Many Galaxy fans are going to claim that their team was in the game until the last five minutes, but did you honestly think they were gonna pull it off? Has this team shown any signs of being able to fight through adversity or show resolve and fortitude during tough games? Have they demonstrated a positive, winning attitude during any portion of this season? Did you think Pavon and Gordon were going to suddenly learn how to run during the final 10 minutes?

The Galaxy didn’t start attacking until there were about three minutes remaining in the game. In the first half, they managed to strike an amazing ZERO shots on target, indicative of their pathetic prowess in the midfield and general inability to move the ball around the pitch with any confidence whatsoever. Meanwhile, Frank Yallop sits around on the bench looking like a depressed adolescent and continually states what his team needs to do better in order have success. The problem is, he’s doing a really shitty job of teaching his players how to do what he supposedly encourages them to do (which is retain possession of the ball and get it into areas where an attack can be generated. What a pearl of wisdom!).

Pavon refused to shake hands with the Galaxy coaching staff when he was subbed off in the middle of the second half. Once again, he was totally invisible; I honestly don’t think he had a SINGLE touch of the ball… not ONE! Someone please correct me if I’m wrong with that claim, but I’ll probably need video evidence to be totally convinced. Gordon was just as ineffective, though he did have a few chances and was on the ball every once in awhile. Just please stop calling him “Flash”, because he’s the third slowest player on the Galaxy. Pavon is the slowest and Buddle is the second-slowest. Keep in mind that those are the three strikers on the team.

Quite honestly, I hate Chivas USA and everything the club stands for, and I will never look at them as more than obnoxious tenants who rent out the Home Depot Center from the Galaxy on occasion. But today I’ll admit that they took it to the Galaxy and proved that they are a vastly superior team at the moment. They still have terrible fans who display Mexican flags (if you’re doing that while living in the United States, you’re swearing allegiance to the wrong country) and throw flares and smoke bombs on the pitch, but the team itself is definitely much more respectable than the Galaxy at the moment. So for now, nine more games until this horrid season comes to a close.

Another Russian Bajillionaire is looking to take over an EPL squad, as a firm owned by a guy named Alisher Usmanov(ich?) has reportedly bought another 14.5% of the remaining Arsenal shares. That’s right Gunner fans, your club is about to be 100% Russian Mafia controlled! If this takeover goes through, Emirates Stadium and Stamford Bridge will likely join forces and transform into giant black holes of evil which suck everything in their path, which is bad news for Fulham supporters. For the non-EPL initiated, Stamford Bridge is Chelsea’s home stadium. It hosts football matches in the EPL, FA Cup, and the Champions League. Occasionally, it also hosts grass.

So in the last couple of years, we’ve see Henry, Pires, shareholders, and Highbury all go down the drain. Essentially, Arsenal is transforming from a French team into a Russian team. They’re lucky to be holding on to the #4 ranking right now, since rivals Tottenham decided to destroy their season right off the bat. Still, I think there’s an outside chance that Arsenal might be on the road to a UEFA Cup berth this season, ha ha har.

Hard to ignore the fact that Roy Keane will be facing his former club this weekend, though the whole story seems a little over-hyped to me. There was tension when he unexpectedly left the club a couple years ago, but it’ll be tough for United fans to get riled up about Sunderland. Those who do will probably get to witness a 3-1 drubbing by the Red Devils. For Fantasy purposes, I’m pulling for two Tevez goals, a Nani goal, and one from Chopra either 10 minutes in or in garbage time. After the third United goal, expect Keane to run over to the United bench and attempt a “hard but fair” tackle on Sir Alex. Then the ghost of Cantona will throw a shoe in an unsuspecting Sunderland fan’s face.

Speaking of getting shoed in the face, the LA Galaxy are “fucked,” according to manager* Frank Yallop. After the defeat to Pikachu in the SuperLiga final, the usually mild-mannered Englishman dropped four f-bombs in the postgame press conference, which indicates that he knows he doesn’t have a job any more. Though Lalas probably deserves the sack more than Yallop, I still have to question Yallop’s commitment to the team. His frustrations are causing him to make quick, rash, uninformed decisions with lineups and substitutions. And I don’t understand why he’s had such a hard time explaining the concept of one-touch passing to his team.

Unfortunately, all the Klinsi talk could possibly just be fabricated rumors designed to give us hope. Fox Soccer Channel incorrectly leaked the story about Yallop’s (then) imminent firing, and Frank still has control of the team for the time being. It appears that he’ll still be at the helm for Saturday’s laugh-fest against Real Salt Lake.

