All-Star gaffer Arena set for delicate balancing act
Galaxy coach must balance his own ASG players with CCL duty
Luis Bueno
MLSsoccer.com
Thursday, July 15, 2010 - 6:25pm


CARSON, Calif. – Earlier this week, four Los Angeles Galaxy players were selected to Major League Soccer’s First XI and, along with coach Bruce Arena, will represent the Galaxy in the MLS All-Star Game.

And while the league as a whole has been captivated by the All-Star Game, to be played against Manchester United in Houston on July 28, the Galaxy’s excitement for the match is tempered somewhat.

The Galaxy, after all, have an important fixture on July 27 when the club is scheduled to play against the Puerto Rico Islanders in a CONCACAF Champions League qualifying match.

Having to compete in an international match in Southern California one night and then against Manchester United is, after all, challenging.

“It certainly is a challenge," Arena said. "It’s pretty difficult. There are going to be five first-team all-stars who are going to be in that position – Dwayne De Rosario with Toronto will be in the same situation and then on Wednesday night Seattle plays so Seattle will be excluded from the All-Star Game.”

MLS clubs are starting to face the usual summer challenge as the schedule is suddenly congested for most teams. The Galaxy, for instance, will play two league matches, two Champions Leagues games and a friendly in a span of 17 days, beginning with a July 22 game against San Jose.

Adding the All-Star Game to the equation makes the travel and fixtures a bit more of a challenge.

“I think it’s difficult but I’d like to see down the road if we wish to continue to do this that we can find a time when it doesn’t conflict with league competitions or outside competitions,” Arena said.

While the Champions League match is more than 10 days away, Arena said he will have to monitor the First XI players – Landon Donovan, Edson Buddle, Omar Gonzalez and Donovan Ricketts – and how they fare against Puerto Rico before he figures out how many minutes they can play against Manchester United.

It's likely the Galaxy will use many of their first-team players – Gonzalez said he is "definitely" playing against Puerto Rico, for instance – and what condition the First XI quartet, and any others who may make the team as reserves, will be taken into consideration come the All-Star Game.

“It’s likely the players who are playing the night before will have minutes substantially lower than some of the other players," Arena said. "We’ve got to do what makes sense. We’ve got to get those players through the game on Tuesday and then see what kind of shape those players are in on Wednesday in Houston and see if they can play at all.”

Still, having the chance for MLS players to compete against the likes of Manchester United is a unique opportunity.

“It’s great," Arena said. "I think people in this country recognize that brand and there are perhaps three or four club teams from around the world that are highly recognized in this country and I think Manchester United is one of them.

"I’d say Real Madrid and Barcelona are two others and we just happen to be participating with Real Madrid on Aug. 7. So there are a lot of highlights ahead in this season and we’re looking forward to the challenges in this league or our outside competitions as well.”

yo creo que este ha sido el plan en lo que va de la temporada... jugar malísimo para que L.A. lleve el banco y vayan sobre confiados... y ganar...

estaban anunciando el partido contra los Islanders en sus vallas digitales durante gran parte del partido. (hint, hint, pa PRI). Se que no hay vallas digitales disponibles (no se pq) en el JRL, pero deberian tener una pancarta anunciando el proximo partido en casa, en alguna area del estadio con mucho transito. Yo ni se pq gasto energias con nuestra gerencia, eso es caso perdido, supongo que la esperanza es lo ultimo que se pierde

AJ dijo Jul 23^ro, 2010 a las 10:12am:


yo la perdí 

megadicto dijo Jul 23^ro, 2010 a las 11:32am:

como es el galaxy supongo que por FSC y por galavisión, asi que la gerencia valla haciendo los contactos para que teleisla lo pase

El juego es a las 10:00 PM (de acá). Por FSC va en vivo. Todavía Univisión no tiene calendarios, pero me imagino que ellos van a pasar el San Francisco - Cruz Azul.

Los árbitros son de Jamaica. 

Por FSC va en vivo.

Para donde vamos a ver el juego?

El aeropuerto?

BTW. Llego mañana a Puerto Rico.

BoriQa dijo Jul 23^ro, 2010 a las 5:49pm:



Yo me apunto.

