LA Galaxy News Blog

Soccer America tries to figure out which LA and SJ players Bruce Arena was observing Saturday night. Arena is expected to name his squad for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers any day now. As many as six Galaxy players could be involved in Arena's selection. However, it's unlikely Arena will select many players from one MLS team as it's on the same weekend as the next to last weekend of the season and all 10 MLS teams are fighting for playoff position.

The Galaxy fan injured in Saturday's incident in San Jose gave her view of events Saturday night to The Hitchhikers Guide.

US Coach Bruce Arena was in attendance last night and witnessed not only a decent performance by the Galaxy midfield but a little extracurricular activity in the Galaxy Fans section.

The match ended 0-0 but LA created the majority of opportunities for a change. Tyrone Marshall at the back shut down the Earthquakes and earned PZ's MOTM award.

LA Times

The other local papers carried wire reports of the match.

The San Jose Mercury News is reporting that as of yesterday there were only 2,000 tickets available for tonight's big San Jose-LA match in 26,000 capacity Spartan Stadium. A sell-out is expected.

Llew Llewellyn talks to Steve Sampson in this weeks A Pan-Galactic View about what happened in Dallas and what to expect in San Jose this weekend.

Sampson also spoke about what the team is missing.

"That's an issue that was an enormous surprise to me," he said. "After
playing so well against San Jose, the lackluster performance was very bothersome
and is an issue we must deal with, and it's an issue that the leadership on the
team must deal with.

"The team seems to play much better when it is on edge. What I
would like to see is a killer instinct, when we have a team in a position to
keep them in the cellar, then we do and we didn't do that this last
weekend.

"That's something that the staff and I have to sort out and the
leadership on the team. It cannot be done independently of that leadership,"
Sampson continued. "It's not a major issue on the field, and I've talked to a
number of players and told them that they have to step up and take more
responsibility in carrying the team, whether that be in training or in the
locker room before the game or during the course of the game.

"We have to have leadership that insists on players performing
well, and if they don't, then find a way to encourage them to play well. I think
that going forward that leadership will step up, and told them that they have
complete freedom from me to start making demands on the players around
them."

Perhaps Cobi Jones can give another locker room speech and write "PRIDE" again on the chalk board.

Reported last week in Austria, the US Press are now quoting Andy Herzog that he'll retire at the end of the current season.

"I think I've had a good year," said Herzog, whose 25 starts in 26
games are tops on the team among field players. "Maybe the last two, three weeks
I didn't play as good as the beginning. Maybe if I stay here one year longer, I
could have a nice year, too, but I'm don't know. I'm not getting any
younger."

Former head coach Sigi Schmid is now writing a column on the mindset of coaches for MLSnet.

His first column ended with an interesting comment.

Finally, I want to address the most interesting part of making a substitution. It happens all over the world and at every level of play. It applies equally in men's and women's soccer, youth and adult. Whenever that change is about to be made and the coach is trying to get the player's attention or the fourth official holds up the board ... all players become nearsighted and go deaf. They always seem to be looking the other way and it often takes four to five players shouting at them to make them look to see that they are being subbed. It is a natural reaction, everyone likes to play.

Maybe I should have been deaf a month ago. Even coaches get subbed.

According to Soccer America, Schmid won't be taking the helm of one of the expansion teams. MLS retread coach Thomas Rongen will be in charge of Chivas USA and US Under-17 coach John Ellinger will run the show in Salt Lake City.

Carlos Ruiz and Jovan Kirovski will be available for Saturdays match in San Jose. The only question Steve Sampson has is if they'll be fit enough to play the entire 90 minutes.

AP Report

How does a team that completely dominated the reigning champions one week end up sleepwalking through a match against arguably the worst them in the league the last two seasons the following week? Steve Sampson is looking for the answer today as the Galaxy dropped three more points on the road against a Western Conference rival.

Two goals from young Dallas forward, Eddie Johnson in the first half sure erased the memory of last weeks match. Sasha Victorine played a long-ball back to Kevin Hartman in the goal. However, Johnson was racing in without a defender and Hartman had to react quickly. The ball found Johnson who had his shot blocked by Hartman only to then collect the ball and put the ball away.

The second goal came late in the half. Hartman blocked a Jason Kreis shot but found Johnson all alone at the far post ready to finish the chance. Again, no defender seemed to react until it was too late.

The heat and pace of the first half took its toll in the second half. The game slowed to an almost walking pace and neither side really looked like it would alter the scoreline. LA's midfield in the 4-5-1 formation never really found their rhythm and weren't a great danger on 50-50 balls.

