6Aug/120
Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Seattle Sounders: Rating David Beckham’s Performance
David Beckham, let me have a word with you on your farcical display of football for the Los Angeles Galaxy against the Seattle Sounders, a match in which your men proceeded to get impaled 4-0 at CenturyLink Field in Seattle on Sunday night. You are fully aware that Daniel Sturridge put on his best Santa Claus impersonation and let he and his footballing elves of Team Great Britain gift-wrap a 5-4 penalty shootout win to South Korea, at the expense of rendering him the loneliest man on the British Isles. And you committed one of the biggest sins you could ever commit for a player of your stature—you simply let the result get to you. It affected your deliveries. It affected your distribution. It made every corner an easy clearance, and every set piece a routine defensive stop for the home team. Furthermore, your efforts defensively were the type of efforts worthy of the USASA level. Getting beaten off the ball, bad passing, no first touch...forget the similarly farcical performance against the New York Red Bulls. This display against Seattle made the Red Bulls game look a decent outing for you. Now do you realize why you don't deserve to ...6Aug/120
Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Seattle Sounders: Rating the Galaxy Players
It is very difficult, if not ridiculously impossible, to win at anything if you don't play with pride, purpose, commitment, dedication and/or heart. With that being said, Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy commited a very grave sin on Saturday night against Sigi Schmid's Seattle Sounders. This team played with none of those intangibles, and were impaled accordingly.The Galaxy were destroyed in a 4-0 shutout by the Sounders at CenturyLink Field on Sunday night. With the team dropping to 10-11-3 (33 points), the time has come for me to lay my own version of the Freeh Report on a team that never showed an ounce of the aforementioned intangibles during the defeat and deserved beatdown received in Seattle. Here it is. Josh Saunders: 1 You would think that Josh Saunders would have an improved performance after giving up five goals against Real Madrid. Unfortunately for him, he never was able to make the type of clean save that would acquit his case, and his case was never acquitted.Saunders only made two saves because he was facing his execution at the hands of the Rave Green firing squad of Seattle. Sean Franklin: 1.5 Sean, let me talk with you a little bit.Please get it through ...6Aug/120
Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Seattle Sounders: 6 Things We Learned
Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy are building a reputation of being the masochists of Major League Soccer. It is a creepy, scary, unenviable dishonor bestowed on them by those who have a penchant for woodshed.One of those bestowers is Sigi Schmid's Seattle Sounders, who played their most complete game of the season and whipped, hung, drawn, quartered and burned the Los Angeles Galaxy to ashes to the tune of 4-0 at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Wash. on Sunday night.With the defeat, Los Angeles falls to 10-11-3 (33 points), while Seattle continue their pursuit of the San Jose Earthquakes and Real Salt Lake with a record of 10-5-7 (37 points).Here are six things we learned from this one-sided affair.Begin Slideshow4Aug/120
Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Seattle Sounders: Analysis, Reaction and More
Bruce Arena’s Los Angeles Galaxy knew they were up against an impossible task in stopping Real Madrid. This Sunday, the task is a little bit more manageable, as the Galaxy face Sigi Schmid’s Seattle Sounders at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Wash. The Galaxy are currently 10-10-3 (33 points) and are fifth in the MLS Western Conference. The Sounders, meanwhile, are third in the West with a record of 9-5-7 (34 points). They could be staring at fifth place if Los Angeles gets payback for its 2-0 defeat to Seattle at CenturyLink Field on May 2. Can the Galaxy bounce back against their Northwest rivals, or will Seattle shift the balance of power even further? Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET and will be televised on ESPN2. Keep it right here on Bleacher Report for continuing coverage of the 2012 Major League Soccer season, the Olympics and all things world football.Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com4Aug/120
Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Seattle Sounders: 10 Bold Predictions
