Game 1 - v. Crew @ Columbus Time to start this. Game 1 of the season and Game One of The Road Trip From Hell. Keep up your spirit boys - the trip leads to Victoria Street! Do not be deceived. Crew is very good and improved from last season. Addition of Hejduk and maturity of Buddle, Martino, etc., make them the odds on favorite to come through the East to MLS Cup 2003 - so this could be a preview game! And LAG traditionally plays poorly against Crew - Crew has (I think) the best record of any team in MLS against LAG, and has a home field crowd that is underrated for support. Is CBC still the official gathering place?
Re: Re: Game 1 - v. Crew @ Columbus i don't think so. maybe my presence in the crowd this saturday will change that the crew do look pretty damn good this year. almost made to the final last year and should only be improved. best team in the east
It's going to be a tough match which could go either way. I see a late-goal winner in this game from either team.
tale of the tape Columbus ---------- Los Angeles _________ Goalkeeping____X_____ _________ Defense_______X_____ ___=_____ MidField_______=_____ ___=_____ Strikers_______=_____ ___X_____ Bench_______________ _________ Coaching ______X_____ Give Columbus home crowd advantage, and this one could be real tight, but if the lads can keep their defensive composure we should come away with 3 points.
There's no doubt the Crew have perhaps the deepest corps of attackers in the league, but they've got no one like Ruiz!
Here's my line-up for Saturday's Opening game, in a 3-5-2 formation: GK-Hartman SW-Lalas RB-Califf LB-Marshall CM-Hong Bo CM-Vagenas RM-Ezra LM-Victorine AM-Pineda Chacon F-Cobi F-Ruiz Considering our history v the Crew & the fact that they'll be at home & "super-pumped" for us, I'll be happy with a draw. Just not sure if we'll get the three points. Galaxy 1 Crew 1. Goals by Ruiz & McBride. I'm looking VERY forward to this game & expect it to be an exciting affair!!! GO, GALAXY!!!!!!!
Is there any internet radio either on the Galaxy side or the Crew side, for those of us in other parts of the world?
You suggest starting Pete ahead of Simon? Given that Pete got no minutes in the Motagua game and Simon played 90, I think maybe Sigi does not share that priority. Don't know what is going on at practice, but its pretty tough to bench Elliot off his form. With Hong at CM, LA's midfield may not have enough minutes to go around, barring injuries. It will be interesting seeing what Sigi does to keep everyone prepared.
OOOOOPS!!! What was I thinking??!! Thanks for pointing out my OBVIOUS omission, Cadaver. Of course, I'd start Kiwi ahead of Vagenas in CM. Just one of those things where I wasn't using my head (happens quite a bit, unfortunately).
Yeah, it is interesting as to what has happened to Pete V, he seems to have dropped off the map. Regarding Saturday, I suspect Sigi will play his shifting 4-4-2 / 3-5-2 in which EZ works either the right mid or right back position depending on the need. I also would not be surprised to see Cien start over Pineda Chacon, given what we saw in preseason.
I think we will figure this out pretty quickly. I listened to the archived interview with Sigi on the soccer fanatics radio site, and he pointed out that with league and Champions Cup games, the team will play 5 games in 14 days starting Saturday. Four of those will be on the road, including one in Mexico. With that many games and with the age of some key palyers (Lalas, Hong, even Cobi) I think we can expect to see a number of different lineups in the near term. So, we will see if Pete surfaces as a part of the team, or not, pretty soon. I have not heard anything about him being injured. BTW: Sigi seemed pretty happy with APC's play, but admitted that there was a conditioning issue. Lets not write APC off so quickly.
I don't think McBride is going to score in this game....I think he likes to score more in the EPL than he does in MLS.
Albright On a different thread, there was talk of Albright getting the start this weekend. I was suprised by this - I have not seen a Galaxy pre-season game but from what I know of Albrights play - he has been a "flop." Can someone confirm that he has finally stepped up his game?
Except for the flukey goal* against Tony Meola last year, Chris did not show any scoring results for all his hard work. Sigi likes his effort and he does open up space for Ruiz, so he will get minutes. Whether he starts is an open question. In preseason, he did set up Ruiz for at least one goal that I know of, maybe more. And he constantly pressures the defense. So, it is not easy to measure his contribution. They guy just does not seem to have a finishing touch to go along with his other skills. *"flukey" in that is went in without beating Tony on the near post.
C'mon now. That goal was a thing of beauty. Have you fogotten the goals (yes, plural) he scored against Minn in the Cup?
To which I dedicated a song to him. To the tune of Cheap Trick's Surrender: Chris Albright Scored that night It just seem a little weird Meola! Meola! Don't turn your head away! Hey! Heeeey-eeeey!
I stand corrected. Yeah - I was thinking in terms of MLS league game goals. On the other hand, LA will play in the Open Cup again this year, so maybe there is a role for Chris. He tries so hard, its hard not to like him. He fails so often its hard not to go nuts.