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Every week the horror show that is the Galaxy just keeps getting worse.

Would you pay a minimum of $30 to watch the worst team in the Western Conference?

Coach Bruce Arena repeated the enigmatic comment he made last week to The Washington Post again to me Monday, insinuating he knows what's wrong with the team -- but isn't telling:

"It's not public infomation, but I have a pretty good feel for it," he said. "There's always things behind the scenes that are part of the fabric of teams and you've got to find it. We haven't found the right chemistry yet. We've had games where maybe a little better team spirit would have gotten us results."

Team spirit? Really? Maybe we need a noon pep rally in the quad.

What the Galaxy really needs is a dependable center back and midfielders who need to look more interested in finding space and creating attacks, which as Landon Donovan pointed out after the loss to Chivas USA amounts to the "same old story" so far this season.

And at the risk of me getting repetitive, too, here's more in this week's column ahead of Wednesday's Galaxy-Earthquakes and Chivas USA-Red Bulls games.

By the way, I'm pretty sure Arena said "team spirit" and not "teen spirit," but that's not a bad idea either.

Here we are, now, entertain us:

Chivas USA have turned one goal losses into road wins on the back of the second-best defence in the Western Conference.

The Galaxy have traded chronic defensive frailty for a measure of defensive stability.

Both local MLS teams will attempt to capitalize on their modest advances today against potentially vulnerable opponents.

The Galaxy are in Colorado tonight to take on the Rapids (6 p.m. KDOC/KWHY) who have one win in their last four games, while Chivas USA are at home against a very young Philadelphia team (7:30 p.m. Prime) that would seem ripe for the home side to record their first-ever victory over.

Staff Writer Phil Collin has more from both the Chivas USA and Galaxy camps.

Here's more from the Galaxy:

And yeah, James were pretty good at the San Diego HOB Thursday between Coachella appearances in case you were wondering about the relatively obscure indie rock reference in the headline and seemed to set the tone for the MLS weekend:

Philadelphia and Colorado kickoff at 1 p.m. today in the second NBC Sports Network MLS telecast.

The theme music was composed by 32-year-old West LA resident Cody Westheimer.

Westheimer, who said he is an avid runner/cyclist and triathleye and composed the Tour de France theme for Verses (the former name of the rebranded NBC Sports Network) is also a newfound soccer fan.

"I do like soccer, and have just started to follow the LA Galaxy - the defending champs!" he said via email. "I played as a kid, but who knows....maybe it will become my next obsession."

High fives, high pressure: Abby Wambach, right, high-fives teammate Christie Rampone during a U.S. training session Friday ahead of Sunday's World Cup final (AP Photo).

There were virtually no American reporters outside of those working for ESPN - which holds the broadcast rights to the tournament - planning to follow the U.S. team at the outset of the World Cup.

The recession, a team that lacked the charisma of the Mia Hamm years and several poor results that resulted in the U.S. barely scraping into the tournament had all contributed to the lack of interest.

But as AP National Writer Nancy Armour points out, that's all changed now:

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- A week ago, there were so few people following the Americans they could hold their daily media sessions around a small table in their hotel lobby.

Now they need an entire ballroom.

The frenzy of attention surrounding the U.S. women ahead of Sunday's final against Japan is something they've never experienced before, and it has the potential to fire them up -- or heap even more pressure on what is already the biggest game of their careers.

"I don't think it's a distraction," goalkeeper Hope Solo said. "We've had the mentality from
day one that we came here for one reason. Our one and only goal was to win this tournament, and I think people are staying pretty true to that."

But the challenge gets bigger with each day.

The Americans are used to playing in relative anonymity. Oh, Abby Wambach gets the David Beckham treatment when she goes home to Rochester, N.Y., and Solo has a long had a lengthy list of admirers. For the most part, though, only the most diehard soccer fans could have told you before the World Cup began what position Megan Rapinoe plays (midfield) or what color headband Alex Morgan always wears (pink).

Then, with one thunderous header by Wambach, the Americans went Hollywood.

Fans back home are captivated by the team's grit and perseverance, and charmed by the players' personalities. And in typical American fashion, when the country gets behind a team, it goes all in. Hollywood celebrities and pro athletes are leading the bandwagon, and the U.S. games are now must-see TV. Even a little thing like work couldn't keep fans away, with Wednesday's semifinal against France -- played during the middle of the day back home -- drawing the fourth-highest rating of any Women's World Cup game.

