WANTED: Central defender under 32 years old for emergency backline upgrade.  Perks include sunshine, superstar groupie leftovers and a free copy of Alexi Lala’s new CD.  Crazy hairstyle preferred but not mandatory.

For the second home game in a row the LA Galaxy saw their hard earned goal differential slip away due to sloppy defense and mental lapses.  Normally you won’t see me call out Chris Klein in my breakdowns here at ASR.  No one out works this guy.  His endless overlaps and two way play really fuels the Galaxy’s dangerous right flank.  But he needs to be called out for what can only be defined as a senseless penalty Saturday night.  Now it is true that Robbie Rogers was probably not going to get to the ball, and to some that makes the call controversial, yet if we all knew he wasn’t going to get there, Klein should have as well which makes his foul that much worse.

While we are riding the blame wagon a few more people need to be piled on.  Steve Cronin’s “save”, the rebound from which resulted in Columbus’ third goal, was not what is expected of a starting keeper in MLS.   Cronin has two options, hold the ball or punch it WIDE.  Simply parrying the ball down into the middle of the six yard box is never an option and the Galaxy was justly punished.

But let’s give credit where credit is due.  Edson Buddle’s goal on the night was absolutely clinical.  It was the type of goal that shows a striker oozing with confidence.  For the second home game in a row Buddle has finished side netting from acute angles.  This bodes well for a Galaxy attack that is already the most dangerous in the league.   His continuing hot streak furthers my suggestion that the Galaxy should unload Carlos Ruiz in the upcoming transfer window in order to bolster their defense.

One Liners:

-How bad is Landon wishing he had chosen to hit that sitter with his left foot now?

-The call and response chants back and forth between LARS and ACB is now one of my favorite parts about home games.

-Maybe Beckham should not be expected to convert that last shot Saturday night, but he should definitely be expected to put the ball on frame.

-I am convinced the guy that sits in front of my season seats is the exact look-a-like of the captain of the Wizard from the Deadliest Catch.

-There is a 50/50 chance my fiance would leave me by my wedding day if Ante Jazic asked her out.

Coming up this weekend is cracker of a game.  Galaxy vs DC United.  It is the first MLS rivalry.  Every Galaxy fan remembers the feeling as Eddie Pope’s rain soaked head put the winning goal past our 96 team.  It is the Man U vs Arsenal of our little league.  The best part about this years matchup from a fans point of view?  NEITHER team can play a lick of defense and both are capable of dropping 5 goals on you.  It is the perfect game for a nationally televised network broadcast.

Like the Galaxy, I am on the road this weekend so check back in later this week for Julian Valentin’s blog to get your Galactico fix.

Apologies for being late this week, but it was an intense weekend of sports here in So. Cal. You had our favorite Galacticos visiting our most storied rivals The Smurfs, the Lakers making history in all the wrong ways, and the US showing the rest of CONCACAF that they are, indeed, the biggest fish in this small pond.

God, I wanted to be on that bus to Oakland this weekend, but alas when you have a month till your wedding you don’t get to go away for many drunken weekends of debauchery, besides the bachelor party. For those who may not know, the Riot Squad in conjunction with the front office organized the fantastic opportunity to travel with 300 other Galaxy fans up to Oakland via bus to support the Galaxy. My hat is off to you guys. By all accounts, including mine on the Biggie HD (Yes I name my TV), you guys did great. Through the whole game chants of “L-A Galaxy” could be heard to a nationwide audience. Congratulations to the Riot Squad, Angel City Brigade, Galaxians and all the other Galaxy fans who represented.

The Galaxy’s 3-0 win was the type of performance that makes you feel, maybe it is finally safe to trust this team again. The shutout alone should hopefully do wonders for the defense’s confidence. The good news? They now have two shutouts on the year. The bad news? They both are against expansion side San Jose. The good news? They are both against expansion side San Jose. So while it feels good to beat those little Smurfs, it’s kinda like the bully beating up the kid at school with the helmet on… It’s just not very fulfilling and kinda sad.

