Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Sporting Kansas City: 6 Things We Learned

The Los Angeles Galaxy drop yet another match in Major League Soccer play, losing 1-0 to Sporting Kansas City at Livestrong Sporting Park. Kei Kamara's header in the 41st minute was all Sporting needed in a performance that lacked offensive production. Here are six things we learned from Saturday's match between the Galaxy and Sporting Kansas City. 1. David Beckham's absence made all the difference. When any of Los Angeles's main players are not in the lineup, bad things tend to happen. Although the outcome wasn't as bad as it could have been, David Beckham's play-making abilities are an asset to the Galaxy. No Beckham equals no victory due to the lack of off the ball movement. 2. Improved defending from LA Although the result was the Galaxy's first shut-out loss of the season, the back-line of Sean Franklin, A.J. DeLaGarza, Todd Dunivant and Tommy Meyer held their own for the majority of the match. It did provide one answer regarding the back-line: Andrew Boyens is a liability, and with Meyer in the lineup, the damage was reduced to just a simple header surrendered by Franklin, who was the worst player on defense for the Galaxy. 3. Landon Donovan eases ...

Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Sporting Kansas City: Analysis, Reaction and More

It’s high time for Bruce Arena’s Los Angeles Galaxy, who enter the cauldron of fire, also known as Livestrong Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan.Awaiting them: the top team in the East—Sporting Kansas City, who come into Saturday’s tilt unbeaten and ready to continue their winstreak. With issues in the backline and an unsightly habit of surrendering goals on the fly, how will the defending champions of Major League Soccer fare in one of the most hostile environments in North America?Can Los Angeles bounce back from an embarrassing 3-1 defeat at home to the New England Revolution? Or will Sporting establish themselves as the class of the league? Kickoff at Livestrong is scheduled for 1 p.m. PT/4 p.m. ET and will be televised by ESPN and ESPN Deportes. Keep it right here on Bleacher Report for continuing coverage of the 2012 Major League Soccer season and all things world football.Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

Los Angeles Galaxy: Ins and Outs, April 4, 2012

LA Dance...Into The Fire! Until we dance into the fire, That fatal kiss is all we need.Dance into the fire, To fatal sounds of broken dreams...-Duran Duran, "A View To A Kill" Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy are entering the cauldron Livestrong Sporting Park in Kansas City, KS, straggling, wounded, bloodied and broken, but not unbowed. Awaiting them: Sporting Kansas City in the Apr. 7 Holy Saturday tilt (1 pm PT/4 pm ET: ESPN, ESPN Deportes). For Robbie Keane, who salvaged some dignity last week against the New England Revolution, he knows the odds are suddenly stacked against the defending league champions.  “It’s never good when you lose a game, especially when you’ve got a week ‘til your next game," Keane told MLSSoccer.com's Luis Bueno. "If there’s a game in a few days time, you kind of have to get your head around getting yourself focused, but it’s going to be a long week for the boys. "It’s up to everyone to pick their heads up and be men.” Accountability is important for the Galaxy heading into their match, but bouncing back with authority is also just as critical.“We have to take this as a team, as a group of players," Keane added. "We ...

Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Sporting Kansas City: 10 Bold Predictions

What is going on with the Los Angeles Galaxy? These are difficult times for Bruce Arena's men, and it will not get any easier as they hit the road for the first time in league play.On Saturday, the Galaxy take on the beasts from the East, Sporting Kansas City. Kickoff at Livestrong Sporting Park is scheduled for 1 p.m. PT/4 p.m. ET and will be televised by ESPN and ESPN Deportes.Here are 10 bold predictions heading into Saturday's east-versus-west matchup.Begin Slideshow

2012 MLS Power Rankings: Week 4

This week, the East strikes back in the 2012 MLS Power Rankings, with Sporting Kansas City checking in at the very top.Tumbling down the rankings are the Los Angeles Galaxy, who slide outside the top 10 after an embarrassing defeat to the New England Revolution. Meanwhile, the Montreal Impact and Toronto FC switch places at the cellar.Movers, shakers and more. We have it all in this week's MLS Power Rankings. Let's take a look.Begin Slideshow

