This was their chance. To prove that, at least for one game, they were not just a star’s supporting cast, but players deserving of the leagues respect. With Beckham away on national duty, and Donovan nursing a groin injury, the Galaxy’s lesser knowns were going to have the spotlight. What happened? Stage Fright.

Let’s be honest about this game, it was ugly. Both teams were missing big names. The result was a sloppy game where neither team could string any quality combinations together. The difference however, was that TFC seemed to work harder.

The first half ended scoreless, with the rain starting to poor. The Galaxy had a really tough time adjusting to the wet Field Turf of Toronto in the second half. Every ball seemed to require an extra touch to control. Everyone knows that Toronto has the best home field advantage in the league, but Saturday’s game showed it isn’t only because of its fans. Toronto seemed to understand the pitch and how it would react to the rainy conditions. The Galaxy were left befuddled.

Let’s talk Abel Xavier for a sec. The guy had two decent games for LA leading into Saturdays contest. But can the Galaxy afford to keep a guy around that either cannot or will not play on artificial surfaces? In a Galaxy back line that already is one of the worst in the league, can they really risk the inconsistencies this brings to the team? Roughly 25% of teams in MLS play home games on artificial turf. I don’t see how the Galaxy can expect their defense to improve when the back line will be changing week to week, especially on the road. What this defense needs is some consistency.

Give credit to Toronto. They battled and scrapped for their two goals, with their first coming from a nice aerial effort from James. The Los Angeles strikers, however, could not produce. What became quite apparent in this game, was the lack of creativity through midfield, when both Beckham and Donovan go missing. You cannot expect to start three holding midfielders in Franchino, McDonald, and Pires across a four man midfield and see offensive results. It is my same complaint of Bob Bradley at the national team level. Too many holding players and not enough creativity. And that statement really sums up the Galaxy’s performance this weekend.