Los Angeles will now travel to Kansas City to square off with the Wizards for the Western Conference Final, set for Fri. Nov. 7 at Arrowhead Stadium (5:30 p.m. (Pacific), Fox Sports World/Espanol; HDNet. The Galaxy will have to dig deep to win this one. They traditionally have not done well in Arrowhead, winning something like 3 games in 30-odd tries. Going in our favor is that the G's have played well against KC this year, but have had trouble finishing their chances, while KC earns fewer chances, but is better at finishing them off. We punished the cRapids for their play-to-tie tactics, and there's no reason that we can't do the same against KC, but man-oh-man, if we ever needed Ruiz to step it up a notch, it would be right now. GO GALAXY!!!! Topper
Re: .:Galaxy vs. KC Pre-game thread:. I can't wait to watch this game. It's going to be a tough one though. I hope the G's can pull this one off. We need a big game from Ruiz, Kiro, Marshall, and Cobi.
Re: .:Galaxy vs. KC Pre-game thread:. I can only hope that LA can break the chastity belt that KC calls defense. It's time for someone like Cobi to get a goal finally, one lucky goal might be what gets us home to play against our old rival, probably DC United. If LA loses, I'd say we are victims to the crappy playoff system. The first round should have been one game in LA versus the Crapids, the conference finals should be the home-home series. It makes no sense to do it this way, it's more games, and doesn't allow the best soccer possible to be presented.
Hey now If Sampson can pull this out... in my opinion highly unlikely ..... he can keep his job. You can out bunker, "bunker bob" and I hope Carlos can stay on his feet and kiro can get a few set play ops to hopefully put something in the net. The Rev's deserve the chance to pay us back for 2002... where Reis and Hartman can battle on our home turf. November 2, vote !!!!
Re: .:Galaxy vs. KC Pre-game thread:. LA GALAXY 2 KC 1 WESTERN FINAL Prediction GOALS: KIROVSKI , RUIZ PLAYER OF THE GAME : El GATO KEVIN HARTMAN (incredible save on CHUNGS shot Saturday night) GO GALAXY! Bring on DC or NEW ENGLAND & HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE in MLS CUP!
Re: Hey now Sampson sucks! He ran the U.S. Mens national team into the ground, it is only a matter of time before he does it with LA. How in the world did you get ride of Zigi, he is one of the best American coaches ever. And what's with calling K.C. a bunker? Did you not see what we did to Dovan and Co. 3 goals and it could/should of been more. And not to mention the real best league record. K.C. has more wins than Columbus. But, nobody knows that because K.C get NO love from anyone!! Not even in K.C. Fear not, K.C will win MLS Cup and all the Wizards Faithful will storm the streets of K.C!!
Re: .:Galaxy vs. KC Pre-game thread:. Not that anyone gives a fig, but I'd like to go on record saying that even if the team somehow manages to win the whole damn thing this year, Sampson will still be Generalisimo Non Grata in my book. If by mid-season next year the team actually starts to play some decent football, I may change my mind. But Esteban has yet to show any motivational or tactical chops. Two goals off corners do not cut it. Carlos' goal was quite nice. Marshall's was a boneheaded play by a Galaxy reject. The only thing Sampson gets credit for to this point is somehow lighting a fire under Kirovski's ass. But maybe Sampson's presence has caused a tear in Jovan's time/space continuum and he thinks he still has a shot at a world cup roster spot. Hey, whatever gets the job done. KC looked pretty decent this weekend. But at least the good guys will be able to concentrate in peace and quiet during the match.
Re: Hey now Then they will have to institute Marshall law to contain all the 12 to 33 "Wizard Faithful" who will Storm! the streets of KC oh no! They are selling Premium Playoff tickets to see the Wiz for 5$ now in order to attempt to attract more of the "Wizard Faithful" to the game.
Re: Hey now This guy hasn't been close attention to Sigi's coaching the last few years.... But Sampson does suck. Can we beat KC? I just don't know. Lets just say it was a lot more likely that we would beat Colorado 2-0 at home then getting any kind of win in Arrowhead.
Re: Hey now Well, winning a championship will lessen all suckage comments towards Sampson. I haven't been impressed with game-time coaching decisions, but I did see the best soccer of MLS 04 from the first-half Galaxy on Saturday. How much of that is Sampson, I don't know. We have the most talent of any team. How many of our starters have Nats caps? But this management/coaching crap is hard to drag around. Speaking of which...is Bo back in Korea? And now we have our big off-season acquisition sitting on the bench because he doesn't fit the new lineup. That said, it IS up to the players. Go kick some Wiz-ass.
