The mix of young and old make the Galaxy a tough team to figure out for the expansion draft. (Getty Images)

We are quickly working our way through the 15 MLS clubs as we gear up for next week's expansion draft. The new kids on the block, the Philadelphia Union will get to select 10 players from the list of unprotected players that each club will have to submit by next Monday.

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All you who criticized Bruce Arena, said the game had passed him by, said he relied too much on old veterans...all you who said Dema Kovalenko was a one-dimensional hack...all you who said there was no way Ricketts or Berhalter would make it through the whole season...all you who said that Beckham and Donovan couldn't work together. Click to continue reading...

This match promises to be a dogfight. The season series between the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo featured exactly one goal and a lot of physical defending. If that sounds a lot like what Chivas and the Galaxy went through for the bulk of their five games this season, its not coincidence.

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And those words are: Meeting the challenge.

Right. So before the first playoff leg I predicted a series score of 2-1. Then before the second playoff leg, seeing the kind of chaos the two teams were creating and the resulting goals, I predicted 2-1 for the game on Sunday.

So, looking at a 3-2 aggregate and a 1-0 second leg scoreline, you can see that I bloody well can't predict anything when it comes to these two teams.

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EDIT - BREAKING NEWS! Preki re-nominated for Hall of Fame! Feel free to factor in his performance over the weekend. (Yes, I know you're not supposed to.)
Now that I've got my head out of the oven, let's warm up with some trivia.
Depending on what happens Friday night, one bit of statistical weirdness will fall. Click to continue reading...

Galaxy 1 Chivas USA 0

Game story

The Houston Dynamo are up next at 8 p.m. Friday in the Western Conference Championship. (live ESPN2).

Notable: This will be the first ever postseason meeting between the Galaxy and Dynamo (the former Earthquakes, of course), which advanced to the Conference Championship today with a 1-0 aggregate goal series win over the Seattle Sounders.

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Galaxy 1 Chivas USA 0

Chivas ch-ch-chokes (again)

Galaxy advance to play Houston at 8 p.m. Friday in Carson.

Dema Kovalenko made a crude gesture as the final whistle blew toward the Chivas USA bench as if to say, "we screwed you again."

Chivas USA Coach Preki blew his top and tried to get to Kovalenko.

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Sunny and 80 degrees here at the under populated Home Depot Center.

Kick off has apparently been pushed back to 2:25 p.m. to accommodate TV if you're wondering.

It's the same starting lineup this afternoon that both teams fielded for the respective MLS season finales.

Here's Arena's team: Donovan Rickettts, Sean Franklin, Gregg Berhalter, Omar Gonzalez, Todd Dunivant, Chris Birchall, David Beckham, Dema Kovalenko, Mike Magee, Edson Buddle, Landon Donovan.

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Welcome back to the playoffs!

It has been three long and, to be blunt, disastrous years since the last time the Galaxy played post-season futbol. That year they peaked at the right time after basically backing in to the playoffs and ended up taking the MLS Cup from New England on Pando Ramirez's only goal of the season.

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And those words are: Western Conference champions!

In a fitting display on their home turf, the Los Angeles Galaxy put the finishing touches on a worst-to-first regular season for 2009. After a horrific 2008, the culmination of years of front-office incompetence and on-field underachievement accomplished under the glare of international media, the Galaxy put together a season that culminated in a first-in the West finish and a return to the playoffs for the first time since 2005.

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Game story.

Notable: The Galaxy set a new club record tonight for shutouts - 12. Quite a turnaround from last year when the team had just two - a club-record low for a season.

Quotable:
Here's former Galaxy Coach Frank Yallop on his old club's playoff outlook -

"They're well-organized.

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The Galaxy come into the season's final game knowing a win will give them the top spot in the Western Conference and home field advantage in the playoffs because L.A. holds most of the tiebreakers over Houston and Chivas USA, which play each other at noon Sunday here at Home Depot Center, should either of those two teams finish tied with them on points.

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And that word is: Punchless.

Or it could be seven words: This team is nothing without Landon Donovan.

So let's start with the positive: shutting out Houston at home in front of a sell-out crowd and forcing Pat Onstad to actually make some saves. Once again Donovan Ricketts proves his worth making a busload of saves and the backline bends but doesn't break.

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A full slate of MLS games returns for the penultimate weekend of play after the WCQ break with the Galaxy on the road against the Dynamo (noon Sunday TeleFutura) and Chivas USA at home Saturday against the San Jose Earthquakes (7:30 p.m. KAZA, delayed 11:15 p.m. Prime), a team that returns to L.A.

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A four-year wait could be over for the Galaxy this weekend.

The Galaxy will qualify for the playoffs for the first time since the MLS Cup-winning season of 2005 if they defeat the Fire and Chivas USA ties or wins at D.C. United.

How long ago is that?

That was a team that featured Naldo, Pablo Chinchilla and one-season wonder Herculez Gomez, scorer of 11 goals in 22 games.

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Nationally televised on ESPN2: check.

Playoff implications on the line since the Galaxy can clinch their first playoff berth in four years with a win over the Chicago Fire on Friday night and a D.C. United loss to Chivas USA Saturday: check.

David Beckham returning from what was initially dismissed as a 50-50, long-standing Achilles tendon issue: Maybe not.

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I would like to see Landon and David as a tag team wrestling duo. No masks though, because they are too pretty for that and it would take away from the gate receipts (got to keep the ladies, and AEG --who would be the exclusive promoters for all of their bouts-- happy). The could each have signature moves though; Landon could cross himself before he jumps from the top rope and David could deliver a paralyzing free kick to the groin. Click to continue reading...