A win and a tie and home with two rather lackluster losses on the road mean only 4 points have been won from four matches since the coaching change. This is hardly the start Sampson was looking for when he took over the role of Galaxy chief. It is hardly the "Entertaining Soccer" Doug Hamilton promised when he replaced Sigi Schmid.

LA Times

Daily News (AP report--all the other local papers carried the same report)

The Daily Breeze is the only local paper to really do a preview of todays match in Dallas. Both Carlos Ruiz and Jovan Kirovski are unavailable due to injuries. Expect to see Danny Califf to start in place of Tyrone Marshall.

More long-term, based on the comments below, it sounds to me as if Ruiz may not be a part of Steve Sampsons plans for how he wants the team structured.

"The players have enjoyed the system, they're understanding what we're
trying to get across," Sampson said. "For me to make a change at this time I
think would be suicidal."

Conveniently enough, Ruiz's continued absence means Sampson won't have
to decide how the goal poacher fits into a new system that demands a high work
rate from the man up front, not considered the 50 regular-season goal scorer's
strong suit.

Instead that role will again fall to Alejandro Moreno, whose six
goals are good for a tie for second on the Galaxy. He is no stranger to the
formation, having played alone up front at the University of North
Carolina-Greensboro.

"I feel comfortable moving from side to side, being the target
player," he said. "You get more significant touches on the ball."

Expect to see more on this topic as the season races down the final straight.

Llew Llewellyn has some great information in his weekly A Pan-Galactic View column.
In this weeks edition:

• Previews tomorrows game in Dallas. (Carlos Ruiz may not travel due to his injury)
• Recaps the Ruiz saga we've been following this week.
• Has some comments from fans on the recent coaching change.
• Alan Gordons A-League honors
• Kevin Hartman now the all-time winning keeper in MLS
• Marcelo Saragosa may be staying in LA beyond this season. He is currently on loan from Brazilan side, Sao Paulo and could be staying two more years according to comments from Steve Sampson.
• The answer to why we saw both Hartman and Cobi Jones wearing captains armbands last week
• Arturo Torres' leap into the stands after scoring the winner against San Jose
• And a new cover for the pitch when they book concerts at the facility

Recent loan signing from Portland Timbers, Alan Gordon, has been named the A-League Rookie of the Year. Gordon scored a league leading 17 goals with Portland this season.

Sports coverage in the LA Times will be cut by 33%. In a memo from sports editor Bill Dwyre, he said,

Eliminate daily soccer report (has been gone for awhile; this will make that
permanent. Soccer coverage will go in newswire or be a separate as warranted,
but no more rail treatment as it will not be a standard coveerage element).

In other words, don't expecct too much Galaxy coverage in the LA Times going forward.

The Daily Breeze and LA Times have picked up on the Carlos Ruiz story. Even comments from Steve Sampson.

"He said he hadn't seen his daughter for quite some time, was injured, could
not play in the game Saturday night, and took the opportunity to see her,"
Sampson said. "Obviously it was the wrong decision, but he was honest and up
front about it."

Recent loan signing, Alan Gordon, has been named a finalist for the A-League Rookie of the Year award. The winner will be announced on Thursday.

Carlos Ruiz is back in LA.

However, The Hitchhikers Guide translates some reports from Guatemala which indicate there's more to this story. Could "Fish" have just wanted to stay a little longer and party with friends?

Ruiz expect to be fit for Saturday's match in Dallas, but doesn't think he'll be able to play a full 90 minutes.

Reports from Guatemala say the real reason Carlos Ruiz was a 'no-show' Saturday night was that he had stayed in Guatemala to spend time with his daughter from an extramarital affair.

The Galaxy had expected him to be available for Saturday's match against San Jose.

Carlos Ruiz is injured and will miss tomorrow's Classico against San Jose and as expected, Alan Gordon signed his MLS contract this afternoon and will be available for tomorrow's big game according to MLSnet.

Llew Llewellyn at American Soccer News has a great piece today. He spoke with Steve Sampson and got his views on the current situation, last weeks Columbus game, the upcoming San Jose Game and more.

Llewellyn also has a quote from Andy Herzog from an Austrian paper saying this will be his final season.

Cobi Jones made Bruce Arena look like a generous when he came on as a sub late in the match at Panama and scored the equalizer in the USA's 1-1 tie against Panama in Panama City.

Carlos Ruiz scored the opening goal in Guatemala's 2-2 at Honduras.

Jamaica turned things around with a stunning 3-0 victory in El Salvador. Tyrone Marshall played the full 90 minutes.

I have not been able to find anything on Alejandro Moreno with the Venezuelan squad. If you have info, please email me and I will add it.

An AP Report says that defender Hong Myung-bo will miss Saturday's match against San Jose because of a calf injury. Hong was substituted just before half-time on Saturday in Columbus after he pulled his calf muscle challanging for the ball.

