4Jun/110
LA Galaxy vs D.C. United: Defensive Galaxy Settle for Scoreless Draw
Oh, the two Donovans. How we miss you. For those of you not in the know (shame on you lot), I'm referring to Los Angeles Galaxy Landon Donovan and goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts.Josh Saunders did well in relief of the Jamaican international, but David Beckham was having a hard time dictating Bruce Arena's 4-4-2 diamond as they settled for a scoreless draw with D.C. United on Military Appreciation Night at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.With the result, LA improves to 8-2-6 (30 points), still good for best overall in the league. But that was little consolation for a clearly exhausted Galaxy side.“The only one good thing about tonight is that we lost these games at home last year," Arena told reporters after the match. "I gave the players three days off this week and it showed. Tonight’s performance was absolutely poor. "You have to give our opponent some credit, but it was poor. There was no quality to our game tonight. Passing was poor. Effort was just okay. We just didn’t get it done. There are no excuses—it was just a poor performance.”"Heavy legs, tired legs, we didn’t have a good performance," Galaxy defender Todd Dunivant said. "And properly ...4Jun/110
Los Angeles Galaxy vs. D.C. United: Live Blog, Play-by-Play Analysis, Reaction
Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy begin a month of June without the two Donovans: midfielder Landon Donovan and goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, who are off for CONCACAF Gold Cup duty. Their first assignment: rectify a 1-1 result on the road against Ben Olsen's D.C. United. Currently, Los Angeles are 8-2-5 (29 points) and are riding a four-game winning streak. D.C. United are 4-4-3 (15 points) and are on a four-game unbeaten streak as they sit in the middle of the MLS Eastern Conference. Keep it right here on Bleacher Report for continuing coverage of the 2011 Major League Soccer season.Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com3Jun/110
Los Angeles Galaxy Ins and Outs, June 3, 2011
Ricketts looking to bring glory to Reggae BoysLos Angeles Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, who plays for the Jamaican national team, believes that the "Reggae Boys" are due for success at this year's CONCACAF Gold Cup.“[Jamaicans are] just special people,” Ricketts told MLSSoccer.com's Luis Bueno. “We have a fighting spirit. Once we set our minds to something and we have the right focus, anything is possible.”Jamaica takes on Grenada at the Home Depot Center on June 6, 2011 to open Group B play. They will then take on Guatemala at Miami's Florida International University Stadium on June 10 before concluding group play against Honduras at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey on June 13.“Success for anyone would be winning the tournament and playing the best brand of football you can possibly play and seeing how far it takes you,” Ricketts said. “So hopefully we get to the final, if not semifinals.”However, lifting the Gold Cup is not the Reggae Boys' ultimate goal, Ricketts argues.“This tournament is for putting players together, seeing where the team is at and seeing if we can find some form of chemistry," Ricketts said. “Next year are the World Cup qualifiers. That’s our ultimate goal. We ...30May/110
Los Angeles Galaxy vs. D.C. United: Will Depth Win the Day for LA?
Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy will be without the services of midfielder/team captain Landon Donovan and goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts for the month of June, as they host D.C. United at the Home Depot Center on June 3.The Galaxy are riding a four-game winning streak to go with a six-game unbeaten streak. Los Angeles has a record of 8-2-5 (29 points), good for first overall in Major League Soccer."Well obviously we’re only losing two players right now in (Donovan) Ricketts and (Landon) Donovan and certainly (Josh) Saunders is going to get the call in the goal," Arena told reporters on Saturday. "With Landon, we have a combination of players we can use so we’ll make due the best we can. We’re 15 games in now. We only have four games in June, two home and two away."For us, that’s like being on vacation compared to what we’ve been through. We’ve had three weeks of three games in a week so that’s been difficult but hopefully some guys will step up and step in for Landon Donovan and Saunders is going to have the responsibility in Ricketts’ position."Saunders currently has a 2-1-1 record to go with a 1.50 goals against average, a 68.8 ...30May/110
2011 MLS Power Rankings: Week 11
Right now, the world is still abuzz with excitement as it crowns FC Barcelona as the club footballing capital of Europe. Whether or not it becomes the club footballing capital of the world will be determined come December.Back in the good old U.S. of A, another high-profile club is making their move for dominance.Unfortunately, the Los Angeles Galaxy are far from becoming the FC Barcelona of Major League Soccer because Bruce Arena is no Pep Guardiola. And they don't play like Barça, either.But that hasn't stopped the Galaxy from retaining the No. 1 spot in this week's MLS Power Rankings, which has also seen the Philadelphia Union and Seattle Sounders issue statement victories over the weekend.Allow me to emulate the chorus of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Ahem.These are the Rankings...Begin Slideshow29May/110
LA Galaxy Get Chance and Luck in 1-0 Win over New England Revolution
In the anime series "Angel Beats!", there is a character by the name of TK that is known for eccentric English phrases. One of them is his catch phrase, "Get Chance And Luck."It could not have been any more true for Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy, who made the most of the chances, denied the chances Steve Nicol's New England Revolution had in front of them, and rode on a little bit of luck from the crossbar in their 1-0 victory over New England at Gillette Stadium.The second minute of stoppage time featured some tenacious defending from the Galaxy, who need to make these types of stops.If Omar Gonzalez or Donovan Ricketts is beat, A.J. DeLaGarza is there to lay his body and clear it off his line. If a deflection of the crossbar finds the feet of Shalrie Joseph, Gonzalez, Donovan Ricketts and Landon Donovan are there to clear as one.At the same time, this just goes to show you how much the Galaxy are going to miss the two Donovans in June. They pose a strong defensive presence, and while this June will be Josh Saunders's time to shine, someone will need to step up in Landon's absence.The ...28May/110
MLS: Los Angeles Galaxy vs. New England Revolution: Analysis, Reaction and More
Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy are looking to continue their winning ways when they take on Steve Nicol’s New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The Galaxy are 7-2-5 (26 points), and are first overall in the league, while the Revolution are 3-4-4 (13 points), good enough for fifth in the MLS Eastern Conference. However, they have three games in hand over Los Angeles. Today will be the last game for a number of players on both sides before they take part in national team duty ahead of the Gold Cup: Landon Donovan and Donovan Ricketts for the Galaxy; and Shalrie Joseph and Benny Feilhaber for the Revs. Keep it right here on Bleacher Report for continuing coverage of the 2011 Major League Soccer season.Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com26May/110
Los Angeles Galaxy vs. New England Revolution: Shipping Up to Boston
Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy will look to rectify a couple of wrongs when they take on the New England Revolution on Saturday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.First, they'll be looking for payback after being embarassed by the New England Revolution on July 10 of last year at Gilette, when goals from Marko Perovic in the 67th minute and Sainey Nyassi in the 73rd minute shut out a rather dismal performance from Los Angeles.Second, there is the 1-1 draw in the rain against New England at the Home Depot Center on March 20 of this year.Thus, Los Angeles are currently running a two-game winless streak against the Revs and will look to get right on the East Coast.“I don’t think you need to be a genius to figure this one out," Arena told reporters following the game against the Houston Dynamo."It’s real challenging. On top of it we go across the country, which we experienced a couple of weeks ago. I think this is not a good way to schedule, but it is what it is."It’s going to be a real battle and on top of it we will be on an artificial field. It’s going to be really ...26May/110
LA Galaxy Put Up Defensive Clinic in 1-0 Victory over Houston Dynamo
Ladies and gentlemen on Bleacher Report, the following is a special news bulletin from Los Angeles Galaxy featured columnist Jo-Ryan Salazar.We have witnessed another defensive clinic. That's right, another defensive clinic put on by Bruce Arena's Galaxy. The end result: a 1-0 victory over Dominic Kinnear's Houston Dynamo on Wednesday night at the Home Depot Center.Landon Donovan scored his eighth goal of the season off a penalty in the first minute of first half stoppage time.If it weren't for the handball by Lovel Palmer, who threw his hands up to the sky in blasphemous frustration after being called for the foul by match referee Chris Penso, the end result could have been a scoreless draw.And to be honest with you, it should have been. Very little offense was generated, aside from the subpar finishing from both teams. This match was all about defending, defending, defending.David Beckham had his testimonial obligations this week for Manchester United, and was unable to inject some more production for the Galaxy. No question, the magic man from London was missed, and will be needed when the Galaxy take on the New England Revolution this weekend.Of course, he is expected to play a bigger role in ...26May/110