Ever.

About 100 journalists from all corners of the world turned out for the team's availability
Friday, asking about everything from the first time Wambach headed a ball to Heather
O'Reilly's plans for her Oct. 1 wedding. No sooner had the media crush ended than the White House announced that Vice President Joe Biden's wife, Jill, and Chelsea Clinton are coming for Sunday's final.

"It's just amazing that this team has been able to capture the heart of America, because
normally we can't do that," Rapinoe said. "That's just been an amazing feeling. We're just
taking it all in. We don't get it that much, so we're living it up and trying to keep it
rolling."

To do that, though, the Americans have to stay focused on their original goal: winning the World Cup title. This is the Americans' first trip to the finals since 1999, the last time
they won soccer's biggest prize.

Win, and they'll be crossover hits like Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy and Brandi Chastain. Come up short, and all that buzz they've been hearing will fade to silence.

"We want all those things that have happened within the last ... few days to be worth it and to be meaningful," Wambach said. "And the only way we can do that is to secure a win on Sunday."

On paper, at least, the Americans are heavy favorites -- and, yes, there is a betting line on this game.

The U.S. is a two-time World Cup champion, defending Olympic gold medalist and the world's top-ranked team. Japan has never made the final in any major tournament, and has yet to beat the Americans in 25 tries. The U.S. has a nine-game winning streak going in the series, including a pair of 2-0 victories in warm-up matches a few weeks before the teams left for the World Cup.

But this isn't the same Japanese team the Americans played in May, and they know it.

Japan stunned Germany, the two-time defending champ, in the quarterfinals, and then made easy work of Sweden, winning 3-1. The Nadeshiko have wonderful ball control and can hold possession for what seems like hours, and they've shown a nice scoring touch in Germany, too.

The Japanese are also playing for a greater purpose, hoping their success will provide some relief for a nation still recovering from the devastation of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

"They're playing for something bigger and better than the game," Solo said. "When you're playing with so much emotion and so much heart, that's hard to play against."

But emotion can overwhelm, too.

"This life, it's about competition. There's a lot of pressure and a lot of stress, and of
course the players feel the same thing," U.S. coach Pia Sundhage said.

Then, a smile playing across her face, the coach who is famous for her unshakable calmness and positive attitude said, "I just tell them, 'Slow down, you move too fast.'"

As reporters laughed, Sundhage sang Simon and Garfunkel's classic, "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" -- the lyrics never more appropriate.

"Looking for fun and feelin' groovy."

The series so far: The Galaxy lead 1-0 on an Edson Buddle goal last Sunday in Seattle.

Tonight's game: 6 p.m. Home Depot Center live on ESPN. Tickets are still available, including on the grass berm that's been opened for the game.

Phil Collin has the game preview.

Here's the Seattle perspective.

Notable: Juninho, Dema Kovalenko and Jovan Kirovski must avoid a yellow card tonight or miss the Western Conference championship game should the Galaxy advance.

I plan to blog from the game. If you're going, bundle up: it will be a Seattle-like mostly cloudy evening, with a chance of showers and a low of 50.

If you missed any of the previous coverage during the week, check out:

*Who awaits the winner of the Galaxy-Sounders series in the Western Conference final.

*The view of Seattle coach Sigi Schmid from his media teleconference Saturday.

*Our postcard from Seattle.

*The Galaxy's Donovan Ricketts is the newly-crowned MLS Goalkeeper of the Year.

*Here's more on the coaching chess game between Schmid and Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena, two of the best, most successful and most experienced coaches in league history.

*Relive the opening game of the series here and here

Enjoy the game and here's local band The Briggs, who performed this song before a recent Galaxy game, to help you get psyched for this one:

To get you psyched up for Wednesday's U.S.-Algeria game (7 a.m. ESPN) as well as the England-Slovakia game at the same time on ESPN2 this seemed an apt post.

(The new unofficial U.S. World Cup anthem is at the bottom of the post, but I warn you - you're going to miss a lot of um, frankly awful music, if you skip ahead).

If there's one reason to celebrate American soccer's lack of mainstream acceptance it's this: no lame World Cup songs.

