Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Portland Timbers: Rating David Beckham’s Performance

All right, Stuart Pearce, you win. I was fool to think you would actually have any sanity, let alone common sense and exclude the Los Angeles Galaxy's David Beckham from the roster of Team Great Britain at the 2012 London Olympic Games. But I will warn you, good sir: you're not winning a medal. That is the curse I put on your team these Olympics. You are getting someone whose best days are behind him, and let me tell you: your Olympic journey is over before it even begins thanks your decision to not consider the reality laid before you, that David Beckham is not that good of a player. Let that be on your head heading into July. Cue the evil laughter. Now then, on to Beckham. And now, fellow readers, these matches in Major League Soccer now become training for Becks heading into the Olympics. The objective for LA's No. 23 is to work on becoming a provider that the young Brits can rely on when they face Senegal, the United Arab Emirates and Uruguay, the latter which I am pegging to take Group A...with authority. Todd Dunivant is not going to be suiting up for Team GB ...

Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Portland Timbers: Rating the Galaxy Players

Hmmm, now this is going to make for some rather, how should I say it...Oh yes, positive ratings.Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy have won a game. Yes, that's right, the Galaxy have won a game, defeating the Portland Timbers 1-0 in a Sunday match at the Home Depot Center that should have seen more production from both sides of the scorer's table. Todd Dunivant's 61st minute header was all the difference for a Galaxy side that played some pretty good defense and took advantage of the long international break.It's a perfect confidence booster heading into a midweek crunch match with Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium. Time for some player ratings. Here we go. Josh Saunders: 9 Here, ladies and gentlemen, is your man of the match. Saunders is paying dividends after going through some counseling to get his whole mind, body and soul in order. Saunders made four saves, but was helped up by an inspired performance from the Galaxy back line. Sean Franklin: 5.5 Didn't have to do too much in the back. Made some stops, did some clearance work, but didn't have to do too much. David Junior Lopes: 4 Along with Chad Barrett and Bryan ...

Portland Timbers vs. Los Angeles Galaxy: 6 Things We Learned

Let me get this straight: the Galaxy actually won a game? Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy actually won a game!? Has the world ended or something? I blame the Kings. And I just had to say that.Regardless of whatever conspiracy you theorize, the Galaxy started the second half of the season on the right track with a 1-0 victory over John Spencer's Portland Timbers at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.With the win, Los Angeles improved to 4-8-2 (14 points) and will look to stay out of the Western Conference cellar this Wednesday against Real Salt Lake.Let's take a look at six things we learned from this match.Begin Slideshow

Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Portland Timbers Live Blog: Play-by-Play Analysis

After a long layoff due to the FIFA International Calendar, it's back to work for Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy, who take on John Spencer's Portland Timbers on Jun. 17 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.With a record of 3-8-2 (11 points), the Galaxy sport the worst record in the MLS Western Conference and the third-worst record overall in all of Major League Soccer. Portland aren't faring any better, as they have a record of 3-5-4 (13 points). Both teams will aim to get out of the conference cellar this weekend.Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET. The Live Blog will begin at approximately 2:15 p.m. PT/5:15 p.m. ET. 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, June 13, 2012

The Return of Josh Saunders For Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy, a surprising wave of good news came when it was revealed that goalkeeper John Saunders would be available to start against the Portland Timbers on Sunday (kickoff: 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET, KDOC and KWHY). Saunders had gone through substance abuse training and was clean and sober heading into this week. He was in action on June 2 against the Portland Timbers reserves. "It felt natural," Saunders told MLSSoccer.com's Luis Bueno. "It felt like what I'm supposed to be doing. “Whenever your team’s not winning, you're always thinking about it. You’ve got to look at the positives. There’s a lot of guys who are healthy. We are a good group of people, and we know we can win games.” For Arena, it was refreshing to know that Saunders was ready to do some work for once. "He's done a good job, he's fit, he's mentally right," Arena remarked. "And obviously playing in the reserve game last weekend helped him." More Reserve League Fun Speaking of Reserve League, the Los Angeles Galaxy reserves blew past the Vancouver Whitecaps, 3-1. Jose Villareal, who rebounded from his injury earlier this season, scored a brace in ...

Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Portland Timbers: 10 Bold Predictions

With a lot of time to think about what exactly went wrong for Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy, the defending MLS Cup Champions will be out to salvage their season starting on Jun. 17 against the Portland Timbers at the Home Depot Center.It has been a sorry season of all sorts for the Galaxy, who possess Major League Soccer's third-worst record, a paltry 3-8-2 (11 points). Injuries, national team duty, and suspensions have made life miserable for Los Angeles.However, these are bold predictions for a reason. Sometimes they bow to conventional wisdom. Other times, conventional wisdom takes a back seat. For this match, I am going with the latter.Here are 10 bold predictions for the match between the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Portland Timbers.Begin Slideshow

Los Angeles Galaxy: Ins and Outs, June 9, 2012

Youth Academy Update As Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy continued their long break ahead of their June 17 match with the Portland Timbers, the youth academies were doing the business, wrapping up the regular season with SoCal Division crowns in U.S. Soccer Development Academy play. The Under-16s head into the U.S. Soccer Development Academy playoffs on an 18-game unbeaten streak after shutting out Nomads SC 2-0. Chris Constantini opened the scoring just two minutes into the contest while Steve Martinez doubled the Young G's advantage in the 61st minute of play. As for the Under-18s, they crushed Nomads to the tune of 5-0. Rolando Munoz opened the scoring in the 26th minute. Justin Dhillon added a brace in the 45th and 76th minutes. Other goalscorers for the U-18s include Jose Rivera and Pedro Lugo. The Under-12s side also has some playoff action to attend to. On June 18, they will compete in the US Youth Far West Regionals in Phoenix, Ariz. The winner of that tournament will advance to the US Youth Soccer National Championships, scheduled for July 25-29 in Rock Hill, S.C. Ease up on Leonardo As for Arena, he breathed a sigh of relief when he found out that ...

Los Angeles Galaxy: Ins and Outs, June 7th, 2012

CONCACAF Champions League business This past week, the draw for the 2012-13 CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage took place. Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy were drawn into Group 5, which also features Isidro Metapan of El Salvador and the third-place team from the Caribbean Football Connection. Among the possible clubs from that group: USL Pro side Antigua Barracuda FC of Antigua and Barbuda, Caledonia AIA and W Connection of Trinidad and Tobago and the Puerto Rico Islanders of the NASL. “We are looking forward to returning to play in the CONCACAF Champions League,” Arena said, per the team's official website. “We know that we will have to play four difficult games against Metapan and our Caribbean opponents but we look forward to the challenge.” The Los Angeles Galaxy qualified for this year's Champions League by winning the 2011 MLS Supporters Shield and 2011 MLS Cup. Isidro Metapan qualified for this year's edition by winning the 2011 Apertura. Caledonia and W Connection finished in the top two of the 2011-12 TT Pro League, while Puerto Rico qualified as the defending CFU Club Championship champion. More injury concerns The Los Angeles Galaxy continue to walk wounded. Forward Edson Buddle and midfielder Dan Keat undergone ...

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

Trouble for Magee and Stephens The bad news continues for Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy. Midfielders Mike Magee and Michael Stephens were fined and suspended by the MLS Disciplinary Committee this past week. Both Magee and Stephens were shown yellow cards for their incidents. But the Disciplinary Committee ruled that Stephens endangered the safety of his opponent on his 46th-minute foul on Adam Moffat. Magee, on the other hand, was deemed to have committed aggravated dissent against referee Silviu Petrescu, including throwing a ball in his direction in the second minute of second half stoppage time. As a result, Los Angeles will now be without both Magee and Stephens, as well as fellow midfielder Hector Jimenez, for the game against Portland on June 17. Jimenez was given a two-game suspension for his foul on San Jose’s Steven Beitashour in LA’s 3-2 loss to the Earthquakes on May 23. Reserves break through in Portland While it has been difficult for the first team to get a positive result at Jeld-Wen Field, it has not been the case for the Los Angeles Galaxy reserves, who powered their way to a 2-1 victory over the Portland Timbers reserves on Saturday. Kyle Nakazawa opened the scoring in the third ...

Los Angeles Galaxy: Ups and Downs

The Aftermath of an Open Cup crash Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy have a lot of time to think ahead to their next contest of the season, a June 17 match with the Portland Timbers. The Galaxy exited the U.S. Open Cup with a 2-1 loss to the Carolina RailHawks in the third round. "With the way the season has been going, a lot of us haven’t been getting a lot of minutes," Galaxy midfielder Michael Stephens told MLSSoccer.com's Luis Bueno. "We were planning on playing next week, so it’s a big disappointment for us." "It’s a point in the game where we were a little fatigued,” Arena told the press. “We’d used all three of our changes at that point. We had some unfortunate injuries. They were more aggressive obviously in the last 30 minutes." Among the casualties were Hector Jimenez, Chad Barrett and Bryan Gaul, who were subbed out due to injury. "The fact that we had three guys come out with injuries, three guys who had actually been playing games, three guys that would have been in to play 90 minutes was a little bit unfortunate," Stephens added. "I think you saw that a lot of guys ran out ...