If you are an LA Galaxy fan, I feel your pain right now. I feel the frustration. I feel the broken cell phones and the damaged flat screen TVs. I feel that dark cloud that has fallen on top of you. I imagine that your questions are much like mine:

“How could a team with David Beckham, Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane not be ridiculously successful?”

Having covered the Galaxy religiously for the last three years, I can honestly answer, “I  no idea.”

But I can tell you what frustrated me with tonight’s game.

1. Beckham – He is driving me crazy. I know he has a great long ball. But guess what? So does everyone else in the league. STOP PLAYING THE LONG BALL BECKS! It’s really not that difficult. Beckham recedes to the back line and then tries to distribute  from there. The problem is the further he gets toward the back line, which was most of the first half, the more difficult it is to link up with the strikers and the midfielders. His success in the second half came from – wait for it – playing in the actual midfield. His positioning, so much further up the field, allowed his passes to be on the ground. He played Donovan to his feet. He played Keane to his feet. The long ball works, but only when other teams don’t expect it. And his free kick for a goal was nice, but honestly you can’t count on those.
2. All Galaxy Players, you don’t have to pass it to Beckham, or Keane for that matter. Too often the younger players defer to the “Stars.” I am all for playing the ball through these guys, but don’t just pass it to them because they say so. Pass to them because they are open, in a position to make a play and genuinely in the flow of the game.
3. Bruce starts Keat at Defensive mid. Why? Why in god’s name do you start Keat there? We have 3 center backs. One of them sucks (Boyens), one of them is large and kinda sucks (Lopes), and one of them is young and doesn’t suck as bad (Meyer). But all of those guys are a better choice than Dan Keat. Keat of course is the reason the Galaxy played most of the game down 1-0. Give someone some constancy. In fact, I am going to help Bruce out. Start Meyer. He has the most upside and he is more intimidating than the diminutive ginger.
4. With Michael Stephens, you never know what you’re going to get. We wasted a sub on Stephens. He was horrible. Mike Magee needs to be in this game from the time the whistle sounds.
5. Sarvas is the attacking Midfielder we need sometimes. And that may mean Juninho and/or Becks is going to have to come off the field. I don’t care. He is an offensive threat and he would have scored if not for Donovan Ricketts and his excellent save.
6. Landon Donovan plays up top. It’s about time.
7. Robbie Keane can’t hit a one timer. Just shoot the ball Robbie. I promise, good things will happen. Just throw it out there. No more cut backs. No more step overs. Just wind up that right foot and hit it.
8. Edson Buddle, I know you were injured, so you get a pass. But don’t think I didn’t notice your complete lack of cohesion with the offense in almost every game you have played this year. You are making Chad Barrett look like a savior. Dave Denholm finds that very funny, trust me.
9. Galaxy Defense – I am ready to give up. Find something that kind of works and stick with it. Also, we need a shutout. People at the Home Depot Center have forgotten what “Camping Chicken” taste like. Get us Chicken. We need it. It makes us feel better.
10. Galaxy Midfield – Don’t let David get the ball behind the defense. Play the ball on the ground. It works.
11. Galaxy Strikers – Find a target and let it rip. I don’t care if it’s in traffic. I don’t care if we get a shot on goal, but bottom line is the more you shoot, the better chance we have of scoring.
12. Bruce Arena – Figure out a way to actually “coach” this team. I am more and more convinced that there is no “plan” in the 1st half of games. I don’t care how good our possession was in the first half. I don’t care how well composed we were. All I care about is going into a half tied 0-0 or winning 1-0. I would love to see what this team could do when they have a lead to defend.

Maybe I am completely off base in my assertion that a draw isn’t okay. The bottom line is that we are sitting well outside a playoff spot. And unless we start getting 3 points on a regular basis, the hole we are digging will be too deep to  crawl out of come October.

Losing in the playoffs is one thing. Not making the playoffs after winning a championship is a completely different thing. And make no mistake about it, Bruce Arena needs to start putting his stamp on this team. Get it done, Bruce. We know you are a genius, now make this team understand that you are a genius. They obviously have forgotten in the offseason.

Next week is the “Away” game versus Chivas USA. We have a chance to come out with fire in our bellies. We have a chance to break the will of a team that is ready to turn on their coach. Make it happen. Losing to Chivas is never acceptable.

The path towards redemption starts next weekend. I really don’t know how much longer the fans can be expected to wait for this team. Relatively little has changed since last year. But somehow everything has changed. Right the ship. Get the fans behind you. Win a championship no one expects now.