Si es allí ojo con el parking que es carísimo (para 2 horas estimen $ 7, mínimo), creo que ya no hay ponches de descuento. Averiguo en la semana para confirmar eso. 

Creo que van a poner una pantalla gigante en Viejo San Juan. 

RONALDO dijo Jul 23^ro, 2010 a las 11:23pm:

no jodas.

Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Puerto Rico Islanders: A Prelim Primer

By  Jo-Ryan Salazar (Los Angeles Galaxy Featured Columnist) on July 23, 2010



After a thrilling 2-2 draw with the San Jose Earthquakes, Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy take a break from Major League Soccer action to face off against the Puerto Rico Islanders in the first leg of the 2010-11 CONCACAF Champions League preliminary round.

Colin Clarke's Islanders are currently going through a difficult season in the 2010 USSF D-2 Pro League, with a 5-7-5 record (20 points). A preliminary round victory ovet Bruce Arena's Galaxy would more than make up for their horrid D-2 campaign.

"It's an honor to be able to represent the Caribbean and our league," Puerto Rico goalkeeper Bill Gaudette said. "To be able to participate in each of the three years is an honor. It's not a gift or a free invitation. You have to qualify every year and fortunately for us we've put some success together to be able to represent our region the last couple of years.

"I felt like some of the success we've had down here in Puerto Rico we could really build on. So far we've been rewarded with the Caribbean championship, but obviously we have a lot more work to do. We want to go out there and win the [USSF Division-2 Pro League] and obviously Champions League would be a huge step."

Gaudette will have his hands full with stopping the attacking tandem of Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle. As for the Islanders' attack, look for goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts to brush off a rusty outing against the Earthquakes with defender Omar Gonzalez making his presence felt in the central defense.

"The leagues in the U.S. have equaled out a bit the last couple of years in terms of quality of play so we're excited to have the opportunity to go and play one of the best clubs in MLS right now," Gaudette added. "They have wonderful players all around the park.

"It's going to be a difficult game for us. We have two chances to give them a game, and we're going to see what happens. We'll go out to LA and give it our best and they have to come down to Puerto Rico, which not many teams like to do."

A key player for LA to mark is Islanders forward David John Foley. He leads the club with five goals on the season. The Galaxy defense will also be wise to prevent chances from the unlikeliest of heroes, such as Kendall Jagdeosingh, whose goal against Toronto FC was the eventual decider in the preliminary round last year.

The Galaxy are currently 12-2-4 (40 points) and are currently leading the 2010 MLS Western Conference and overall standings. Buddle leads the league with 12 goals, while Donovan leads MLS with 11 assists. If the Buddlevan Connection is not kept at bay, this could be a one-sided affair.

Ricketts had a 0.59 goals against average, with 48 saves made this season. Todd Dunivant has been a workhorse on defense, with 1,607 game minutes in 18 appearances donning LA's strip.

The CONCACAF Champions League is the annual international club football championship for teams from the CONCACAF region (North America, Central America, and the Caribbean).

The competition is open to the leading teams in the region and replaced the CONCACAF Champions' Cup, which has run from 1962 to 2008. The winner earns a berth in the next FIFA Club World Cup, which pits each continental confederation's champion against the others each year.

Prediction

Look for the Islanders to play a defensive game, packing it tight, and striking like a cobra when the Galaxy are not set in the back. While Puerto Rico is a step down in talent from San Jose, it does not necessarily mean that this is a team that knows how to capitalize on opportunity.

But what will be the ultimate winner in this first leg...is depth.

"We have a lot of games ahead of us," Arena said after the match with San Jose. "There's no other way to get guys minutes. Kovalenko hasn't played in a long time."—his last appearance was in the second game of the season on April 1, when he suffered a strained right hamstring—"and we have no other way to move him along and get him ready and play and contribute. He has to play.

"Leonardo is an excellent defender and we need to put him in there.

There's going to be situations in a couple of months where we need to rotate our center backs and our holding midfielders. We have to play these players...there's no other way to get them in position as we move forward to help our team. We can't have a situation where six weeks down the road we have a suspension or injury and expect our guys to step on the field and not miss a beat. They had to play."

