June 9th, 2007 . 10:04 am . By: Jason Benfield

Fun Facts

 - The Galaxy are winless in their last 4 games.

 - The Galaxy have one of the worst offenses in the league (1.00 GPG), and have taken the second least number of shots per game (9.85).

 - FC Dallas have the third worst defense in the league (1.45 GPG) and have allowed the most shots (13.5 per game).

 - Landon Donovan (2 goals, 5 assists) has accounted for all 7 of the Galaxy’s goals this year.

The Galaxy are Coming up Lame Without Their Galactico

Los Angeles are off to a rough start to the 2007 season.  They come into this weekend’s game on a 4 game winless streak (5 if you count the Rangers friendly), are without their top stars, and have lost several other key players to injury.  Frank Yallop is a good coach, and has continuously tinkered with the lineup to try to put a winning side out on the field; however, his options are severely limited at this point.  The Galaxy find themselves doing whatever they can to stay in the race until they get all of their pieces into place.

Yallop has struggled to find a formation that fits the Galaxy talent.  The abundance of wing and central midfielders has tempted him to move to a 4-3-3 formation, and most of the games in the early season have bourne this look.  However, as the season has progressed, he has begun to slide more towards his favored 4-4-2.  The outside forwards in the 4-3-3 were comprised of players who had spent a number of season in the midfield (Martino, Jones, Donovan, Jaqua, and Quaranta have all played on the outside so far).  Those players could not shake the midfield tendency to drop back and help on defense, giving the team more of a 4-5-1 look.  Combined with the decision to play a triangle midfield with two defensive mids, this made for a very defensive formation.  Opposing teams were allowed to attack with numbers, and a consistent Galaxy attack could not be generated.  In the few games where LA sent numbers into the attack (for example, their second game of the season against FCD), the lack of speed at central defense left them vulnerable to the counter.  Realizing this was a problem, Yallop came out in the last game in a 4-4-2, and will probably stay in that formation for the rest of the season.

Defensively, LA have been pretty solid.  And their first choice lineup by the end of the season would have been fantastic – Cannon in the nets, Albright on the right, Marshall and Xavier in the middle, and Jazic on the left.  However, this unit has been ravaged.  Albright is done, possibly for the year, with a torn hamstring.  The second choice right back, Troy Roberts, has been out with a hip injury.  Sturgis is third choice, but international call ups require his use in the midfield.  Ian Russell popped his hamstring in the last match.  So, LA are down to their 6th option at right back, rookie Ty Harden.  Marshall has played every match, but has lost a couple of steps and has not played well.  Xavier isn’t available yet, and Harden has been pushed outside, so Veris is starting at the other center back.  Veris is athletic and strong, with a lot of upside, but can still be inconsistent.  He was good against DC last week, so he bears watching.  On the left, Jazic is on duty with Canada, and the backup, Harden, is over on the right.  So Mike Randolph will be used.  Luckily for LA, they are extremely deep at defense.  All of the youngsters have actually done pretty well, and the rag-tag unit was able to keep DC United off the score sheet.

In the midfield, again the first choice team is outstanding.  Rumor has it that when Beckham arrives, he will be given the keys at attacking midfield.  Vagenas will play behind him, with Jones on the right and Martino on the left.  In the meantime, Vagenas is playing attacking mid.  Pete is a solid player, but lacks the vision to be a true creative influence, and doesn’t consistently get involved into the attack.  This often forces Donovan to come back deep into the midfield, again giving the Galaxy a 4-5-1 look.  Harmse normally plays behind Vagenas, but he is out for the Gold Cup with Canada.  Sturgis, who is turning into a very solid professional who can play well at a variety of positions, replaces him.  Jones has been the first choice on the right in the 4-4-2.  He is not quite fit, and has been a shadow of his former self, having minimal influence on games this year.  Martino is on the left and has been his typical maddeningly inconsistent self, with brilliant outings followed by lackluster performances.  He has become a wing player now, as he is not physical enough to play defensively in the middle, but he lacks the work rate and consistency to be an effective piece of the offense.  Off the bench, Quaranta continues to wait in the wings, but came into the season out of shape and has not had a big impact on games thus far.