In terms of team analysis I really have one question for the Galaxy fans. Does this team need Carlos Ruiz? By that I do not mean to trivialize the man’s talents. His career speaks for itself. But consider the following, with no contributions from Ruiz this team already possesses the #1 offense in the league. Yet it lacks strength in defense. So is Ruiz’s max salary slot being used to its utmost potential? There are plenty of teams out there in need of strikers, with an unused DP slot available in trade. Both Real Salt Lake and San Jose could easily trade their DP slot for Ruiz, assuming that either team is willing to try to spend the money to resurrect their playoff hopes. The Galaxy could then turn that DP slot into a quality central defender.

In other So. Cal soccer events I had the pleasure of sitting with Sam’s Army for the United States’ thrashing of Barbados on Sunday. What a day. 8 goals and every time this was my view of the field.

I don’t know if I can ever go back to a regular seat again. Plus that flag provided the only shade on a brutally hot day. The best part about the 8-0 win for Galaxy fans is that this means Landon Donovan will be back in town for the return of Sigi and his Columbus Crew. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to getting a first hand look at Robbie Rogers. The kid has looked good so far this season.

Exciting announcement this week here at ASR. Julian Valentin has signed on to do a weekly blog. My question to him… Are there any interesting prop bets going on revolving around player’s Euro picks?

Lastly, a moment of silence for my fallen Lakers. I’m afraid in this scenario LA was the kid in the helmet.

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.

So your team loses a nail biter to New York and you want to get the team back on track. What would you do if you were the Galaxy? How about play a pointless exhibition game in Canada, in order to ensure that your players are tired for their important division game on Sunday. It seems over the last two years that the Galaxy front office has put off the field success before on the field results. Decisions such as the Vancouver Whitecaps exhibition game and the grueling pre-season tour are evidence of this. FC Dallas have to like their odds coming into this game.

Priority number one for the Galaxy this weekend: Stop Kenny Cooper. The Kenny Cooper match up should be treated similar to the Jozy Altidore one from the week prior. Both strikers boast large frames and good pace. The difference? Cooper is on form, Jozy is not.

The best way to stop Cooper is to deny him service. Unfortunately for the Galaxy there is a lot of talent in the midfield for Dallas supplying Cooper. Juan Toja had a great start to the season before picking up a knock a few weeks back. He should be back to full form this week, which means Joey Franchino will have to step up and slow the ball every time Toja gets a touch. Look for Joey to get physical early with Toja and try to get his head out of the game from the start.

The other midfield threats are Arturo Alvarez and Dax McCarty. McCarty is out with a hernia injury, and that is huge for the Galaxy. This FC Dallas team has fed on McCarty’s energy through the beginning of this season. He really is the engine of the midfield. So if McCarty is the engine, what does that make Alvarez? He would be the 22″ rims, flashy as hell, everyone wants some, but they don’t necessarily improve the ride. No player finished last season with more upside than Arturo Alvarez. Yet to start the 2008 campaign, he has struggled to find a way to impose his style of play on opponents as he did last season. His two goals and 2 assists are nothing to scoff at by any means. But there is no reason, that on a team that has him surrounded by quality like Toja and Cooper, that Alavarez shouldn’t have similar numbers as Robbie Rogers in Columbus. He has that ability. On a day where he could match up against a slow footed Greg Vanney, Alvarez may see a fun afternoon.

For the Galaxy the biggest question mark going into this game is Landon Donovan. The league’s leading goal scorer didn’t make the trip to Vancouver and is listed as questionable on the teams injury report. The fact that he is making the trip to Dallas at all, is probably a sign that he will play. Also perhaps making an appearance Sunday is Ante Jazic. He saw time against the Whitecaps and may see some time off the bench against Dallas. This is a welcome sight for Galaxy fans who have watched their defense concede a league’s worst 15 goals.

My Homer Prediction: 2-2 Tie

My Homer Lineup:

Cronin

Klein - Roberts - Franklin - Vanney

Beckham - Mickey D - Fran-drink-o - Randolph

Donovan - Flash Gordon