After an embarrassing 5-1 exhibition defeat at the hands of Real Madrid, Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy will pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and prepare for Sunday's crunch-time encounter with Sigi Schmid's Seattle Sounders at the CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Wash.The Sounders are coming off a 3-1 victory over Caledonia AIA in CONCACAF Champions' League action and currently sit third in the MLS Western Conference with a record of 9-5-7 (34 points). As for the Galaxy, they are 10-10-3 (33 points) and can leapfrog over the Sounders with a victory on the road.Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET and will be televised by ESPN2. Here are 10 bold predictions for Sunday's blockbuster tilt between the Galaxy and Sounders.Begin Slideshow3Aug/120
Real Madrid vs. Los Angeles Galaxy: Rating David Beckham’s Performance
David Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy were dancing with wolves dressed in all white on Thursday night against Real Madrid. Predictably, they fell by a score of 5-1 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. The only contribution Beckham made to the match—aside from a number of set-piece opportunities—was a delivery in the 23rd minute that found defender Omar Gonzalez, who immediately found a waiting David Junior Lopes for the Galaxy's only goal of the match. Afterward, it seemed as if Beckham was left out to dry.He did have some touches, but the midfield of Jose Callejon, Lass Diarra, Xabi Alonso, Kaka and Angel Di Maria was too much for him to take.He couldn't do it alone, but there was no chance that Juninho and Marcelo Sarvas could run with Real's midfield. After 45 minutes, Beckham took a curtain call and watched the reserves get a lesson in how to play with pride. There are those who really feel that David Beckham deserved to be on Team Great Britain. Jose Mourinho is one of them. “There is something I don't understand,” Mourinho told Yahoo! Sports. “I know because I was also inside of that project: if the Olympic Games are ...3Aug/120
Real Madrid vs. Los Angeles Galaxy: Rating the Galaxy Players
These are matches where the outcome is predetermined. No matter how many times you prepare for an opponent, the outcome is going to be the same.Such was the case for Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy, who were punchless for the most part on Thursday night in Carson, Calif. They were outrun, outworked, outhustled and outplayed by Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid, ultimately falling by a score of 5-1. Don't get me wrong, this is just a friendly. The match featured two teams with huge discrepancies in talent, skills and fitness. But if Los Angeles had at least made the score respectable and lost with their heads held high, you would see some good, if modest, player ratings. You can only wonder if the Seattle Sounders smell blood in the water like they did the last time and take advantage of the lapses in defending. Here are the player ratings for all the Galaxy players that took part in the friendly with Real Madrid. Josh Saunders: 1A.J. DeLaGarza: 3Omar Gonzalez: 3.5David Junior Lopes: 4.5Bryan Gaul: 3Sean Franklin: 3.5David Beckham: 4.5Juninho: 3Marcelo Sarvas: 3.5Landon Donovan: 4Robbie Keane: 5Brian Perk: 2Bryan Jordan: 3Tommy Meyer: 4Andrew Boyens: 4Hector Jimenez: 3Mike Magee: 3Rafael Garcia: 3.5Michael Stephens: ...29Jul/120
Los Angeles Galaxy vs. FC Dallas: Rating the Galaxy Players
Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy had a tough assignment in containing Schellas Hyndman's FC Dallas in the scorching East Texas heat, and they got the job done in the form of a 1-0 Galaxy win (remember this scoreline? I do).With the victory, the club breaks even with a record of 10-10-3 (33 points) and continues its pursuit of the Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps in the MLS Western Conference standings. Every win elicits good player ratings, and at the very least average for some. Here are the ratings for the Los Angeles Galaxy players who took part against FC Dallas in Frisco, Texas. Josh Saunders - 7 Another shutout for Saunders, even though this has been a luxury of some sort for the Galaxy netminder. Saunders only had to make one save the entire match, but did enough to earn another clean sheet. A.J. DeLaGarza - 7 Another consistent night for A.J. DeLaGarza. He made a number of stops and had the speed to contain the FC Dallas attack. This was just more of the same from A.J. David Junior Lopes - 6.5 Lopes had another great game, but now a question must be answered: Will he sit on the ...29Jul/120
Los Angeles Galaxy vs. FC Dallas: 6 Things We Learned
In the middle of the London 2012 Olympics extravaganza...there is football. Major League Soccer action took place in the unbearably warm confines of FC Dallas Stadium and Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy struggled in the heat and pulled away with a 1-0 win over Schellas Hyndman's FC Dallas.With the win, Los Angeles pull even with a record of 10-10-3 (33 points) and continue their chase of the Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps in the MLS Western Conference standings. As for FC Dallas, they drop to 5-11-7 and are in danger of not making the postseason.Here are six things we learned from Saturday night's match in Frisco, Tex.Begin Slideshow26Jul/120