The rest of this year should really be focused on re-building. One thing I can tell you for certain, the Galaxy need to ditch Buddle, Gordon, Vagenas, and Veris right away. Martino can only stay if he learns how to beat defenders one-on-one. He also needs to put the ball on target more often than once every five games. Pavon is the other huge question mark. He’s used to playing with a whole bunch of forwards in the box with him, which explains why he lets a lot of balls pass him and tries a lot of heel-flicks, etc. He’s painfully slow, however, but he does seem to do well in the air. If the Galaxy abandon their current 4-4-Donovan-1 formation and go with a more aggressive 4-4-2 (good God we need Klinsmann), Pavon might be able to keep a spot.

Beckham’s injury is more of a blessing than a curse, as this will force him to rest that damned ankle until it’s healed properly, or as he likes to say, “until it’s right.” Hopefully the knee damage isn’t too extensive and won’t limit his mobility for the rest of his career. Hate to say it, but the guy is getting old. Stuff just doesn’t heal the same way when you’re past age 30…

Oh, and the Champions League draw was today. AC Milan get a free pass to the knockout round, United fans need to sign safety waivers before attending Roma games, and Liverpool whine about getting a tough draw. More on this later.

*for now

Some good news for Galaxy fans: Jürgen Klinsmann is reportedly linked to the Galaxy’s head coaching job (source). If management decides to give Frank Yallop the boot, the former German international will be at the helm. Frank is a nice guy and probably a great players’ coach, but results and position in the tables (sorry… standings) are where it counts. Alexi Lalas shouldn’t be going around giving his full support to Yallop and blaming scheduling woes for poor performances; he should be flaming his head coach and letting him know that his job is in serious danger unless things start to improve quickly. Maybe this is all going on behind the scenes, but I doubt it, given Alexi’s tendency to be overly optimistic and full of himself.

Supposedly Lalas’s job is in danger as well, which should also be good news for the faithful. Sure, the schedule has been tough the last month or so, but we all know this. Good GM’s do not make excuses; they make promises. The great ones keep their promises. Alexi has done neither of the two, and it’s time for him to move on to other things.

A more likely scenario is this: Lalas and Yallop both keep their jobs, the Galaxy sneak into 8th place, win the MLS cup, and the coattails are ridden for another two years. Honestly, maybe what this franchise (grrr) needs is a cataclysmic failure, which they’re on pace to do at the moment. Maybe everything needs to go utterly amiss in order for the proper changes to be made. I think this would definitely apply to the U.S. Men’s National Team as well. More on that some other time…

Oh, and Wednesday’s SuperLiga final will have a grand total of 12,500 fans in attendance. The Galaxy decided to cap the amount of tickets sold since Cal State Dominguez Hills has just started their first semester. This tournament is supposed to be the American version of the Champions League (haHA) and we cap the attendance at an amount that is about 1/8th the size of Nou Camp in Spain or Wembley in England. Good riddance.

The main reason for this move is supposedly “to ease parking problems”. I’d like to write a letter to the HDC and the Galaxy and let them know what “parking problems” are: it’s paying 20 DOLLARS to park your car half a mile away from the stadium (this happened to me at the semifinal against DC United). Parking is less expensive at the Honda Center, Rose Bowl, Hollywood Bowl, Qualcomm Stadium, and even STAPLES CENTER (there are $15 lots), and those venues house events that aren’t desperate for attendees. I’d also like to meet someone who has paid the $50 for HDC valet service. Victoriaaaaaa.

So instead of a bitter weekend clash between two teams from rival leagues in rival countries, we get a Wednesday evening injury-fest essentially played behind closed doors. Why can’t they just limit the amount of parking? Give out 7,000 or so parking passes, and only offer parking to patrons with these passes. They do this in England all the time; many tickets are sold only if the ticketholder agrees to utilize public transportation to get to the venue. I know that transit is more limited here, but my guess is that a good number of people would be willing to carpool or figure out a way to combine Metrolink and buses.

Or… could they at least give the remaining seats to the students? Just fill that place up somehow!

This isn’t a SuperLiga game, so the chances of a Galaxy victory are slim to none. Never mind that the Rapids are one of the only teams that could possibly qualify as even more craptacular than the Herbalites. Beckham will be sitting this one out after playing 3 games in 6 days last week, so things could get ugly pretty quickly. Word is that Carlos Pavon will not be in the starting lineup either, with Donovan and Xavier both questionable as well.

This game has been announced as a sellout, but my guess is that the tickets were sold weeks ago, so I’d expect a lot of no-shows. And while we’re on the topic of no-shows, I would fully support Joe Cannon if he decides to just pack up and leave this team. They’re embarrassing him and leaving him high and dry time and time again.