"The beauty of this team," Donovan said after the Quakes match, "is that we have 24, 25 guys that are very capable of playing and contributing. Throughout the year you've seen all sorts of guys step in and help and make a difference.

"It's going to continue that way. We have a lot of games coming up, we're all prepared for it and everybody's got to be ready to play."

Starting with this.

Manchester United can have the MLS All-Star exhibition. The Galaxy—big guns and all—will take a blowout win. Full steam ahead to Bayamon!

Los Angeels Galaxy 5, Puerto Rico Islanders 0


Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. PT and will be televised by Fox Soccer Channel.

Jean28 dijo Jul 24^to, 2010 a las 6:18pm:



Quien es el ganador de Los partidos???

En el partido de ida Galaxy gana 1-0, Clarke jugara 9-0-1.
En el partido de vuelta Galaxy gana 2-0.

Espero equivocarme, tengo esperansas de q los Islanders den el palo....

En los juegos contra el Galaxy el # 13 Horst no jugara. Como consecuencia de esto nuestra defensa va a mejorar,,,,

Yeivo, La Leyenda dijo Jul 25^to, 2010 a las 3:21pm:


porque?

BoriQa dijo Jul 25^to, 2010 a las 9:29pm:




Segun me dijo Lord, el individuo es un prestamo por no recuerdo que equipo de la MLS y por lo tanto no puede jugar......

BoriQa dijo Jul 24^to, 2010 a las 4:13am:


Canalla, hablastes con ellos?

yo como soy pesimista voy a apostar al 0-0 (conociendo la mente de mime que tienen clarke aveces), y en el peor de los casos otro 1-1 y penales   como los odio

Al final nos juntamos en shanon? Boriqa en que zona estás, dependiendo de eso te puedo pasar a buscar.

Al final nos juntamos en shanon? Boriqa en que zona estás, dependiendo de eso te puedo pasar a buscar.

En los juegos contra el Galaxy el # 13 Horst no jugara. Como consecuencia de esto nuestra defensa va a mejorar,,,,

Alguien me puede explicar esto?


ya parece un equipo de barrio, cual es la necesitad de los directivos de meterse en los entrenamientos?

Pepo dijo Jul 26^to, 2010 a las 11:43pm:


No se Pepo, pero me parece que ya esto es criticar por criticar.  No le veo nada malo...

Yeivo, La Leyenda dijo Jul 25^to, 2010 a las 3:21pm:



Parece que si va a jugar Horst, esta en LA con el equipo y salio en las fotos que acaban de poner en FB (pagina oficial). Parece que el Real SaltLake ya no tiene planes con el--no los culpo 

Champions League gets underway for Galaxy
Goalkeeper Josh Saunders said he expects former team to play the counter and be very organized defensively   

Jean28 dijo Jul 27^to, 2010 a las 2:21am:


porque Univision (telefutura y galavision) tiene los derechos de transmisión en español, mas Fox Sports en Español tiene la Libertadores

Si Guillemard la metía botaban a Clarke...

rafijoepr dijo Jul 27^to, 2010 a las 2:24am:


Gracias por la info.

LordLoxley dijo Jul 26^to, 2010 a las 9:20pm:


Gracias Lord. Ya lo puse en el GPS.

El juego de Toronto FC y Montagua es a las 8pm.

Llego alla como a las 9pm para la 2da mitad, y luego el para el naranjazo!!!

A ver si se animan unos cuantos mas!! 

Cubiche dijo Jul 27^to, 2010 a las 1:41pm:


Apúntame con mi señora.

Watch Los Angeles Galaxy vs Puerto Rico Islanders 10:00 p.m. 7/27 via Live Stream Online (Free Online Video)

Bueno llegare después de la carrera de Culson...... espero que sea una hora antes cuestión de estar borracho cuando el juego comience para pasar el trago amargo chilling..... 

Bueno llegare después de la carrera de Culson...... espero que sea una hora antes cuestión de estar borracho cuando el juego comience para pasar el trago amargo chilling..... 

raven dijo Jul 27^to, 2010 a las 8:39pm:

de hecho, la segunda.  Los mexicanos nos pasaron el rolo en pelota