LA Galaxy vs. New England Revolution: Rating David Beckham’s Performance

"But David, we wonder We wonder if the thunder Is ever really gonna begin.You want the day to come sooner When you've settled the score..."—Steven Patrick Morrissey, "The National Front Disco" It is very hard for me to give David Beckham's player rating a three out of 10, but that is what I intend to do in this piece. I will give the New England Revolution credit for this: they are the first team this year to completely neutralize David Beckham's set piece ability. They took the game away from him, and he was unable to take it back, and with it, any hopes of the Los Angeles Galaxy defeating the Revs in their only meeting this season. From what I saw, Beckham only had one legit set piece opportunity, and that happened late in the first half. The Revolution players are a crafty bunch in that they hid the slot machine somewhere in Kansas City so that they would not get affected by the damage Beckham could have generated. But he is not just getting a rating of a three for poor play. Two other factors came into this. First, Beckham was subbed out with Marcelo Sarvas at halftime for Michael Stephens ...

L.A. Galaxy vs. New England Revolution: Rating the Galaxy Players After 3-1 Loss

Dismal displays are just that: dismal. You cannot explain the inability to utlize talent and translate that into results. If you tried to, you might as well win a Nobel Peace Prize. No, wait, make that Ig Nobel Peace Prize. That's the word. But back to the point this columnist is making: It was a sorry Saturday night for the Los Angeles Galaxy, who paid the price for not having a healthy Landon Donovan to spearhead their hopes. They were routed 3-1 by the New England Revolution, and that means there will not be any high ratings for the players. As I will continue to reiterate to you wonderful readers on The View from Victoria Street and Bleacher Report, the players earn their ratings; I simply record them. Here they are.  Josh Saunders, 3 Ouch. It's bad enough not to have a backline that can at least run with a middle-of-the-road Eastern Conference Team like the New England Revolution, but when you can't make enough saves, it adds salt to the wound. Saunders was left hung out to dry and really did not acquit himself at all against a Revolution attack that is resurging in terms of relevance. Memo to ...

LA Galaxy vs. New England Revolution: 6 Things We Learned

Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy have been making a very disturbing habit of inconsistency. Lose 3-1, win 3-1, and so on. Saturday at the Home Depot Center, the Galaxy raised the bar in terms of offensive and defensive futility, unraveling early and often in a 3-1 blowout defeat to Jay Heaps' New England Revolution. Just what went wrong on Saturday for LA, and what went right for the Revs? Here are six things we learned from in Week 4 of the 2012 Major League Soccer season. 1. No Landon = No Victory This should be a rule. In fact, starting on the first of April, let's make that a rule: If you don't have Landon Donovan to help you, you are guaranteed a defeat. Sure, the Galaxy had David Beckham, Edson Buddle, Robbie Keane and Marcelo Sarvas, but in the end, the true captain of the Galaxy is what holds the team together. Out nursing a quad injury, Donovan's absence had a profound impact on the match. There was no decision making, the defensive presence was absent, and New England was able to effectively utilize the counterattack in their victory. Get well soon, Landon, or else April will be a ...

LA Galaxy vs. New England Revolution Live Blog: Play-by-Play Analysis, Reaction

Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy continue their 2012 Major League Soccer season on Saturday, March 31st against Jay Heaps' New England Revolution at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. PT/11 p.m. ET and will be televised by NBC Sports. A live blog of the match will begin at 6:15 p.m. PT/9:15 p.m. ET.Keep it right here on Bleacher Report for continuing coverage of the 2012 MLS season and all things world football.Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

Los Angeles Galaxy: Ins and Outs, March 29, 2012

Are two Supporters' Shields better than one? A huge, million-dollar question was brought up by Los Angeles Galaxy manager Bruce Arena earlier this week: should the MLS Western Conference regular season champion win two Supporters' Shields?One would be for finishing first in the West, the other for finishing first in the league, since the West is presumably superior to its Eastern counterparts. “[The Shield] does carry the same meaning because they give it,” Arena recently told MLSsoccer.com's Luis Bueno. “Why they did not understand that it skews the competition, I don’t quite get it, is odd to me. "I think if you are going to have an unbalanced schedule, what you should have is a regular-season champion in both leagues. It doesn’t make sense doing it the way we’re doing it.” In the unbalanced schedule, Western Conference teams will have to play against their Eastern rivals once per year, while they face other Western Conference opponents three times per year. In the end, only one will be awarded. But for Los Angeles, their road to the Shield will get a little bit harder. “You still want to be on top at the end of the year, regardless,” Arena said. “Having the competition ...