't played together long enough to understand what he can do, IMHO.
Blanco is just a different kind of player - he's a player who will seek out space, get the ball at his feet, and start creating things. He can find space and create space. He can create things for himself. Beckham is much more stationary. He needs to sort of run to a spot, get the ball, and then send his attempted Hollywood ball up field. He isn't going to dribble around people, make flashy runs, etc. He can't put his stamp on a game the way a dynamic player like Blanco can. This hurts to write because I hate Blanco. But Blanco is pretty damn good.
I was at the game last night as well. It's interesting to hear everyone's comments. From my vantage point, I felt that the G's were much more dangerous with Beckham on the field. We went from larteral moving midfeild to an attacking midfield. His vision is incredible. The final pass was off, but the intent was right on. He's in a difficult place, Still hasn't gelled with the team. But after he came in, we were camped in the attacking third of the field for some time, which is why we had so many corners. We need Beckham and Xavier on the field, IMO. Troy Roberts has really picked up his game. I'd like to see X/Roberts pairing. Do you start Beck? I don't know. He is definetly not match fit yet, but we can't wait.
Beckham played like a guy who has missed several weeks, and yet can still see the field better than his teammates. More importantly, once again, good luck finding a quote from him about his return. The Galaxy again let him get away with not speaking to us in the media. JUST UNACCEPTABLE!!!!!!
If both Colorado and Kansas City win we are out even if we win against Chicago. If Kansas City wins Colorado will have to lose or tie for us to move up. Colorado has 35 points and Kansas City has 37 points. LA has 34 points.
Re: Heres your on. I agree, over the course of Beckman's stay with the Galaxy I have noticed that. They "bend" over backwards to get the ball to him. I can't blame them for deciding at any particular moment to pass it to him b/c he's quality, but the cumulative effect of everything going through him is to change their game in a way that I don't always thinks works. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing when he's 100%.
Re: Heres your on. I thought Beckham look pretty good in person. It seemed that he would make a pass that his teammates weren't expecting. One time he put one to Donovan who had held his run. Same thing happened to Glinton. Honestly our left side was poor all night. Martino/Glinton both had bad nights
Yeah, because every overseas player that comes back from an extended injury plays perfectly the first time out... On your bike, mate.
Beckham's rustiness was to be expected. Hopefully the 20 minutes he got Thursday will sharpen his game for Sunday. I'd start him if he's fit, hopefully get 60 minutes and the lead. Bring in some fresh legs to hold down the fort. X should be on the field as well, IMO. Go G's. Just received a tape recorded message from the FO about potential playoff tickets. I can only hope we play Chivas if the stars align this weekend.
You are on point with your comments....Jazic is not the rock that Xavier is in the middle. In this we game we should have been in attack mode much earlier. New York was not the team that had to have the win. Like I said in another post, playing catch-up will catch up with you. You need your best players on the field. New York and Chicago are stronger opponents than other teams during this stretch run. Beckham should start the next game.
There was one glaring instance where Klein got the ball, and instead of his normal hustle and drive upfield, he paused, then decided to pass to Beckham. So, I totally agree that players are trying to give him the ball instead of just playing the game.