Word now in that EIGHT players were left behind in California, including Donovan. They just flashed the starting lineup, and it includes three players who have not started an MLS game in their lives. Maybe the freshness will be good?

Kickoff coming up at 6PM Central Time. We join the action:-Reporter from FSN now using the tough summer schedule as yet another excuse for the Galaxy’s poor record. Yallop again uses the word “frustrated” to describe his feelings. He seems to like words that begin with the letter F. One that he’ll probably be hearing soon: fired.

-The Rapids have cheerleaders who march out with the team for the introductions. This is exactly what the MLS does NOT need. The league needs to be as un-American as possible to survive.

1m: This is a newly built soccer-specific stadium, and it has horrid shadows and bad sightlines. One of the ends has a stage for concerts instead of seating. Not okay.

3m: The Galaxy bring EVERYONE back for corners and set-pieces in their end. How can they possibly be marking effectively with that many players crammed into the box? The Rapids will get a goal if the Galaxy midfielders and striker(s) start crashing into their own defenders.

5m: Close call as Cannon had some trouble with a cross; he appeared to lose it in the sun. He falls over and nearly coughs it up to Conor Casey.

8m: Frank Yallop is donned in a suit and tie for this game. He’s clearly become superstitious.

11m: Colorado’s Jovan Kirovski goes down and clutches his knee, resulting in a delayed yellow on Kyle Veris for his extremely late tackle. Luckily, Kirvoski screwed up a 2-on-1 and crossed the ball to Cannon instead of Casey.

14m: Gavin Glinton had a quick acceleration to almost jump on the end of a loose ball, but he seemingly lost all momentum at the last second. He clips the Colorado keeper and irks the 4 Colorado fans in attendance.

16m: The Galaxy are sending balls all over the place. They don’t seem to have adjusted to the elevation very well, as the ball is sailing waaaay long every time they send it in the air. It’ll be interesting to see if they run out of gas well before the 90th minute.

24m: Cannon had to make a rush on Casey to prevent a golden opportunity at a goal. Just noticed that Cannon is wearing the captain’s armband tonight.

27m: Conor Casey scores a goal by dragging the ball from his right to his left foot, beating Cannon and splitting two defenders. Chris Klein attempts to save it off the line but fails.

Alright It’s 2-0 Colorado right now, so what I’m gonna do is leave for an hour and then come back. I hope the score surprises me. Actually I probably won’t even bother checking. I really can’t stand to watch this team play any more. Just look forward to Wednesday when the Galaxy pull it off against Pachuca to claim the title of “Best Club in North America”. haaaaaa.

If you want to know why I haven’t been posting until this point, read the pregame blog and thank the WNBA

We join the action 12 minutes into the game:

12m: Finally, ESPN coverage has begun! Wynalda and O’Brien immediately inform us that Beckham had yet another “scary moment” with his ankle.

13m: Geeky shot of Bornstein walking through an airport with an iPhone and an iPod.

15m: “Pavon is the kinda guy who will stick his nose where most guys won’t”- Eric Wynalda. This could mean any number of things.

16m: “If you ever get the opportunity to hang out with David Beckham, he’s a really nice guy and a joy to be around”- Eric Wynalda. Thanks for the tip.

19m: Suarez cleats Buddle but is able to get away with it somehow. Wynalda makes another smart-ass comment after he confuses a player from Saudi Arabia with a player from Mexico.

20m: Didn’t notice until now, but Landycakes is NOT starting for the Galaxy. He’s sitting on the bench and he looks very hung-over: some pretty extreme jetlag. Wynalda points out that Beckham deserves to be captain since he’s man enough to play tonight. Donovan sitting isn’t much of a surprise to me.

26m: Magnificent pass by Galindo, leading to a great chance for Chivas to take the lead. Cannon rushes and is able to snatch the ball away before a good shot is taken.

27m: A booking was issued to Chivas’ Orlando Perez after a hard tackle on Cobi Jones.

29m: Galindo dribbles end-to-end and almost gets off a shot against Cannon. Less than a minute later, he receives a pass and fires off a hard shot from just outside the 18. High and to the right.

31m: Razov shoots for the far post and wins a corner. A point-blank chance off the corner bounces off Canon. A long ball goes into the 5, but Xavier absolutely crushes Mendoza and breaks up the play. Probably should have been booked.

35m: Beckham’s first corner of the match swings out and barely misses 3 heads. Good cross, but no result.

37m: Beckham attempts a long ball and earns a free kick off a Chivas hand ball. Keeper way off the line. Beckham’s cross is cleared by Chivas. Beckham didn’t really have any options, as there were only 4-5 Galaxy players in the box.