“It’s little and broken. But still good. Yeah, still good.” — Stitch

Yeah, we suck. We aren’t scoring. We aren’t winning. Definitely no tiger blood at the HDC right now. But it’s not yet time to panic.

I just happened to run into Kyle Martino (@kylemartino) at the car wash last weekend. Great guy. Enjoyed talking to him. He said one thing that I thought was key: we just have to make the playoffs.

Teams that win the MLS Cup aren’t necessarily the ones who are best at the start of the season. They are almost always the teams hitting their stride at the end of the season. So no need to panic yet. MLS Cup is still within our grasp. But make no mistake, there will need to be a substantial turnaround if we are going to get there.

First, I think we need a quick look at what caused the problems. I think it comes down to two factors. The first, and I think lesser, is the Omar deficit. One defender can’t be the deciding factor that unhinged a team of our caliber. But his absence has left our defense in shambles. Moreover, his presence on the line made the players around him better. We have yet to find a substitute.

The second factor is mental. It is hard for any team in any league to win repeat titles. The players have been there, done that. It is incredibly challenging to recreate that magical brew of factors that propelled them to the previous title. This season our solution to that problem was the Champions League. The goal of expanding our accomplishments against the best in the region gave us something to rally for. I think Arena made a terrible mistake playing all his starters on the home opener against RSL. I said at the time I would have played a complete B team and taken the loss to have the starters rested for the critical home match against Toronto. Instead they were visibly worn out (especially Buddle) and we lost not just the game but our raison d’être. We have yet to regain our purpose.

So what can be done? That’s something really only Arena can answer. But we can offer thoughts.

First, shake things up. I agree with J-ro’s comment on the COG podcast that I’d rather see McBean getting time at this point than Barrett or Cristman. I also agree it may be time to take AJ out of the middle, especially with Leo reportedly coming back.

I’d start looking at transfers too. Although options may be limited there. I would love to see us get Del Piero from Juventus. He has said he is leaving Serie A. He loves LA and would play here. The dream would be getting him for non DP money and dropping Buddle and others for him. But I’d even consider giving up Keane to get him. Not that Keane is bad. He’s just not as consistent as Del Piero.

There is speculation that Bocanegra could leave Rangers for MLS. I don’t think we could get him without giving up a DP and I wouldn’t give up Keane for a defender. Maybe if Everton stumbles on a brick load of cash we could send Donovan over to make room, but I doubt it.

But the main change really has to be mental. Arena must find a way to re-instill the passion that got us through last year. Losing players to the European Cup and Olympics is not going to make that easier. But it may force Arena to try new players or new systems, any one of which could be the unexpected key to jump starting this season.

For now though, I’m just reassuring myself that this season is how I prove that I’m not a fair weather fan. Let’s see where this journey takes us. And don’t forget your Galaxy towels.

NEW EPISODE: The boys discuss Colorado and what steps forward the team has made. They talk about Keane, Buddle, Donovan and Beckham as well as a little Josh Saunders and Mike Magee.

Oh yeah, and Josh decides to give away a brand new, Medium Bumpy Pitch Pub Shirt, for an answer to our “Creek” trivia question.

Share with your friends and let’s help build the show together!

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On this Episode of Corner of the Galaxy, Josh and Jared discuss the 1-0 loss to Sporting Kansas City last weekend. They talk positives and negatives and attempt to figure out whether there was an improvement in the play or not. Then they take your emails before diving into upcoming game with Portland on Saturday at the Home Depot Center.

Don’t miss this very entertaining episode of Corner of the Galaxy and be sure to forward it onto your friends and family!

Click Here for the latest episode: Corner of the Galaxy – Episode 70

Before I actually break into the numbers and stats, let me just point out some observations from the game on Saturday.

Edson Buddle: It’s time for a shake up to the starting XI. Buddle looked lost, confused and unable to either hold up the play or provide for his strike partner. He is showing a genuine lack of interest, and his lack of hustle has caused Robbie Keane to receive the ball so deeply that he can’t run onto balls played by the midfield.

Chad Barrett: When Chad Barrett finally came into the game, there was a definite change. Barrett, either knows how to play with Robbie Keane, or just puts in the hustle that is needed to feed the attack. There was enthusiasm and some creativity in the attack with Barrett and that showed when he was set free behind the defense. Ultimately he didn’t finish, and that is the one negative you can put in his column. But if I am making the starting lineup against a Portland team who just lost to Chivas USA at home, I am selecting Barrett over Buddle.

