Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Galaxy-Toronto Primer

Some random thoughts and observations about today's Galaxy-Toronto FC match...

* Judging by Landon Donovan's tweets on Tuesday night, I don't expect Donovan to be in Canada for this match. Does that mean the Galaxy won't have a chance? Of course not, but it does mean the lineup is going to change yet again. Mike Magee played in Donovan's place against DC United and came away with a goal for his efforts. Magee could get the nod once more, and given his goal, it might be good to keep him in Donovan's place for this game.

* Chris Birchall returns after a one-match ban so I expect we'll see this midfield alignment: Magee out left, Beckham and Juninho in the middle and Birchall out right.

* Sean Franklin should slide back to right back for this game.

* Who gets the nod up top? How about Chad Barrett? Sorry, did you spit out your coffee? I am serious, though. Barrett returns to Toronto for the first time since his offseason trade to LA. What better way than to kickstart a player's season than a visit to his former home? I wrote up this story for MLSsoccer.com on Chad's return to Toronto, got to talk to him on Tuesday and he seems pretty excited for the chance to play at BMO Field again.

* The Galaxy have scored five goals in five games. That's not going to get the job done, plain and simple. Can they turn it around? Without Donovan it will be tough. The Galaxy haven't been generating many chances. Three of their goals have come off set pieces and the other two off defensive mistakes (the counter in Seattle and New England's botched clearance). Combine that with a team that's improving defensively and this match will be pretty tough.

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