LA Galaxy-Melbourne Victory: Final MLS Game for David Beckham?

The Los Angeles Galaxy wrapped up their whirlwind tour of Asia and the Pacific, and also put an end to one of the most productive seasons a Major League Soccer team has ever had.In possibly the final game featuring David Beckham in a Galaxy jersey, L.A. matched up against a team who resembles their Australian mirror image.As a fan, it was an interesting game to watch. It resembled a Premier League game, as the opposing squad's style of play is reminiscent of English football.One could almost envision this game being played in England, and Fox's coverage and the stadium atmosphere reinforced it—albeit without the soccer chanting common to Premier League games.A fatigued Galaxy team playing their third game in six days, halfway around the world, helped level the competitive playing field.The Galaxy were obviously running on fumes—their body language showed a tired team during the game—but it looked like they were trying to win. One could see it in their faces. Outside of Omar Gonzalez, who flew back to Los Angeles in order to tend to family matters, and Juninho, sidelined by an injury picked up in Indonesia during the first game of the Asia trip, the Galaxy largely played ...

LA Galaxy vs. Real Salt Lake: Galaxy Look for Revenge in MLS Playoffs

LA Galaxy versus Real Salt Lake is far from just another Conference Final game.It pits the MLS’s top two defensive teams—not to mention two of the top three point-earning teams—against each other, making this an MLS Cup-worthy contest. On top of that, this match is a rematch of the 2009 MLS Cup Finals in which RSL defeated the Galaxy by way of penalty shootout.The core of the Galaxy has remained largely intact since the 2009 Final and surely they have vivid and lingering bad memories of that loss in ’09. There would be no sweeter revenge than to beat RSL in the Western Conference Finals matchup at the Home Depot Center.These two teams battled each other all year, even when they were not matched up against each other. They split their two regular season matches with each team winning at home. Although these are two of the finest defensive teams in the MLS, we should not assume that this will be a grind-it-out affair, because they combined to score a total of eight goals over their two head-to-head matchups. The Galaxy had an easier time with their semifinal home-and-home series, having beaten the New York Red Bulls twice.Salt Lake on ...

MLS Cup Playoffs: Seattle Sounders Thoroughly Outplayed by Real Salt Lake

Sandy, Utah - The slaughtering handed out by Real Salt Lake in the first leg of the home-and-home MLS Western Conference semifinals to the higher-seeded Seattle Sounders shows that they are a squad to be reckoned with during the playoffs. Fans in Seattle might be unhappy, not only by their team's performance, but by the fact the second- and third-highest points total teams are squaring off with each other to start the playoffs. This is opposed to the easier path Eastern Conference teams have, if one looks at regular season success.Salt Lake's complete domination in every facet of the game culminated in a resounding 3-0 victory in front of a nearly-packed house at Rio Tinto Stadium. Many analysts had Seattle as the second-best team in the playoffs, behind the L.A. Galaxy, but they played back on their heels from the start, with RSL having a flurry of chances within the first few minutes of the game. The first of the three goals came from Alvaro Saborio on a controversial offside non-call. Further replays showed he was almost exactly even, however Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid was quoted by Fox Soccer Channel as saying it was a miscall. Coming out of ...

MLS Dream Matchup Becomes Reality: Los Angeles Galaxy vs. New York Red Bulls

Lakers versus Celtics. Red Sox versus Yankees. Barcelona versus Real Madrid. United States versus Mexico.How about New York Red Bulls versus Los Angeles Galaxy?Alright, perhaps "the marquee" MLS matchup hasn't aged enough to be included with the world's greatest. But surely they will be celebrating late into the night around the MLS offices after the Red Bulls defeated FC Dallas 2-0.Honestly though, there are few leagues worldwide that can offer such a prominent matchup as Thierry Henry versus David Beckham. Here is Major League Soccer's version of Larry Bird versus Magic Johnson: the ultimate passer versus the ultimate scorer and the two biggest internationally recognized stars.Unfortunately, Robbie Keane will be unavailable for the matchup. Surely he would have loved to get opportunity of payback of sorts after Henry's self-admitted extra time handball, which allowed France to qualify for the 2010 World Cup ahead of Keane's Ireland squad.This will be a tough matchup for the Red Bulls. They will be playing four days following the Frisco-Texas match. The L.A. Galaxy are undefeated at home during the MLS regular season, nabbing 41 out of a maximum possible 51 points. Including their undefeated home record during CONCACAF Champions League play, the Galaxy have ...

LA Galaxy Keep It in Cruise Control for Chivas USA Win, All Eyes Now on Motagua

Another Game, another three points for MLS regular season champs LA Galaxy. The Galaxy came into this game having already clinched the MLS Supporters’ Shield due to Seattle suffering a loss a few days earlier to FC Dallas. The starting XI Bruce Arena chose reflected his desire to pursue the CONCACAF Champions League advancement, resting Landon Donovan, Donovan Ricketts, as well as the early second half substitution of Juninho, whom he told that he would be needed later that week when they travel to Honduras. The Galaxy came out in the 4-4-2 formation with Josh Saunders starting in goal, AJ Delagarza playing Right Back, Omar Gonzalez teaming up in Central Defense with Gregg Berhalter who came back from injury to play his last career regular season game, Todd Dunivant started his normal Left Back spot, Juninho and David Beckham played Central Midfield, Paolo Cardozo and Mike Magee who is returning from injury switched Wing midfield positions throughout the game, and The two point men Arena selected were Chad Barrett and Adam Cristman; due to the injury of Robbie Keane and the continued absence of Donovan. The Galaxy Offense came out the gates strong against cross locker room rivals Chivas USA, ...