1. Chicago (2-0-1). Have allowed opponents to score zero goals in three games this season.
2. Kansas City (2-1-1). Wizards tough at home (for most part); can they replicate success on the road?
3. FC Dallas (1-0-2). Third strong effort of season, first time they have a win to show for it.
4. Houston (0-1-2). Scoreless draw after whipping in Costa Rica shows character.
5. Colorado (2-1-0). Beware the Rapids. Take them lightly at your own peril.
6. Chivas USA (1-1-1). Efforts like Saturday's won't get El Guzano to England.
7. New England (2-2-0). Have looked good in wins, terrible in losses.
8. New York (1-1-0). Won without Altidore, lost without Angel.
9. Columbus (2-1-0). Will this be Robbie Rogers' breakthrough year?
10. Real Salt Lake (1-1-1). Maybe this team might compete after all.
11. DC United (1-2-0). Not the best way to deal with midweek cup ouster.
12. Toronto FC (1-2-0). With Guevara and Robert, midfield emerge as one of east's strongest.
13. Los Angeles (1-2-0). Losing to Toronto at home is inexcusable.
14. San Jose (0-2-0). Welcome back - now score some goals.
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13 comments:
Hey, Colorado looks good! No Pablo (literally) and no Gomez (figuratively) and they still get the win in NE. I should have known better than to doubt Luis.
Colorado is better, but does it matter right now? Early hot teams always fade.
How long will Houston's past seasons keep them near the top?
How much better will Chicago be when they have their fully lineup? (Rolfe and Brown were missing this past week)
Could Gonzalo Peralta look any worse than he did on Saturday?
Who, if anyone, is manning the wheel in the Galaxy's front office?
Just another one of you --
How can you possibly pin this one on the coach or the front office? 9 missed chances from Galaxy.
If you don't put those chances away, you can sure as hell expect that they'll be scored in your end.
I can put it on their front office as long as Alan Gordon receives playing time due to a lack of options. The Galaxy are down two goals every time they step on the field no matter who they play (outside of San Jose who only plays on their half of the field)
Did you forget our front office brought Carlos Ruiz [81 career goals] and retained Edson Buddle [53 career goals].
I don't know if you call that a lack of options. Buddle just came back from an injury and we all know what happened to Ruiz.
I know a lot of you dislike the front office, but can you at least try to make intelligent well founded accusations toward them.
Hammer, give credit where credit is due: Toronto goalkeeper Greg Sutton made two good saves on two Donovan breakaways.
Regarding the front office, let me count the ways of its incompetence:
1. Trading Nathan Sturgis and Robbie Findley (whose speed the Galaxy could use right now) for Chris Klein, who has no speed and can be beaten badly at right back (as Sunday showed).
2. Trading Quavas Kirk (another player with speed) for Greg Vanney, who is a solid professional but is pathetic 1-v-1 and past his prime.
3. Signing Abel Xavier after he served an 18-month suspension for steriod use because he was cheap (free transfer) and because he was a "name".
4. Signing an injured and lazy Celestine Babayaro to a three-year contract, then waiving him after he played only 45 minutes in an exhibition!
5. Dumping Joe Cannon and Chris Albright for cash.
6. Having three players (Beckham, Donovan and Ruiz) take up half the salary cap (thereby making the above salary dumps necessary).
7. Destroying what was once one of the league's better backlines (Albright, Ihemelu, Marshall and Dunivant) and getting nothing but Buddle (who's work rate was questioned in Toronto) on the current roster.
8. Refusing to draft any of the "generation adidas" players who would not count against the salary cap!
9. Compiling a roster with no speed, no depth, miminal collective experience and no defense for a coach who is unfamiliar with MLS (and who got out-coached on Sunday).
10. Getting a coach primarily on the basis of his name recognition rather than his coaching pedigree.
That's just in terms of player personnel decisions, Hammer. How about in fan relations?
1. Jacking up parking to $20 as soon as Beckham arrived (fortunately, they put it back to $15 but how long will that last?)
2. Failing to send media guides to season-ticket holders, as the club did in the past (no, I'm not a season-ticket holder).
3. Refusing to make any other jersey other than Beckham's or a generic one available for direct purchase (you have to special order a jersey with anybody else's name and number other than Beckham's, because he gets a percentage of all jersey sales).
