The Galaxy could actually be better in 2010 than what they were in 2009. (Getty Images)

We’re a little over half way home in our look at each Major League Soccer club this winter. So far we’ve hammered out Chicago, Colorado, Chivas, Columbus, DC, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, and Philadelphia in out preseason look ins.

So far this winter the LA Galaxy have had a similar offseason that we expected them to have. David Beckham went to Italy to be with AC Milan and Landon Donovan went to England to play for Everton until March. We knew going into the winter months that those things would happen. Unlike last year when there was a lot of bad press about loan moves for Beckham, this year was a little smoother for the two sides.

Aside from that Bruce Arena has made a couple moves since then and even with one draft pick back in January at the SuperDraft he came away with a solid draft grade by me and most people.

Let’s see how the Galaxy are looking right now and what else they need to do to their roster before the season kicks off.

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Real Salt Lake took home their first hardware. (Getty Images)

I decided not to write a recap last night after the game finished up. Mainly I was exhausted from watching the game that went into penalties. MLS Cup 2009 wasn’t the very best game of the year but it definitely provided plenty of drama. From key injuries to key goals the game was compelling and exciting.

The PKs were kind of expected of this game after things were tied up going into overtime. Both teams were totally gassed on the field and just looked like they’d rather get it to the penalties rather than make something happen in the extra frames.

Injuries played a huge part in this game. Javier Morales’s knee injury really hurt RSL’s momentum in the first half, which the Galaxy did an excellent job of taking advantage of. The Galaxy found great space with Landon Donovan and David Beckham which lead to Mike Magee’s goal late in the half. The first half really was controlled by Bruce Arena’s squad.

But some halftime switches by Jason Kreis really turned things in RSL’s favor. Either it was the right halftime speech or the move to get the sick Will Johnson out that paid off but whatever was said or done by Kreis fueled his club. RSL came out with more energy than before and really caught the Galaxy off guard with Yura Movsisyan and Robbie Findley. Once the attack got going for RSL it was only a matter of time before Findley put away a goal. Continue Reading…

While the day seems to be lost on everyone’s Twitter feeds being down, I figured it was a good time to get back in the award discussion once again here. Instead of waiting for putting this in the evening links and thoughts I figured I would break this discussion off into it’s own post for the day.

With a couple weeks left in the season the Newcomer of the Year award is starting to actually get a little tighter. For months it’s nearly been all Seattle Sounders leading the charge but now a couple other names are starting to emerge on the list and if some lead their clubs into the playoffs you can bet they will snatch up some of those votes from folks like myself.

Here is my top five for the Newcomer of the Year. Feel free to list yours below.

1. Fredy Montero (Seattle Sounders): The one getting all the press is still Montero though he finally has some true company for this award. The more he produces in the final weeks the better his chances are at this award.

2. David Ferreira (FC Dallas): To be honest I wasn’t a huge fan of this guy early on in the season but since Jeff Cunningham got hot so did he. Ferreira finally found his way in the league and now he is starting to look like the playmaker that Dallas was hoping he’d be. You have to believe that if Dallas somehow makes it into the playoffs Ferreira will be a big reason behind it. He does have a lot of ground to make up to win this award though.

3. Kasey Keller (Seattle Sounders): Keller’s stock continues to be in a holding pattern for this award. Not that its a bad thing and he has certainly done his part to get the Sounders where they are at right now.

4. Donovan Ricketts (LA Galaxy): LA returns to the playoffs for the first time in a couple years and believe it or not it has a lot to do with Ricketts. Now if he leads his club to a Supporter’s Shield title in the final weeks of the season you can bet he will move up these charts.

5. Osvaldo Alonso (Seattle Sounders): The last of the Sounders in my top five. He’s been a rock in the midfield for this club all year. Just a shame that no one signed this player before this season because he has potential to be a big time player in the league for years to come.

Others in consideration: Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (Seattle), Freddie Ljungberg (Seattle), Eduardo Lillingston (Chivas USA), Gregg Berhalter (LA Galaxy).

Chicago's Patrick Nyarko and Seattle's Osvaldo Alonso battle again this weekend. (Getty Images)

We steam roll into another weekend of soccer here starting with one game tonight along with a full slate of games tomorrow. Week 19 is the final week before the league’s All-Star break next week.

Plenty of good things will come out of next week during the league’s usual meetings that will go. We should more than likely hear a lot about certain things going on in the league like Beckham’s return, expansion, CBA talks and more.

But until then we have to wait it out for the news to come down the pipe with all of those goodies. Thankfully the full slate of games this weekend should keep us entertained until then. Everyone is in action this weekend except for Chivas USA, good thing too since they really need a week to regain focus here after their stumble these last two months. They pretty much are the New England of 2009, hot out of the gate then cooled off too much in the summer. At least the Revs won SuperLiga last year, Chivas can’t say the same.

Anyways, as always feel free to drop in your predictions below as well. Continue Reading…

While I’m still not the biggest fan of the MLS All-Star game set up I do love some of the build up in the voting process. I have to give loads of credit out there to the Galaxy front office for putting this together as they want their keeper Donovan Ricketts to be voted into the mid-summer event.

Enjoy!

Kansas City fans have been pretty good so far. (Brian Stevens, WVH Photo Correspondent)

Typically I do a version of this kind of thing for all MLS clubs but this time around I wanted to do something a little different with the typical Good, Bad, and Ugly column. Instead I will be looking at things in the league as a whole that I have liked, disliked and have absolutely hated thus far in the early going of the season.

Most of this is stuff I’ve been keeping track of here since the start of the season. I may ramble on a bit but you are always welcome to do the same below.

Good:

Quality crowds in Seattle, Toronto and even in smaller venues like San Jose or Kansas City. I believe there is a reason why San Jose and KC want smaller soccer stadiums for their future. It doesn’t all have to do with money and not being able to consistently fill those stadiums, it is because they have the fans that create good atmosphere (I think both clubs have underrated supporter’s groups). The same sort of thing you see in Seattle and Toronto. Passionate fans equal a good time at the park.

Bad:

So-so numbers in places like LA for Galaxy and Chivas games, Chicago for Fire games and DC for United games. For those clubs it doesn’t really deal with a lack of advertising or even the clubs being bad on the field. Its honestly an economical thing in my eyes.

Still seeing bad numbers in Colorado and Columbus too. Thing about the Rapids is though they’ve only played one home game so far. With the club doing pretty well so far this year things could change in their favor in terms of butts-in-seats.

Ugly:

Numbers we see in Dallas are just terrible. The fact that the club has gotten a shade under 12k for their last two home games is pathetic. Marketing around Dallas is nearly non-existent, and people just can’t get excited about this club. It has little to do with the performance on the field I think (because the town supports baseball’s Rangers decently enough each year and they are largely just as bad if not worse), but it deals more with a lack of knowledge about the club in the local community.

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It seems as though maybe Bruce Arena has found his man between the pipes. The LA Galaxy have signed Jamaican goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts.

“I have known Donovan for a number of years as a goalkeeper with the Jamaican National Team and have always been impressed with his physical qualities. After a closer examination of the player, I am absolutely amazed with his abilities both on and off the field,” said Galaxy General Manager and Head Coach Bruce Arena. “It is also a position that we felt the need to improve and believe that he will be a great addition to our team and has the potential to be one of the best goalkeepers in MLS.”

Ricketts brings some solid experience, something the Galaxy definitely lacked last year. While some may think he isn’t the best option for the club I think it is a move that could work out.

What do you make of this signing? Couldn’t be any worse than last year right?