Defense: The improvement in defense during this game was probably the biggest plus for the Galaxy. For the most part they were organized and seemed relatively in control of the situation. The only serious gaffe came in the closing minutes of the 1^st half (the worst time to have a defensive lapse). And the blame for that mess up can be laid squarely on someone who should have known better. But ultimately they kept a very explosive Sporting Kansas City team to one goal.

Sean Franklin: Sean Franklin is having a nightmare of a start to this season. And it’s something I have trouble explaining. It was Franklin who lost his mark in the only KC Goal. In fact, Franklin was running in the opposite direction of his mark and it allowed Kei Kamara an open header on goal. Ultimately, Sean has go to do better, but I expect he knows that. I also expect that he will correct his early season mistakes.

Midfield: With the absence of David Beckham, I was hoping for a more ground based attack. Michael Stephens continues to step into the defensive midfielder role and is doing a great job of it. The midfield as a whole, with Landon Donovan back in the lineup, did well at recovering on defense and helping out the back four. But they couldn’t link with the strikers. They couldn’t find free flowing passes. The only real, flowing attacks came from an overlapping run by Mike Magee in the first half that should have ended in a Galaxy goal. Magee had his chip of the keeper go just wide of the far post. His miss was compounded by the fact the Galaxy would concede a goal a short time later.

But I need the midfield energy to be more up tempo. Many of the passes they did make were back to the defense to reset the play. I need the midfield and the Strikers to start linking play together, switching the point of the attack, and creating space for shots to be taken.

There were zero shots on goal for the Galaxy. Zero! Sporting did an excellent job to close down the shot taker. Something the Galaxy should be taking notes on. But the Galaxy need to create space for these shots. And they aren’t doing it by playing the ball back to the defense.

David Beckham: Beckham didn’t play in this game due to injury. For you conspiracy theorists out there, you would probably believe that Arena and Beckham are having some sort of argument and this was the ultimate result. However, it’s more likely that small injuries have been mounting for the aging midfielder. Due to previous ailments we know Beckham’s back is a tad problematic. So it is a very real possibility that he was injured enough this week that Bruce thought it best to hold him out of this last game. And yes, it is possible for Beckham to be removed from the game against New England as part of a “coaching decision,” and still have enough of an injury problem to keep him out against Sporting Kansas City. Let’s just keep an eye on the main players in this (Arena, Beckham, Donovan, Keane). They will tell us if there is more to this story.

Despite what the stats say, the Los Angeles Galaxy were in this game. They played a counter attacking style and could have finished two real opportunities. But ultimately goals change things. If the Galaxy score early, SKC had the firepower to be able to score 3 or 4 goals. Or if the Galaxy go into half time at 0-0 maybe they find a way to steal a point or three on the road.

Let’s just see this as a stepping stone and realize the Galaxy ran up against a red hot team.

Portland on Saturday will show how far this team has progressed from the first CCL games against Toronto.

As always, join Jared DuBois and myself Wednesday morning as we will be releasing the latest episode of Corner of the Galaxy.

On this week’s show, your host take you through the many problems the galaxy showed in their 3-1 defeat to New England. They will talk about David Beckham’s surprise substitution at half time, and the locker room culture. Then they will preview the showdown between the undefeated 4-0 team from Kansas City as the Galaxy make their first trip on the road this MLS season.

You can reach Josh and Jared with your questions and comments at COG@NASN.tv

For the Latest Episode Click HERE

The Home Depot Center, Carson, CA

Bruce Arena wasn’t happy with the level of play on Saturday night and David Beckham wasn’t happy that he didn’t get to play the full 90 minutes. The Galaxy Boss substituted Beckham at the halftime along with fellow midfielder Marcelo Sarvas in what Arena classified as a “coaches decision.”

“I couldn’t change 11 players. That’s what I told the team at half time. If I had 11 substitutions I would have considered that,” said Arena at his post game press conference. “Our first half was poor… Some bad communication cost us a couple goals and we were never sharp on any play in the first half.”

Understandably, David Beckham was rumored to be upset with the decision. But at this level of play it would be unlikely any player would consider it a positive to be replaced at the half. David Beckham left before reporters were able to ask any questions regarding the subject.

The 3-1 loss was the 2nd loss of the young campaign for the defending champions and their 3rd loss out of 4 games in all competitions. To say their form hasn’t hit stride would be an understatement. The 2011 Champions were known for their stingy defense and the ability to kill off close games. So far this year the Galaxy have given up 11 goals and have yet to solidify a replacement for the injured Omar Gonzalez.

With a disappointing start it shouldn’t be surprising that temperatures are running hot in the locker room. But any suggestions that there is a rift developing between Bruce Arena and David Beckham are completely overblown.