Re: Hey now I want vengeance for the 2000 postseason. KC knocked us out from the semifinals; I'd like to pay them back. We've struggled with them this season with a 0-2-2 record. Can we break the curse? I'm very anxious to watch this match. It'd be sweet to have LA play in the final at the HDC.
Re: .:Galaxy vs. KC Pre-game thread:. Just for the sake of a little dignity for the game, I hope they manage to draw 5,000 to 10,000 - which won't constitute a home field advantage in that cave anyway. LA 1 KC 0
Re: .:Galaxy vs. KC Pre-game thread:. As much as I'd like to see some other guys get on the field for us (ie Grabavoy for Victorine) I think it's too late to start tinkering with the lineup. The guys developed some momentum (not much, but some) and cohesion with this last game, and I don't think you can mess with that. Let's just hope that Sampson makes better use of his substitions than he has in the past. This game may come down to whether or not our subs can provide an offensive spark (if we're behind), or shore up a sagging D (if we have the lead). Can we win this game? Most definitely. Will we? The players will decide that. We definitely owe KC one- this would be the perfect time to collect on it. Let's see if we can start putting away some of these chances we are creating. You can never rest easy...
Re: .:Galaxy vs. KC Pre-game thread:. i don't have a very rosy outlook for friday, and see us being on the wrong end of a 2-0 score line. saturday, apart from the result, i didn't see much difference in the galaxy from the latter half of the season. steve in his infinite wisdom will push for an early goal, and like so many post-all star performances, we will look great right up until the last couple of touches when we don't even manage a shot on frame. then late in the first half KC will counter and score from long range as one of our defenders fails to mark up (or from a free kick after a silly foul). then we'll come out pretty flat in the second but absorb a lot of pressure, eventually leading to some decent, but ultimately useless attacks, and somewhere in the 80+ we'll get caught on the counter again. not trying to be a downer, just basing this on the team i've watched since the all-star break, their performance against KC, their performance on the road and the fact that other than the result on saturday, ain't much has changed. that's the cynical/objective part of me. the soccer fan says: it's 90 minutes of soccer in a do or die game, so the past doesn't count for ****. we've got the better team by far and until the man in the middle blows the whistle i know we can win. GO GALAXY!
Re: .:Galaxy vs. KC Pre-game thread:. FROM THE GALAXY E-MAIL: LOS ANGELES GALAXY AND KANSAS CITY WIZARDS COLLIDE WITH AN MLS CUP BERTH ON THE LINE: The Los Angeles Galaxy look to clinch a berth in their League-record fifth MLS Cup when they clash with the Kansas City Wizards in the Western Conference Championship at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City this Friday, November 5 at 5:30 pm (PT). The Galaxy and the Wizards have collided eight times in the MLS Cup playoffs prior to the 2004 campaign. The Galaxy own a 5-2-1 record in those matches. The most recent playoff battle between the teams resulted in a 5-2 win by the home team on October 2, 2002 at the Rose Bowl and clinched a series between the two sides, earning Los Angeles a berth in the Conference final against the Colorado Rapids. Additionally, the Galaxy are 9-4-2 all-time in semifinal-round MLS Cup Playoff matches. The winner of this Friday's match will play in the League's crown jewel - MLS Cup 2004 - on Sunday, November 14 at The Home Depot Center. This week's game will be broadcast LIVE on both television and radio. FOX Sports World will be televising the match to a nationwide audience, while Galaxy radio partners KMPC - 1540 AM (English) or KMXE - 830 AM (Spanish) will bring the match to fans throughout the Southland. ****************************** BTW, I'm considering a couple of new avatars: or Does anyone know how to make these into the 100x100 pics that BS will accept? Topper
Re: Hey now That guy must be drunk and seeing triple....36 to 99 "Wizard Faithful" on the street (and only one street) of KC. We can not lose to a team with Bo Yoshinoya in net if we take the game to them for 90 minutes but I'm afraid we'll take it to them for 15 minutes at most.