A 2-0 lost too Seattle Sounders on Sunday brought the Portland Timbers season to an end. This means that Scot Thompson and Alan Gordon will be joining the Galaxy squad this week.

However, according to the Portland Tribune today, Thompson's future in LA may not be certain after this season.

The Timber roster will look different next season. One player who will be moving on is defender Scot Thompson. He’ll play for either the Galaxy or a pro team in England.

This leads to speculation that Thompson is on a 2-year MLS contract and will be a free agent once the current MLS season finishes.

The season continued to spiral in the wrong direction for the Galaxy yesterday in Columbus. International call-ups and suspensions forced Steve Sampson to make several changes including a return of the 3-5-2 formation. The change was intended to give Andy Herzog more freedom to focus on creating opportunities rather than having to win the ball as well. It is too bad we did not get to see any of that. Herzog was one of the many non-factors in the match. The Galaxy players as a whole looked out of position all night. Most did not seem to know what they were supposed to be doing and the hardly held it has shape most of the match.

Heck, is Sampson trying to see if he can get Chris Albright some kind of record for playing every position in a match? Perhaps he will fill in for Kevin Hartman next.

The 3-1 result perhaps flatters LA a bit. Even Joseph Ngwenya's goal was not exactly a classic. He headed a cross against the post and managed to find his feet before the Columbus defenders could react and tapped in the rebound.

I do not think Doug Hamilton had the performances we have seen the last couple of matches in mind when he told the fans he wanted "Entertaining Soccer" to be played by the Galaxy.

PZ's Man of the Match: Joseph Ngwenya. The team did not give me much to choose from but Joe at least tried to 'step up' his game. Too bad the rest of the team did not follow suit.

Oh yeah, and the media hardly paid much attention...if there is a match played and the media ignores it, does it really happen?

Daily Breeze

LA Times

Press-Telegram

As it is a road game, most of the local media are not giving tonight's match in Columbus much attention. It is not as if it is Steve Sampson's first real game in charge with the team or anything. The Daily Breeze is the only local rag to bother with much of an article. Nick Green in the Breeze discusses the fact that LA will be missing four though World Cup Qualifiers, 2 through suspension, 1 though injury and have recalled Scot Thompson for tonight from his loan in Portland.

Rumors out of Portland say that on loan defender, Scot Thompson is in LA training with the Galaxy today before flying to Columbus with the team for tomorrow's match against the Crew. LA have 4 starters out due to International duty, two more suspended due to yellow card accumulation and another defender injured. Thompson would then flight straight to Seattle after the match in Columbus to be available for Portland's second leg playoff match against Seattle Sounders.

Steve Sampson was interviewed on MLSnet recently. He talks about what he's obsevered with the team his first couple of weeks with the Galaxy. Here's a bit on what to expect in Columbus tomorrow.

When you talk about six starters [being absent], it really provides a great opportunity for six others to step onto the field and show what they can do and try to impress enough to earn themselves a starting position for the following match. Guys like Memo Gonzalez, guys like Joseph Ngwenya, guys like Danny Califf, who hasn't played for a while: these are all individuals who have wonderful talent, but have just been wanting to crack that starting lineup and get significant minutes to show what they can do. This game against Columbus will afford them that opportunity.

According to an AP report, LA will be without Chris Aloisi in addition to the six players mentioned yesterday as not being available for Steve Sampson to use in his second match in charge. However, it is expected that Danny Califf will be available for action in Columbus on Saturday.

In his second match in charge of the Galaxy this Saturday. Steve Sampson has to deal with MLS scheduling matches during FIFA International weekends. This weekend leagues all over the world will postpone their domestic competitions while the top players are with their respective international squads for World Cup Qualifiers. Cobi Jones, Tyrone Marshall, Alejandro Moreno and Carlos Ruiz will all miss the Galaxy's trip to Columbus as they have been called up by their National Teams. In addition, Paul Broome and Marcelo Saragosa are suspended due to yellow card points.

In addition, defender Ricky Lewis was traded to Colorado in exchange for a 6th round pick in next seasons SuperDraft. Doug Hamilton indicated that Lewis' spot would be filled by an A-League player once their playoffs are finished. As mentioned previously, Steve Sampson attended the Portland-Minnesota A-League match on Friday. The thinking is that Portland Striker, Alan Gordon who had been drafted by Sigi Schmid in this years MLS SuperDraft may be the player coming in. He is one of the A-Leagues leading scorers and is widely tipped to be the A-League rookie of the year.

Daily Breeze article on Lewis/Gordon deal.

American Soccer News has a great interview with Sigi Schmid on their site.