MLS Season Preview: LA Galaxy

The kickoff to the 2007 MLS season is right around the corner and our merry cast of bloggers have the league covered like white on rice. Today we take a look at the LA Galaxy, a team that will be the focus of much international media attention come July. Your tour guide is Laurie who will bring a smile to your face daily on the LA Galaxy Offside blog, as well as on the France World Cup Blog. Her season preview is after the jump.

Nuts and Bolts

To the great shock of everyone, LA sucked rather epically last year, tying for last in the Western Conference and not making the playoffs for the first time in MLS history. Is this sad or what? Seriously. How can you NOT make the playoffs in MLS? Don’t they, like, post open invitations in USA Today or something? (”PLEASE, PLEASE come to our playoffs! You’ll have FUN! No, REALLY!”)

Needless to say, this was not a happy result for a team that has won the MLS Cup twice and even took the CONCACAF Champions Cup once. It seems to have been a shock and a wakeup call, and Coach Frank Yallop, GM Alexi Lalas and owner Phil Anschutz (aka the billionaire behind AEG) are intent on shaking things up this year. The Beckham signing, other new players, and a switch to 4-3-3 are done deals. Are we excited? Are we? (Hmm… I thought I was being sarcastic, but…well… Yes, I am excited, actually.)

The stars

Do I even have to mention the names of the Galaxy’s “stars”? Unless you’ve been living in a cave, what player do you immediately think of when you think of the LA Galaxy? I can state with approximately 98% certainty that you came up with one of two names: Landon Donovan or David Beckham. But which name did you think of? Ah, that’s where the interest of the season will come from. Both are used to being superstar big fish. How will they play on the same team?

Becks has had a hellacious time of it this past year, getting dumped from the England National Team and benched at Real Madrid, so I’d guess he doesn’t have too much soccer-related ego to throw around anymore. (I actually believe him when he says he just wants to make a difference in American soccer.) AND he’s going to have something big to prove. I’ve watched a couple of games he’s played in this season, and I feel comfortable saying that he still has skills that the team needs. Don’t underestimate him, because if you do he just might shove a free kick down your goalkeeper’s throat.

And what about Landon Donovan? Landon has incredible talent. (Witness his truly amazing hat trick this weekend against Ecuador.) But Landon is troublingly inconsistent. And with Beckham’s arrival comes the Big Question of the year: Will having someone to share the “star player” burden take the pressure off Donovan and allow him to thrive, or will it make him curl up into a fetal position and spend the season watching the game go by? We’re expecting and hoping for the former. Stay tuned.

The newcomers

The Galaxy made several good acquisitions during the off-season, any of whom could have an impact. The one I’m probably watching most, though, is forward and US International Nate Jaqua. Jaqua was acquired from Chicago (via Toronto) during the off-season in an attempt to find the right strike partner for Landon Donovan. (This quest has now been made even more interesting by the Galaxy’s ‘07 switch to 4-3-3.) But wouldn’t it be fun to see Nate make a name for himself in his own right? Judging by his preseason performance, he has the skills. So watch him closely this season.

Keep an eye on

Don’t write off midfielder Cobi Jones just yet. The old-timer, who turns thirty-seven in June, is the only MLS player who has been with the same team since the inception of MLS, and he has announced his retirement after this year. This means he is going to want Big Things for his last season, particularly after the Galaxy’s dismal performance last year. He’s already scored two goals in the pre-season and has the ability and desire to score more during the regular season. (And I’m quite certain that this opinion is not just wishful thinking on the part of us aging folks with our aching bones and creaking joints who are living vicariously through Cobi. Or…well…whatever. Go, Cobi!!)

We’ll win the league if…..

Beckham and Donovan can click on the field. My big question: Will we be seeing a Galaxy that Bends it Like Beckham, or one that Does it Like Donovan? Or will we split the difference? Who’s going to get the nod for those all-important free kicks and corners? And how will the ego of the other handle that?

We’ll be in trouble if….

– Donovan uses the arrival of Beckham as a reason to go missing. (This — going missing for long periods — is a bad habit of Landon’s that he, with luck, is growing out of.)

– Beckham picks up an injury. The guy is thirty-one. He gives 100%. Will the ol’ body be able to take it?

– Our team is too distracted by extracurriculars like SuperLiga and the World Cup of Football to focus on MLS or we’re missing too many international players for too many games.

– Our minimum wage players feel too much resentment toward their high-paid superstar brothers. OR the non-Beckham Galaxy players get fed up with the Paparazzi and Reality TV Lifestyle that accompany Becks and Posh everywhere they go. OR, in the long run, if we have a hard time retaining good players because too much of the money under the salary cap is going to the Big Two, Donovan and Beckham.

You might not know

– David Beckham is married to former Spice Girl Posh Spice. (Okay, that was a cheapie. EVERYBODY knows that.)

– Landon Donovan married actress Bianca Kajilich this year, and they served In-and-Out burgers at their reception. (Remember here that one of the reasons Landon came home from playing in Germany was that he missed US food. Including and especially In-and-Out Burgers.)

– About the LA Riot Squad, a supporters group who hang out in Section 138 and drink much beer. One of my favorite “official” chants/songs:

WHO’S YER FATHER?
Whos yer father
Whos yer father
Whos yer father refereeee?
You don’t have one
You don’t have one
Your a bastard referee
Whos yer father
Whos yer father
Whos yer father refereeee?
Could have been me
Could have been me

(Although technically it could biologically NOT have been me, I am still amused by the thought behind it.)

Go, Galaxy!

Follow the LA Galaxy all season long on the LA Galaxy Offside.

Get your LA Galaxy Soccer Gear

Tomorrow’s preview: Colorado Rapids

Some Related Stories:

Category: MLS, World Football