Up top, the primary choices are Donovan and Gordon.  Theoretically, Donovan is great and Gordon is the target player the Galaxy have been missing for the last couple of years.  In reality, Donovan is inconsistent and takes himself out of games when play is too physical, and Gordon is unproven and was ineffective in the games before he got hurt.  With Gordon injured and Donovan out of the Gold Cup, Jaqua and Findley will probably pair up top.  Jaqua has been used both on the wing and at forward this season, and has been awful.  He has completely taken himself out of the national team picture with his work to date, and last week missed some easy sitters that could not have helped his confidence.  Findley is a very intriguing prospect.  He plays bigger than his size, has good speed, great acceleration, and a knack for finding the ball around goal.  He has been inconsistent this season, sometimes really influencing a game, and others rarely seeing the ball, which is typical of a rookie in MLS.  But the kid has great upside.

Possible Lineups

FC Dallas

Based on Buzz’s training reports, both Goodson and Gbandi are expected to start, we expect Oduro to be inserted for Cooper, and we know that FCD practiced this week in the 4-3-1-2.  Kenny has really struggled for the past several matches, and a rest could do him some good.  Oduro, on the other hand, will be able to use his pace to put himself behind a slow Galaxy backline.

Late news became available late this week that Nunez picked up a knock in training, and he is now listed as questionable for the match.  Because of this injury, and the fact that LA is so inexperienced on the outside, I think that FCD will revert back to the traditional 4-3-3.  There hasn’t been anything in training that would indicate such a switch, but it would push Nunez to the bench, AA would play on the left, Abe in the middle, and Oduro on the right.

LA Galaxy

LA is really banged up; the players out for this game would make up a pretty solid MLS side.  The Galaxy will most likely run out a 4-4-2.  Yallop is a bit limited with what he can do defensively, but he has options up top and in the midfield.  I believe he will use Jaqua and Findley up top, with Martino on the left and Jones on the right.  However, he could easily pair Martino with Jaqua and give Quaranta a start on the left.  Jaqua had wrist surgery this week, but is expected to play.

When Dallas attacks

The FCD attack has really struggled the past two games.  The forwards have failed to deliver much energy, and the midfield has not given proper service.  The addition of Oduro should provide the energy, and will also free up some space for Thompson to receive the ball at the point of the attack.  Oduro And Alvarez are much faster than Veris, Harden, or Marshall.  The speed and agility of Oduro and Alvarez could have a large impact.  Finally, Dax and Toja absolutely must get forward more often than they have in the past two games.  If Toja or Alvarez can isolate Harden on the left, they have a major advantage.  Harden is able to position himself well on the inside, but can be beat for speed outside and is not very agile.  When LA gets caught in the attack, it will leave Sturgis isolated in the middle.  Sturgis is a solid distributor, but is not a very physical player.  When Toja and Dax pinch inside on the attack, they will have a lot of space to operate.

When LA attacks

Unfortunately for LA, Dallas matches up quite well with them defensively.  Jaqua can be handled by either Yi or Goodson.  Dallas tends to struggle with dynamic, fast forwards, but Findley is not consistent enough yet to provide too much of a threat.  Ricchetti will be able to handle Vagenas up the middle; this is important because against LA when you control the middle they start making passes outside and will over-use the wings.  From that point, the Galaxy will try to make runs to the endline and serve crosses into the middle, where they have nobody capable of finishing that type of ball.  Even on the outside, however, LA does not pose much of a threat.  Gbandi can keep up with a slower Jones and is more athletic, and on the other side, Martino doesn’t have the speed to give Moor problems.  LA could struggle to get anything going on offense.

Final Analysis

If ever there was a game for Dallas to pick up their first shutout of the season, this is it.  Without Donovan, LA does not have much of a threat up top.  And the depletion of their defense will keep them from pushing numbers into the attack.  The most interesting aspect to watch is whether or not the FCD attack can be resurrected.  LA is sure to hang back in the midfield, using both Vagenas and Sturgis to clog things up.  But the switch to the true 4-3-3 will isolate the LA outside backs, who are not very experienced.  As Dallas puts more and more players into the attack, Findley will have the opportunity to counter, and the Hoops could give up a goal against the run of play.

However, I don’t see that happening.  The Hoops get a goal midway through the first half, and then tack on two more late in the second when LA is forced to press forward.

FCD 3, LAG 0

Categories: Match Preview.

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