4. Cultivating an arrogant attitude in its dealings with everybody (such as when its executive vice president said that the Galaxy could make so much money overseas that it didn't need MLS!).
5. Being obsessed with making money over putting out a quality product or behaving with class. It's remarkable that Beckham, the quintessence of propriety, signed with this pathetic lot.
How's that for "intelligent, well-rounded accusations," Hammer?
In short, better than 'just another one of you' although some of the accusations about fan relations are way off.
1. I AM and have been a season ticket holder. Parking is still $20 in certain areas, that didn't change because of Beckham.
2. The media guide was the STH gift for last season, this season we got scarves.
3. The league is controlling merchandising exactly because of the merchandising clause in his contract, that's why you see only Beckham jerseys. AEG / LAG are going to take care of that this season.
4. I didn't read that [not saying it didn't happen, but i can't speak to something i didn't read or hear].
5. That's your personal observation. I see a vast improvement in the team this season over the crap we've seen over the past 2 years. I think they've put a lot of eggs in three baskets, but they've surrounded Fish, Donovan and Beckham with youngsters with good talent and a manager that clearly knows what he's doing. Based on what we've seen from this team, it's just a matter of time until they click.
Having said that, I still fail to see how any of those accusations relate to the lack of finishing yesterday. To quote Mighty Mac:
"We should have won that game. The game should have been 4-0. You learn from it, and hope it doesn't happen again."
Hammer, I was responding to your question, "I know a lot of you dislike the front office, but can you at least try to make intelligent well founded accusations toward them?"
No, the front office can't score goals (it can't do much of anything else, either). But it is responsible for creating a competitive team; at the very least, the jury is out on that point.
Regarding parking, it was $20 everywhere once Beckham arrived (except in the overpriced "valet" section).
Regarding the comment made by VP Tom Payne, read this from Sky News:
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1294151,00.html
BTW, Hammer, if you really think this Galaxy team is better than the past two, I have some prime beachfront property in Nebraska that I'd like to sell you. ;D
Seriously, though, I know you're a fan and a season-ticket holder, Hammer, but don't let club loyalty blind you to obvious arrogance and incompetence.
Fair enough.
Ah, I remember the $20 parking now. It wasn't because of Beckham though, and it was only for 2 home games. It was because of another event, I think the X games were setting up so a good chunk of the parking lots was being occupied.
Re: Tom Payne's statements. Stupid, what can you do?
Finally, I stand by my statement and I stand by it proudly. This year's team is much better than the past two years. Look at offensive production alone. Last season under Yallop the team struggled to get 2 or 3 shots total, and 1 or 2 shots on goal. This season that certainly has not been the case and that's important. As I said, it's just a matter of time until the team clicks.
Hammer, the reason for that "improvement" is because Beckham is healthy and having a chance to connect with Donovan. But this team relies on both of them too much. What will happen offensively when both (and Ruiz, once healthy) leave for World Cup qualifying (or assorted friendlies, like the US-England game next month)?
Besides, what happens when forwards don't convert (as happens every game)? Then the defense must step up. If the defense can't because it's too slow or inexperienced, then any team is doomed.
Franklin, Randolph, Cronin, McDonald and Pires are works in progress. They will have their good and bad moments, and it's way too soon to say whether they will be net assets or deficits (except for Randolph, who is underrated as a defender). Vanney, as I said, can't defend 1-v-1 and Klein has no business being a right back (he was beaten at least twice on Sunday). Vagenas has a tendency to lose possession, and now he has trouble adjusting to Gullit's system. Xavier has no business being on any roster in this league.
This, along with an injured Valentin, is the defense responsible for holding any advantages that Beckham and Donovan provide. Taken as a whole, these guys make the Maginot Line look formidable.
wow. Galaxy fans are fired up in here. :) Not touching that mälstrom. :)
re the rankings: I think you have to go on current form and as such, HOuston has NO business being at #4.
I know they've started poorly before and come back to have a good season, but this isn't looking like one of those years. Beside, you have to go on current form. If not, then you have to put COlorado near the bottom since they have a history of blowing it and not being very good and ignore totally that this year they actually look pretty good.
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