Getting Ready for Thursday's L.A. Galaxy Game

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August 20, 3:16 PM

by Jesse Baumgartner, Soccer Examiner

 

 

It’s a bummer that David Beckham will not be playing in Thursday night’s ESPN2 match-up between the L.A. Galaxy and the Chicago Fire (international duty + participation in Beijing closing ceremonies), but for once Golden Balls wouldn’t be the center of attention.

Bruce Arena draws a crowd as well with his resume in the MLS and as a successful U.S. National team coach.  And in his first game as the Galaxy coach/general manager, he’ll be starting a big project as he tries to get L.A. back up in the standings. A look at a little of what lies ahead….

 Offense shouldn’t be a problem. With David Beckham providing world-class service from the midfield and Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle up front, the Galaxy currently leads the MLS in scoring by far with 40 goals in 20 regular season games. This area doesn’t need to change all that much, as these guys can find the net.

But the L.A. defense is atrocious. They’ve given up 42 goals in those 20 games, and the next closest team has allowed 32. This will be Arena’s main task. But will he change schemes, motivate the defenders he has, or go out as the GM and look for help back there? Whatever he chooses, this task needs to happen in a Usain Bolt-speeded hurry.

The final question will be how Arena gets along with the stars that he has. He’s coached Donovan on the Olympic team, but Beckham is a whole different world (not that he’s a troublemaker or anything). And Arena has no qualms about being critical - just ask Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley about the criticism Arena poured on them in the media during the 2006 World Cup. What type of approach will he take this time, especially if the Galaxy don’t snap out of their funk right away?

Perhaps we’ll begin to get a sense of Arena’s initial leanings during the Thursday game. Even without Becks, this one should be fun.

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