It's been a tradition in England, my homeland, ever since 1966 when the well-meaning, but misfiring (on this occasion) skiffle star Lonnie Donegan produced this little ditty:

It went downhill from there.

For a while it was all the rage to have English footballers singing songs, a terrible idea to start with, but we can thank early Chelsea ("Blue is the Color") and Tottenham Hotspur (the immortal "Nice One Cyril") squads for that. These, um, hits that raced up the charts when I was growing up in England.

Naturally, the England World Cup squad joined the trend with this stirring number in 1982:

The name of this song was the kiss of death to England's World Cup hopes. Obviously, they didn't get it right (that time).

The high point of football-oriented songs came in 1990 when New Order recorded "World in Motion," which featured a rapping John Barnes. Brilliant!

And they went into it with the right attitude:

"We thought it was the worst idea of all time," drummer Stephen Morris told FourFourTwo. "(The late) Tony Wilson, the Factory records boss, suggested it. we suggested our careers might soon be over. A football record? How do you write one of those without it being absolute rubbish? Every football song ever is totally naff."

Except their song:

Which brings us to Weezer's unofficial 2010 U.S. Men's National Team-supporting effort. Lead singer Rivers Cuomo is a soccer player and fan - he's played in the Mia Hamm charity game at Home Depot Center the past few years - so gets the mandatory anthemic terrace-singing retro vibe. And it rocks, too:

ESPN really should play it before kickoff.

Bonus! At the risk of leaving a bad taste in the mouth (ear) this England World Cup 2010 candidate song is a guilty pleasure. Singing and dancing construction workers? Yes:

Wizards 2 Galaxy 0.

This was a game that looked like it involved the two last-place teams in the league, at least until the Wizards scored two goals in two minutes to dispose of the Galaxy.

The largest Wizards crowd of the season - 26,113 - watched as the Galaxy winless streak reached 12 games, a stretch that has seen L.A. go 0-6-6 while getting outscored 28-16.

How bad is this?
*The winless streak is longer than any Chivas USA endured during its horrific inaugural season.
*New York hasn't been this bad in almost a decade, back when they were called the MetroStars.
*The Galaxy are within striking distance of tying the all-time MLS winless streak set by Real Salt Lake, something they will do if they fail to win any of the rest of their games.

Here are the all-time MLS winless streak "leaders:"
Team Number When set
Real Salt Lake 18 8/10/2005-5/6/2006
Real Salt Lake 15 9/23/2006-6/17/2007
Columbus Crew 13 6/10/2006-8/16/2006
New York 12 7/14/1999-9/5/1999
Galaxy 12 6/21/2008-?
Chivas USA 11 5/14/2005-7/2/2005

Incidentally, defender Eduardo Dominguez may have made the best move of the night and he wasn't even on the field. The Argentine flew home to be with his wife who was due to give birth to the couple's first child.

Game story.

And David Beckham is clearly not with us.

Watch and weep:

Perhaps this video makes the point even better. The Galaxy have just six MLS games left in the season.

Brad Guzan finally secured the work permit he needed today to join Aston Villa of the EPL.

Chivas USA this morning posted a tribute video to Guzan:

"Brad was the first goalkeeper to defend the colors of Chivas USA in Major League Soccer. This organization has seen him grow from a 20-year-old rookie to a U.S. Olympian, the reigning MLS Goalkeeper of the Year and now a member of one of England's great clubs," said Chivas USA President and CEO Shawn Hunter. "We trust that Villa supporters will soon see what Chivas USA fans have known for some time: that this is a very special young man with the potential of becoming one of the great goalkeepers in the international game."

With all the money flowing into the game in England these days, Guzan has hit the proverbial jackpot, although he won't make as much as the 25 richest young footballers in England.

Closer to home, with the Galaxy and Chivas USA on the road there's no live local top-class soccer (I'll have a best of what's on the box below), but this is always a fun event:

And yeah, Rod will really be there this year.

Nansen Field is a gorgeous little private facility where you can sip a beer on the sidelines while watching the games (bring a blanket or lawn chairs and a picnic lunch).

I wrote about this event three years ago and it's pretty much the same. Here's a reprint of the story from the Daily Breeze archives:

Pop star Rod Stewart performs in concert in Manchester, England, tonight, but his heart will be in Rolling Hills Estates.

