In review: Looking back at Round 4 of MLS action
We could probably chew all day on the Los Angeles Galaxy and what's going on with The Home Depot Center's primary tenant.
We can argue until our soccer balls come unstitched about management's roster choices, this matter of putting so many salary cap eggs into three baskets. Ultimately, the proof will be in the points pudding come late September.
But nobody can argue this point: The Galaxy's two healthy stars, David Beckham and Landon Donovan, are certainly doing their part. And then some.
Ruud Gullit's side has six goals through four matches. Donovan has five of them, which leads the league. Beckham has the other one.
But look beyond that. Beckham has assisted on three of Donovan's goals. And Beckham provided the troublesome pass last week that a Toronto defender bungled, turning the sequence into a penalty kick. (Who took the penalty? Donovan, of course.)
On the lone Galaxy goal that Donovan didn't score this year, the assist came from -- who else? -- Donovan.
And finally, on Donovan's strike in the run of play last week against Toronto, only Chris Klein registered an official assist. But who gave the pass to Klein? That would be Beckham.
To be sure, the decorated England international is delivering a passing clinic week in and week out. And it's not just swell crosses from the right -- although he's certainly serving an ample supply of nicely shaped efforts from his side of the field. Beckham is also providing a lesson on the effectiveness on early balls from midfield, the kind that catch defenses in that vulnerable moment, before they can get assignments sorted out.
And No. 23 is demonstrating the value of switching the point of attack. No one since Jeff Agoos has maneuvered the MLS ball with such speed from one side of the field to the other. He's also mixing in some passes over medium range.
And finally, Beckham is bothering defenses with intelligent runs. The timing on his looping escape Saturday from Houston left back Wade Barrett was spot-on perfect. As the ball moves forward on the right, Beckham takes a quick step toward the action, then circles quickly around Barrett's outside (left) shoulder. Chris Klein spots the run and weights a perfect pass into Beckham's path.
Believe it: Barrett is one of the league's steadiest, smartest defenders. It takes something extra, something with a little imagination, to create that kind of space on the left side of the Orange's defense.
Beckham then called upon his sublime skills to exploit the opportunity, picking out a streaking Donovan at the far post for the late equalizer.
Beckham has provided, or at least been involved in, almost every Galaxy scoring opportunity this year. Saturday, when not much was happening on the home side's attack, it was Beckham's smart, pinpoint layoff for Edson Buddle that created Los Angeles' first real scoring chance.
It has been that way all year, as balls off Beckham's right foot are keeping the Galaxy within striking distance in matches, at least.
He might soon get the opportunity to strike even more of those pretty passes. The Galaxy's late acquisition last week of Joey Franchino, who didn't seem to be part of New England's plans any longer, looks like a nice pickup. Franchino entered as a halftime sub against the league champs just a day after arriving in Carson.
The Galaxy midfield needed more bite to balance Beckham's technical ability. Franchino can provide it -- providing that he can stay out of disciplinary trouble. He averaged about one yellow card every four matches in 10 previous MLS seasons. (That includes two and a half in Los Angeles; most people forget the feisty defender-midfielder began his career in 1998 under Octavio Zambrano in L.A.)
It remains to be seen whether Franchino, a tough guy who has spent most of his career on the outside, can handle the tough possession and distribution demands of a defensive midfielder. If he can be a ball-hawking bulldog, then quickly move the ball to Beckham before defenses organize to shut off the passing channels into league's top ball striker, the Galaxy fortunes might improve dramatically.
If he can't ... then we'll all still have plenty to talk about regarding the season unfolding on Victoria Street in Carson.
TACTICAL CORNER
Want to know how to set and execute a defensive wall? See the Houston Dynamo's setup against Beckham and the Galaxy from Saturday. Three players jump in unison; one player holds his spot on the end, necessarily fighting for position with the designated offensive wall-buster. Result: no threat on goal.
Want a lesson on how not to execute a wall? Red Bull New York can show you. So can Real Salt Lake.
At Giants Stadium, the Red Bulls wall unraveled just enough for Jeff Larentowicz's driven strike to exploit the gap. Two players on the left side broke off, or got muscled away, depending on how you saw it. Either way, it's a no-no. Chris Leitch looked particularly culpable; Red Bulls boss Juan Carlos Osorio certainly saw it that way. Not only did he fail to hold his ground, Leitch turned, spread his feet and jumped. That's like an unholy triumvirate of evils when manning a free kick wall.
As a result, 10-men New England capped the brave rally, overcoming the deficit despite being a man down on the road for almost a half. If you're Red Bull, that's a bad day.
At BMO Field, a breakdown in Real Salt Lake's wall -- although not as flagrant as in previous example -- led to the game's only goal as Toronto grabbed its first win of 2008.
First, RSL set up with eight or nine men in the wall, depending on how you want to count a couple of guys hanging out on the ends. That's probably too many; past six or seven and you're probably only screening your goalkeeper.
About half the wall jumped while the other half remained low, while disintegrating a bit. The leaks created just enough space for Laurent Robert's turf-cutter to sneak through with pace and beat goalkeeper Nick Rimando.
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