Call me a believer. Yes, Bruce Arena is a catalyst for this new LA Galaxy team, but tonight it was pure Becks magic. Sellout (27000) crowd at the Home Depot Center, a gritty match, plenty of shots and another beauty from the free kick specialist. No, it wasn't a free kick that he scored with, but it was his poise and experience and knowledge of the ball that allowed Becks to score against Chivas tonight. The Goats put up a great fight. Nagamura, Marcos Santos, New-comer Jesus Padilla, Maykel Galindo and much-maligned Sacha Kljestan all showed up tonight.
And it's because tonight was much more special due to the game's proximity to the playoffs and how tight the standings are. Any bad streaks or false moves could doom any team at this point. With this result, the Galaxy gains sole possession of second place at 38 points whilst Chivas shares fourth in the West with Real Salt Lake.
There has been much said about TV ratings of MLS and crowd support, but today was a rebuttal to all that noise. The boys came to play. The crowds came to watch. Their star scored. They cheered. And they won. No nasty banners, no pushy fans yelling unnecessary obscenities, no boos. Just the sport. Plain and simple.
5 comments:
Bradley might be joining Arena in the MLS soon if there are more games like the one in Mexico.
I concur. I wish Klinsmann had been hired as coach. That's the USSF's fault. Don't see Bradley losing his job unless US lands in 4th spot and misses the world cup.
Do you think the best thing would be to have an experienced European who has been in scores of big matches rather than an American coach?
Yes, it's time for that. Or a latin American coach. European would be better because our style is more European. We've had 14 years of American coaching and it's time to try something new. Mexico had their Argentine and Swedish. England had a Swede and now an Italian. Why can't we branch out too?
It's quite upsetting, really. Bradley is a good coach but we have to see what happens in the next two qualifiers. If we don't win BOTH, then we are in serious trouble.
I would even try Preki. He's a hot-head and not American and it might be interesting to see what he can do. I don't like Nowak. The Olympic team lacked style.
Let's just win these two games and we can worry about it after the World Cup - if we don't make it we'll have plenty of time to find a replacement.
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