So the Galaxy played New York last night, and it pretty much went according to the script laid out for every Red Bulls game this season: New York give up an early goal, get frustrated, check out early, and then give up two more before deciding (with ten minutes or so left) that they should maybe pretend to put in a modicum of effort, which allows them to nick a consolation goal that (frankly) only serves to frustrate their fans more. It’s not really news, except for the fact that this game “featured” David Beckham.
The story that will probably be reported is that Beckham came back and helped the Galaxy win, putting them into a playoff spot for the first time in quite awhile. The reality of the game is that Beckham had nothing to do with any of the goals that were scored, and really didn’t feature in any significant way at any other point in his seventy minutes on the pitch.
Consider the three goals:
- The first was completely created by Alecko Eskandarian, who flipped the ball deftly over a New York defender, turned, caught it on the volley with his left foot, and scored a cracker of a shot from 28 yards out in the third minute.
- The second was Landon Donovan’s; in the 31st minute, he launched a shot from pretty much the same spot and getting pretty much the same result. The main difference between the two was that Donovan used his right foot.
- The third was an Eddie Lewis shot created by Donovan’s vision; he crossed the ball to Lewis, sitting wide open at the top left corner of the box, who volleyed a shot across the goal mouth to beat keeper Danny Cepero.
The entire Galaxy played well together in this game, which is a marked difference from how they were playing just last year. I’ve been critical of the level of play in MLS in the past, but the Galaxy actually looked like a good team yesterday; they made good runs, they played defense, and they looked quick up front. There were definite miscues (in particular, Eskandarian and Donovan had a mix-up that killed what should’ve been a fourth goal in the second half), but the team was solid.
In fact, the most noteworthy aspect of the Galaxy was perhaps the Donovan at the other end of the pitch: keeper Donovan Ricketts had a stellar game, and was quite possibly the Galaxy’s man of the match. The lone goal he allowed was a penalty kick (although the awarding of the PK negated a goal caused by a defensive gaffe that Ricketts couldn’t have done anything about), although he saved a second one less than ten minutes later. All told, he had good vision and continually frustrated Jorge Rojas and Juan Pablo Ángel with saves that I don’t think I’ve seen in MLS before.
This game – and being that it was against the absolute worst team in MLS at the moment, it’s worth mentioning that it’s results aren’t conclusive – seems to indicate a shift for the Galaxy. Last season, play revolved around Beckham; this season, it revolves around the team. That’s a good change for them…and when Beckham’s spent a little time back in the states, it’ll be good for him, too. He’ll be a much more effective player when his team responds to his crosses and through balls.