Re: .:Galaxy vs. KC Pre-game thread:. Previous Galaxy v KC matches, specifically the game at HDC that the Galaxy would have won had Victorine not snatched a draw from the jaws of victory, lead me to believe that we can certainly win this game: 1. We will have Marshall. I believe that only played in 1 of the 4 matches this season, that being the above mentioned game. Marshall's speed along with Saragosa and Vagenas continuing their solid play in the midfield should greatly diminish KC's counter attack. 2. Speed on the wings. Cobi and Albright on the right should once again give KC fits. For me the key here is for either Cobi or Albright getting to the end line bringing the ball back. Konrad is hard to beat in the air, but I believe he is vulnerable to crosses on the ground. 3. More importantly, KC might be the weakest from the left where Zotinca showed he could not even keep up with extremely slow footed Victorine. I know it will not happen, but I would love to see Grabavoy or even Gardner on the left. Either of them are quicker than Victorine and can easily provide better crosses. Add Broome's speed making runs from the back, KC is certainly vulnerable. 4. I think the Galaxy as a team have the advantage on set pieces. Konrad is strong in the air, but the Galaxy should have Califf, Marshall, Albright and of course Ruiz. The Galaxy should be able to exploit match ups. 5. The Galaxy will create more chances. Of course, the understatement of the season. They have to finish them. My lineup would be: Albright - Califf - Marshall - Broome Vagenas - Saragosa Jones - Kirovsky - Herzog (Anybody, but Victorine.... PLEASE). Ruiz That is my story and I am sticking to it.
Re: .:Galaxy vs. KC Pre-game thread:. If you PM me your email, I've got them resized. I'll send them over to you. I just don't have the web space to post them back up. Always willing to help smack Lurking around .
Re: .:Galaxy vs. KC Pre-game thread:. Going to be a tough one, but I think The Galaxy will have it in them to win this one. I would love to be watching them in the final. Galaxy 2 - 1 Wiz is my prediction.
Re: .:Galaxy vs. KC Pre-game thread:. marshall scored the equalizer at the first away match in kansas citeh.
Re: .:Galaxy vs. KC Pre-game thread:. and the second. both near post headers off corners if I remember correctly. He'll probably get 1 this week off the same play, but it won't matter. Suarez will have 2 own goals. 2-1 KC.
Re: .:Galaxy vs. KC Pre-game thread:. Thank you very much for the offer, but someone already helped me out. THANKS FOR THE AWESOME AVATAR HELP!!! ~Topper
Re: .:Galaxy vs. KC Pre-game thread:. It's gonna be tough again...being on the road and all. But this team has shown that they step it up when they need to. If SJ hadn't been the incompetent bastards that they are, the task would have been much easier...but I haven't lost hope...the above points were all very good and I'd like to add a few more. 1) We have to get bodies in the box. Last week, both of our goals came from people who went in to crash the net. Oshoniyi is much like Cannon in the sense that he can stop the hard shots from outside and has great reaction time (like against Donovan last week, and Ching the week before), but he has trouble on rebounds and deflections. We must get numbers up and make his life a living hell. 2) Everybody has to stay with their marks. KC kills teams when they let a man go through midfield un-touched (see: Jewsbury last week and their victory against us at the HDC earlier in the year...Klien, I think, scored...). Cobi needs to stay on the right, stop wandering and make sure that everyone is accounted for. At least Marcelo and Pete seem to have it figured out... 3) As voiced before...keep doing well on the set pieces and crosses from the wings. Marshall showed, with the help of Andi, that we can hurt them when we swing those balls in. If we finish like we did against Colorado in the first half, we'll be fine. 4) The key to this game: Score early! Fish has to be on his game and put one in early. Then, we push for an equilizer, but always stay organized. No packing it in like last week and hoping for the best!
Re: .:Galaxy vs. KC Pre-game thread:. Good analysis Ziggy. I agree that if we bunker we play their game, and so we will lose. Keep up with the trolling too, as that can be funner than well-reasoned posting. Snazzy knows our strategy! However, I believe it is Sasha to score the own goal again. Not Suarez ; He's just coming for your teenage daughters (attributing that to Tequila). Topper's cat is looking a little too happy. Is there someting going on there we should know about?
Re: Hey now Oh brother! You're right about one thing, KC gets no love, even from it's own. If KC wins the cup, and it won't be this year, the Wizard faithful will be parading the streets of KC....... ....all 4 of them! None over the age of 12 and all disinterested in the actual game but only there because tickets were $5 bucks and it's free cotton candy night!