A group of English expatriates take on their Scottish counterparts today in a fifth annual soccer game at Nansen Field with the Bob Stewart Caledonian Trophy at stake. Bob Stewart, Rod's father, died in 1990.

His singer son customarily plays in the game -- for Scotland against the nation known as the "auld enemy"-- and his picture usually adorns posters advertising the game. As many as 800 people have watched the game in past years.

"The majority of people do come out to see him and take pictures," said Keith Wales, the event's chief organizer for Brits at Nansen, one of several groups of various nationalities who share the venue. "It's a tradition now and he wouldn't want us to not have it."

Stewart has played at Nansen, a secluded, superbly maintained field with a clubhouse on aptly named Hidden Valley Road, for about four years, his touring schedule and 60-year-old legs permitting.

Stewart has contributed several signed items, including a soccer ball, hat and T-shirt, that will be sold at a silent auction.

Proceeds from the auction and event itself go to pay off legal bills incurred when in 1989 the Norwegian government, which contended it owned the 9.5-acre property, moved to sell it.

Locals balked and Norway sued. A judge eventually ruled that the true owner was a nonprofit group founded in 1952 so taxes didn't have to be paid on the property.

But the group was left with a $320,000 legal bill; that's now down to about $121,000.

To compensate for Stewart's absence, organizers have made the event a doubleheader.

A U.S. team will take on a team of German expatriates in the opening match.

Several well-known former soccer players have been invited to take part in both games, including former English international Gary Mabbutt.

Thomas Dooley, a German native who made 81 appearances for the U.S. National Team, will line up for the Germans against Hall of Famer Paul Caligiuri.

"What a little traitor, huh," laughed Dooley's former national team teammate who coaches at Cal Poly Pomona. "It's going to be a nice reunion with some of the guys."

But it's the world's oldest international rivalry between England and Scotland, which dates back to 1872, that is the main draw.

A piper leads the teams onto the field, British food is the order of the day and spectators are encouraged to wear their national colors.

"At the moment (the series) is tied at two apiece," Wales said. "People like to come to this game whether (Rod) is there or not. Families come with kids."

The trickiest thing about the event for newcomers is finding the field. You basically just head out of Torrance and up the hill to the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Here's a Google map:
View Larger Map

Finally, here's the highlights of the weekend TV schedule:
Today - CD Guadalajara-Tecos (delayed) 9 p.m. KAZA

Saturday- Chivas USA-Chicago Fire 5:30 p.m. FSN
W-League Championship Pali Blues-FC Indiana 8 p.m. Fox Soccer Channel (delayed)

Sunday - Galaxy-San Jose Noon FSN
4 p.m. Chivas Guadalajara- Barcelona 4 p.m. Fox Soccer Channel

Have a great weekend and I'll let Rod serenade us toward quitting time today.

Galaxy Preview

But more importantly, it's BritWeek (more on that later).

Game preview here.

As usual, Red Bull Claudio Reyna is out injured for this one, proving yet again he's not New York's answer to David Beckham.

Speaking of Becks, the folks over at StubHub sent over these stats that show average Galaxy ticket prices on their site have almost tripled, while the volume of ticket sales has soared compared with 2007.

1st home game $26 (2007) Vs. $55 (2008). Sales volume increase: 450%.
2nd home game $28 Vs. $51. Up 60%
3rd home game $18 Vs. $46. Up 2000%
4th home game $32 4/26 Vs. $55. Up 400%

The Becks effect?

Meanwhile, the Galaxy, late in getting their youth development program going, have belatedly made a commitment.

From the press release:

Galaxy Rios, the official youth development program of the LA Galaxy, will enter a team in the USL Super-20 League for the 2008 season.

The LA Galaxy, who are one of three MLS teams to have a club placed in the Super-20 League, will be one of six teams in the Pacific Southern California League.

The coach: Galaxy Director of Soccer Paul Bravo.

The roster includes UCLA products David Estrada, Kyle Nakazawa of Palos Verdes Estates, Brian Perk and Michael Stephans; Rafael Garcia and Camillo Rojas of Cal State Northridge; Amani Walker of UC-Irvine; and U.S. Under-18 National Team player Tristan Bowen, the first player ever signed to the Galaxy Rios, and his brother Travis Bowen.

Wonder what the S.F. Quakes think about Nakazawa's departure from their squad?

Galaxy Rios opens their season 5 p.m. Sunday against the Ventura County Fusion at Ventura College.

Here's the complete season schedule:
May 24 vs. Poway Vaqueros 1:30 p.m. Home Depot Center
June 4 at Riverside MGFM (Kickoff TBD)
June 8 at Lancaster Rattlers 4 p.m. Lancaster National Soccer Center
June 15 at Poway Vaqueros 2 p.m. Poway High School
June 22 vs. Bakersfield Brigade 1 p.m. Home Depot Center
June 29 vs. Ventura County Fusion 5 p.m. Home Depot Center
July 5 at Bakersfield Brigade 5 p.m. Bakersfield Christian High School
July 12 vs. Lancaster Rattlers 1 p.m. Home Depot Center
July 13 vs. Riverside MGFM Kickoff TBD Home Depot Center

Chivas Deals

Over in England, Chivas USA midfielder Jorge Flores scored a goal and an assist in the first two friendlies for the U.S. Under-20 National Team on its short tour there.

Flores scored the game-winner on a penalty kick Wednesday in a 2-0 win over Bolton Wanderers Reserves and grabbed an assist a day later in a 2-1 win over Manchester United Reserves by a score of 2-1. The team plays Liverpool Reserves today.

The Chivas USA U-18 and U-16 teams both play Pateadores in away games this Saturday at Cal-State Fullerton.

The U-16 team, with two consecutive wins against conference opponents, plays at noon against first-place Pateadores team, with the U-18 game following at 2:30 p.m.

U.S. Women

The match in Sweden marks the return of U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage to her native country where she will face her home country for the first time as U.S. coach.

Local Games This Weekend

The Fusion's PDL team hosts the San Fernando Valley Quakes at 7:30 p.m. in the nightcap.

Other games include:
Fresno Fuego at Southern California Seahorses 7 p.m. La Mirada High
San Jose Frogs at Lancaster Rattlers 7 p.m. Pete Knight High.

BritWeek

Missed the earlier videos?

Click here and here and here.

Those who want to delve more deeply into the genre could do worse than checking out this box set (although I could quibble with a few tracks on the last disc).

Nothing earth-shattering here, but the Galaxy's Chris Klein spoke with The Kansas City Star about what its like to play with David Beckham.

Also, U.S. Soccer announced all the Under-23 Men's National Team games at the annual tournament in Toulon, France will be aired on Fox Soccer Channel.

The nine-day, eight-team tournament runs from May 20-29

The U.S. opens against Turkey on May 21 before facing two Olympic-bound teams in Italy on May 23 and the Ivory Coast on May 25.

Closer to home, the U.S. boys Under-14 team is currently in camp at the HDC in Carson.

Locals participating include goalkeeper Josh McNeely (Hidden Hills), midfielders Eric Gonzales (Corona), Alejandro Guido (Chula Vista), Aldo Magana (Ontario), Oscar Ortega (San Ysidro), and forwards Esteban Rodriguez (Bell Gardens) and Sebastian Velasquez (Los Angeles).

Lots of Latino surnames in a sign U.S. Soccer is belatedly tapping that demographic group for talent.

Cal State Dominguez Hills has honored Sandy Lloyd (Fountain Valley) with the Hal Charnofsky CSUDH Memorial Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.

And how's this for the stat of the week: Through 39 contests in 2008, no MLS team has lost after scoring the first goal. Teams that score first have gone 32-0-7. Last year, the teams that scored first went 134-21-34 overall.

Finally, the 100 Percent Soccer blog continues its salute to BritWeek, which culminates with the Galaxy game Saturday, with the following two little-known Britpop gems.

First up is the aptly-named Lush with its minor U.S. hit "For Love" from the early 1990s.

And as a bonus, here's England's Sunscreem, a band that predated Britpop, but nonetheless earned props for managing to find a word in the English language that rhymes with "purple".

On a completely unrelated note, the chronic technical glitches that have plagued this blog for months are now history or so I'm told. Those whose comments have been lost into the ether should feel free to resubmit them. Or not.