Ultimately it will come down to the results on the field. If this team can find its stride all of this talk will go away.

The Galaxy will next travel on the road and play against undefeated (4-0-0) Sporting Kansas City. Not exactly the game you want to solidify a playing style and start the climb up the table.

Alright, so lets get down to business. Clearly a 3-1 loss to New England wasn’t on the list of accomplishments coming off of a 13 day hiatus. This break was supposed to clean up the mistakes on defense and provide time for Edson Buddle and Robbie Keane to get on the same page. But ultimately the Galaxy were outplayed, out hustled and overwhelmed by a decent, but not stellar New England team.

Add to this loss the fact that rumors persisted after the game that an argument between three Galaxy players saw two of them subbed off at the half. Bruce Arena stated that Beckham and Sarvas were subbed as a “Coached Decision.” He actually stated that he only subbed those two because he couldn’t sub all 11 players at the half. Probably a very good idea of what Bruce’s mindset was during halftime.

So an embarrassing loss coupled with locker room tensions? Or are the tensions just a sign that the Galaxy obviously didn’t expect themselves to be close to the bottom of the western conference.

Here is what I can tell you from Talking with the boys after the game.

Robbie Keane was upset. While he insists that it is the whole team that has issues, clearly he, and everyone else on the team, realizes the defense needs to stop allowing the same type of goals, week after week.

AJ DeLaGarza knows the score. He knows his defense let in 3 goals and he knows that they worked on the defense throughout the 13 days off. While AJ himself has played relatively well, the supporting cast around him hasn’t. That goes for midfielders and outside backs as well.

Sean Franklin, in my opinion, just wants to get stability at both the midfield position in front of him and the center back position next to him. Solid players at both of these positions lets him get forward and contribute to the offense. Instead he is having to carefully move forward in order to not open up holes around him. It really isn’t his game and the bad play around him is isolating him on the wing too often. Sean is an excellent right back, but only when he has support to his inside and has plenty of room to help out the offense.

Now let’s talk Robbie Keane and Edson Buddle. This pairing is taking a while to develop (Can you Say Juan Pablo Angel?). Add to the fact that Edson Buddle has showed poor ball control when getting the ball, and has, except for one occasion that lead to the only goal, missed Keane multiple times in open spots. The frustration is building. It’s more apparent on the Keane side as he is used to teammates being able to connect with him. This was most evident in a shot that Buddle took on a breakaway that Keane helped to create. Buddle Missed a 1 vs. 1 opportunity with Matt Reis, the New England goalkeeper, by about 8 yards to the left of the post. If he was able to stop the ball and feed it to Keane who was wide open by himself they may have had something.

Don’t let the stats fool you. New England Dominated this game. The Galaxy had the possession edge (56.5% to 43.5%) but the Galaxy’s possession was never in a dangerous spot. New England had 9 Shots on Target to the Galaxy’s 4.

Things don’t get any easier for the Galaxy either. Rumors of a Beckham hamstring injury, coupled with the recovering quad injury to Landon Donovan (Bruce Expects Landon To be available for the Sporting Kansas City Game) will force a brow beaten team to take on a very talented Sporting team on the road.

Final Thoughts:

Missing Omar Gonzalez isn’t the only problem for LA. If you are one of these people who continues to blame the teams play on his absence, you need to move on. The team has had plenty of time to prepare for Omar’s injury. They just aren’t executing at any level of the field.

The midfield has been lackluster. They are leaving the fragile defense on an island and they aren’t connecting with the attacking options. Our lack of height in the box has rendered David Beckham’s set pieces useless, and unless Robbie Keane and Edson Buddle can get on the same page and quickly, they won’t be able to score enough goals to counter the collapsing defense. If Buddle and Keane can’t come to some sort of understanding soon, look for Chad Barrett to take over the spot for Edson. If that happens look for the LA Galaxy to make a deal for Buddle and a central defender. I just don’t see it coming down the pipe any other way.

The Galaxy need a good Showing at Live Strong Park, or the bad taste Galaxy fans have on the tip of their tongue is going to get worse! Much Worse!

Sure we knew playing without Landon Donovan and Donovan Ricketts was going to be difficult. Sure we knew that younger players were going to have to step up and fill a role. But then we find out hours before kickoff that David Beckham wasn’t going to start, and in fact hadn’t even traveled with the team. Back Spasms had apparently done in David and left us to ponder a very shorthanded side looking for points at altitude and against the defending MLS Cup Champs!