39m: A full-blown mariachi band is spotted in the crowd, complete with violins, guitars, a cello, and drums. They appeared to be in the Chivas section.

40m: Lawson Vaughn makes a stupid tackle on Beckham and earns a yellow card. This game is starting to get chippy. The ensuing free kick is taken by Beckham and chipped wide off Pavon’s head.

43m: Buddle becomes the third Galaxy player in a row to head the ball wide of the cage.

45m+: Chaos ensues after a poor challenge prompts Beckham to get in the face of a few Chivas players. Punches and Zidanebutts were thrown, and two red cards were given. Kevin Harmse from the Galaxy and Alex Zotinca from Chivas are out of the game. GET YO POPCRN RDY!

HALFTIME: Looks like the second half will be 10-on-10. Hopefully this opens things up a little.

46m: Abel Xavier has moved up to the midfield to play alongside Beckham. This will either be extremely disappointing or unbelievably awesome. Edson Buddle has been replaced by Troy Roberts.

46m: Chivas are still playing with two forwards despite only having 10 men. On the other hand, the Galaxy leave Pavon stranded alone up front in typical USA “win the midfield battle” tactics.

49m: Galindo gets free and got a little too cute with his shot, which was well-struck but off-target by a pretty good distance.

53m: Beckham takes another corner that sails over the mixer. David seems to have a different gameplan than his teammates. Given the Galaxy’s performances over the course of this year, I’ll take Beckham’s side. Now he takes a good strike from about 30 meters, but it goes wide. Would have been saved if it was on target.

56m: Landon Donovan is starting to warm up and has a camera following him. The Landon Cam’s popularity is debatable. He’s not helping himself by hiding behind barriers.

58m: While I was typing that last sentence, the Galaxy commit a horrible mistake and give up a goal. Kyle Veris just demonstrated every single defensive mistake in the book. He attempted to chip the ball back to Cannon, but instead gave it right to Galindo. Easiest goal one could possibly score.

60m: Landycakes is already shouting at the ref after being on for a grand total of 8 seconds. He appeared to be stepped on by a Chivas player.

61m: Martino takes his mandatory test-of-fate foul and earns a yellow card. Almost a red.

64m: Beckham plays an awesome ball to Donovan, but they play was called offsides. It was an extremely close call.

69m: Kljestan sends a ball up to Mendoza, who finds Galindo wide open on the run. Galindo easily scores his second goal of the game, 10th goal of the season. Beckham looks too tired to be angry, and the crowd has gone extremely quiet. Wynalda says they should be booing, and I’d agree.

72m: Alan Gordon comes on for Kyle Martino, which means that Beckham will once again go the whole 90 minutes. He already looks gassed (understandably), so I wouldn’t expect much out of him or the Galaxy.

76m: Landon Donovan again proves his worthlessness by playing a horrible ball intended for Gordon, ending one of the few offensive buildups the Galaxy have had.

78m: Gordon just came on, but he still looks like one of the laziest, slowest players currently out on the pitch.

81m: Beckham sends another corner to Veris, who is able to connect and put a header on target. The ball is saved off the line by one of the defenders covering the right post.

85m: Randolph’s shoe has been untied for the last 5 minutes, but he hasn’t tripped yet.

87m: Chivas again execute a 3-on-1 goal that looks like a practice drill. Mendoza notches his first of the year to salt away the wound and embarrass the Galaxy.

89m: Wynalda takes a shot at Donovan’s inability to head the ball, saying “Donovan can’t jump on anyone, so he’s not gonna. Those crosses aren’t gonna work. That’s not Brian McBride down there, that’s Landon Donovan.”

90m: Three minutes of added time. Very unnecessary.

This game finally whimpers to an end. Beckham can barely even walk off the pitch. There were absolutely no positives to take from this game, unless you’re one of Chivas USA’s 4 fans. Also here’s a fun fact: the Galaxy have given up more goals in the last 2 games than they’ve scored all year in MLS play. Luckily the MLS’s flawed playoff system means that they still have a chance to win the cup…. somehow.

“Don’t be surprised if he’s starting, don’t be surprised if he gets five minutes,” is the latest from Frank Yallop, who is somehow still in charge of the most disappointing team in the MLS. Haven’t heard any word yet from Donovan (since nobody cares), but my guess is that he’ll suit up. I’d also guess that he’ll be more eager to play if Becks does sit this one out, since Landy seems to be obsessed with that captain’s armband.

I didn’t see the Germany-England match, but I turned off the USA-Sweden game at about the 60th minute. I think Donovan had about three touches up to that point and was later subbed off. Expect him to be just as invisible tonight.