When I posted my expansion draft preview recently, the subject that stirred up the most debate was this one. Anyone who's followed MLS for a number of years knows that it's a bit of a mystery. When exactly do Generation Adidas players graduate, and what are the criteria?
Basically, players are supposed to graduate when they no longer need the roster protection that it provides. Click to continue reading...

Aaaaaand we're back with Los Angeles Galaxy analysis.

My apologies to everyone for disappearing just as the Galaxy does three games in a week. I was at a conference in Pittsburgh then in my hometown in North Carolina for some family-time as we saw my grandmother off into the next stage of her journey through the universe.

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First-choice goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts needed 10 stitches to close a gash on his eye brow suffered in a 85th-minute clash in the comfortable win Wednesday against the Chicago Fire. Ricketts was removed and replaced by Josh Saunders.

Club officials said they'll know more about Ricketts' status after a scheduled training session in D.

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Chicago Fire 0 Galaxy 2
The Galaxy's Mike Magee is denied by Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch. (AP Photo).

Games like these can change the direction of a season.

The Galaxy (8-4-10) got better as the game wore on, the 9-5-8 Fire worse at a sold out Toyota Park.

The result was a Galaxy away victory; they're now second in the Western Conference although Seattle can retake the automatic playoff spot with a win Thursday over New England.

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Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Here are a series of impressions from my experience of the Galaxy - Barcelona match.

*****
Saturday morning at the Farmer's Market I frequent I met fellow futbol blogger Jennifer Doyle who writes From A Left Wing which explores the "cultural politics of soccer".

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It's just after 6:20 p.m. here at the Rose Bowl and the crowd is beginning to filter in.

I took a ride over here on the free shuttle from Old Town and it was incredibly fast and easy; parking spots were available within just a couple of blocks for all of $5, so I recommend that option for those of you still planning to head to the game (shuttle details are in this morning's post - click on arrive early!

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Bruce Arena returns to his old digs.

Mike Magee, Todd Dunivant, and Dema Kovalenko all played for the Red Bulls.

There are a number of players who grew up in the New York area. Veteran defender Gregg Berhalter grew up in Tenafly, NJ and attended St Benedicts High School along with Claudio Reyna.

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Here we go!

MLS Ambassador David Beckham is back, and he is ready to play some soccer in his return to the United States. (That is, until some multimillion dollar team offers the model/actor/paparazzi machine/jersey peddler/business man/Spice Boy/footballer a multimillion dollar contract which will make this ambassadorship null and void)

Oh ya.

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Lovely cool evening here at Home Depot Center and throughout the South Bay, which is maybe one reason why Landon Donovan is barbecuing on the beach ill and has stayed at his Manhattan Beach home this evening. Maybe he has Beckhamitis?

That means the same XI for Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena that dispatched MLS leaders the Houston Dynamo last time out aside from goalkeeper Josh Saunders who replaces the Gold Cupping-Donovan Ricketts.

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As has been widely reported in the futbol blogosphere, the Galaxy made a trade today with Chivas USA, sending a conditional 2010 draft pick and allocation money down the hall in return for striker Alecko Eskandarian. To make space on the roster, the team cut holding midfielder Josh Tudela on the day his 2009 contract was to be guaranteed.

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Which college soccer program has the best lineup when looking only at the MLS players it has produced (so no Euro players allowed)? Read on and judge for yourself.
If a player played for two colleges, I'm only counting the latter. Players are included who have played for an MLS team in any official competition (not just the regular season). Click to continue reading...

And that word is: Punchless.

One shot on goal, seven shots overall, despite controlling the game for decent stretches over the course of the afternoon. Punchless. One shot on goal despite fielding an "offensive-minded" lineup designed to counter the improved San Jose Earthquake defense and attempt to victimize the leakiest defense in the league.

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I am posting this video of Italy's Genaro Gattuso --the rich man's Dema Kovalenko-- getting his unmentionables out on ESPN for three reasons:
1. I haven't done sh*t for the ladies and homosexualists in a minute.
2. It's nice to see the Azurri a little embarrassed after they embarrassed the Yanks the other day. Click to continue reading...

And those words are: That was disappointing.

I admit that I was suckered by the recent 10 game non-losing streak into believing that the technical deficiencies of the team could be compensated for by heart and determination. Even as I wrote about the mediocrity of the midfield, the ability to gain points on the road and refuse to lose got me into the dangerous head space of thinking that the Galaxy could consistently compete with any team in the league.

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The standings in the East and West in MLS will see some some shifting around as all six of Saturday's MLS tilts are intra-conference encounters.

East leaders Chicago and D.C. United face off in a key East clash New York and Toronto are both enduring tough stretches heading into their meeting at BMO Field.

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The standings in the East and West in MLS will see some some shifting around as all six of Saturday's MLS tilts are intra-conference encounters.

East leaders Chicago and D.C. United face off in a key East clash New York and Toronto are both enduring tough stretches heading into their meeting at BMO Field.

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I've got two words for you in the aftermath of the Galaxy's second victory of the year, on the road in Toronto.

And those words are: Edson Buddle.

Two appearances in the last two games, both with less than 30 minutes to go in the match and two goals displaying heads-up play and clinical finishing.

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With two games already completed, the twelfth week of MLS is already well underway. United surprised no one with their 2-0 defeat of New York, while the resurgent Houston Dynamo clamped down for a 1-0 shutout in Chicago. Plenty more to talk about today, including a number of international absences.

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