So with Juan Pablo Angel and Miguel Lopez up top and a midfield of Juninho, Birchall, Stephens, and Magee, the Galaxy quickly pressed on the attack. With much of the possession and and the continuous pressure it was only a matter of time before the Galaxy found the net. But let’s remember that this team has yet to show the superb finishing skills of a champion.

What the Galaxy have shown plenty of in the 2011 season is hustle. Chris Birchall chased down a ball that was played toward the end line by Franklin. With the ball nearly going out for a goal kick, Chris was able to cross the ball dangerously toward the area. Streaking Colorado defender Drew Moor was quick on his reaction, but unfortunately found his intercepting run deflect the ball past his own keeper in the 25th minute.

But it was really the young Brazilian midfielder that put the Galaxy stamp on the game. Following a Colorado clearance of another dangerous ball from Chris Birchall, Juninho gathered the ball about 35 yards out, took one touch towards goal to settle it and unleashed a shot from close to thirty yards out. The ball rocketed across to the far post, beating Matt Pickens and providing yet another clip for the highlight reel for the 2nd year MLS player. If the last goal was “struck with no regard for humanity” this goal was hit with the precision of a craftsman. The tally had the additional benefit of putting the Galaxy up 2-0 just before halftime.

Not even a 64th minute goal from the Connor Casey and the return of Omar Cummings back from injury could get the Galaxy down. They simply responded! Todd Dunivant found substitute Chad Barrett for the easy put away and a 3-1 victory for the Galaxy on the road.

A complete effort for 90 minutes was what was needed, and that is exactly what we got. Juninho was a vital part of the mostly starless midfield. But hard work from Birchall and Todd Dunivant ensured the Galaxy continued their hold on the western conference and league standings. Clearly preparation for this week was handled expertly by the Galaxy coaching staff and executed flawlessly by the players on the field.

With 3 points gained the Galaxy once again kept ahead of both FC Dallas (6 pts back) and Seattle (9 pts back).

The Galaxy now travel back to the Bay Area as they prepare for a battle with, perpetual rivals, the San Jose Earthquakes.

When Chris Birchall scored his first MLS goal a minute and a half into the match, I admit that I thought to myself, “Alright, here comes a flood of LA Galaxy goals.”  They were playing against Toronto FC, who coming into the game had just two wins all season.  And when Miguel Lopez hit a rocket off of the post in the 10th minute, it certainly felt like another goal was inevitable.

But as the minutes passed, despite some great chances to score for the Galaxy, Toronto was looking increasingly dangerous in the box.  The game changer for Toronto came in the 43rd minute when former Galaxy player Alan Gordon came on as a substitute.  Galaxy fans at the Home Depot Center gave him a warm welcome, cheering as he ran onto the field.  It wouldn’t long before he would make those same fans—myself included—cursing and screaming.

In the 68th minute, Gordon headed the ball into the back of the net, leveling the score at 1-1.  The small pockets of Toronto fans at HDC erupted, while the rest of the stadium sat silently shaking their heads.  The irony was painful; of course it would be Gordon that scored to tie it up.

Gordon’s goal seemed to spark a fire in the Toronto players.  Just minutes later, Maicon Santos hit one off the cross bar.  The game’s momentum had swung in Toronto’s favor quickly, and  I was wincing every time they had the ball anywhere near the Galaxy goal.  I couldn’t believe that we were heading towards a tie—possibly even a loss—against Toronto. I mean, come on, it’s TORONTO. They have TWO wins.  Even without the missing players because of the Gold Cup, the Galaxy should be able to beat TFC.

Then, just as the match went into stoppage time, Juan Pablo Angel ripped a shot off of a rebound, and watched as it sailed into the back of the net.  The game-winning goal from Angel, who hasn’t been living up to the everyone’s expectations in his first season with the Galaxy.  It was an ending straight out of a Hollywood script…well, that was until Gordon went an ruined it, again.

The celebrations at the HDC lasted for all of three minutes.  The fairytale ending would instead go to Gordon, who scored in the fourth and final minute of stoppage time, tying the game up 2-2.  And what a goal it was.  The ball fell at Gordon’s feet, and he struck it with a full-force volley into the far corner of the net.  There was nothing that Saunders or the Galaxy defense could have done to stop it.  If it weren’t for Eric Hassli’s stunning goal up in Seattle, which very well may be the goal of the year, Gordon’s strike would probably win goal of the week.

What a homecoming it was for Gordon.  And what a huge disappointment it was for the LA Galaxy.  Another tie against a team they should have beaten, another two points lost at home, and another opportunity for Galaxy fans to question the true identity of this team!

Full Highlights: