Galaxy Preview

It's Galaxy-Red Bulls at Home Depot Center tonight.

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

Not surprisingly, Chivas USA - owners of the league's second worst defensive record in terms of goals conceded, continue to revamp their back line.

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 U.S. Women's National Team has announced two Scandinavian games in July against Norway and Sweden.

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

In Ventura tonight at 5 o'clock the new Fusion W-League team plays their first game in franchise history against the similarly new Pali Blues.

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

Finally, the countdown to BritWeek concludes today with "Crash" by the Primatives:

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).

Posted by Nick Green at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

David Beckham scored a brace and Landon Donovan nabbed an assist to pace the Galaxy to a 2-2 road tie with Real Salt Lake Saturday (who was that prescient columnist who talked about the Becks and Donovan Road Show earlier this week?).

Game details here.

Chivas USA (1-3-2), meanwhile, snapped a three-game losing streak by grinding out a scoreless draw Saturday at Houston, remaining tied with the Galaxy's opponents on the evening for fourth in the Western Conference.

"We knew it was going to be a tight game," said Chivas USA Coach Preki. "I'm proud of the way we played, the way we defended as a group, finally. We played like we played last year."

Noteworthy:
* Chivas USA's veteran defender Claudio Suárez, earned a red for a foul on Houston's Brian Mullan in the 82nd minute.

*Chivas USA defender Lawson Vaughn exited the match in the 13th minute with a broken nose and a gash on his right cheek, after being struck in the face by Dynamo midfielder Dwayne De Rosario's during a thwarted bicycle kick attempt.

*Referee Jozef Batko showed nine cards during the match (eight yellow and one red), an MLS high so far this season.

*Chivas USA's first choice strike force of Ante Razov and Maykel Galindo made their first start together since last September.

*Goalkeeper Brad Guzan earned his first clean sheet of the season, a week after conceding a career-high five goals against the Galaxy.

The Chivas USA lineup: Brad Guzan, Lawson Vaughn (Chris Pozniak 13), Claudio Suarez, Shavar Thomas (Jim Curtin 62), Jonathan Bornstein, Sacha Kljestan, Jesse Marsch, Paulo Nagamura, Francisco Mendoza, Maykel Galindo, Ante Razov (Justin Braun 78).

Substitutes Not Used: Atiba Harris, Dan Kennedy, Daniel Paladini, Keith Savage

Oh, and hold the Mickey Mouse jokes: Chivas USA take its official 2008 team photograph Monday at Disney's California Adventure.

In other games Saturday, the career of Palos Verdes' John Thorrington continues to sustain a second wind; he scored one and also got an assist in the Chicago Fire's comfortable 3-0 victory over the New England Revolution. Thorrington now has three goals on the season.

Also getting his third of the year was the Columbus Crew's Robbie Rogers of Rolling Hills Estates in his teams' 2-1 win over the Kansas City Wizards.

Not surprisingly, longtime South Bay resident Sigi Schmid sounds like he's thoroughly enjoying the vindication that goes along with being the coach of the in-form team in MLS.

On a contrasting note, Lawndale's Kei Kamara didn't have an evening to remember Saturday as his San Jose Earthquakes played their inaugural game at Santa Clara's Buck Shaw Stadium where yours truly had the pleasure of being on hand for the occasion.

He missed on five shots, including at least one he should have tucked away, as the Earthquakes drew 1-1 against FC Dallas.

That continued what has already been a season of futility for the youngster; he came into the game ranked eighth in shots in the league with 12 attempts, but has just one goal to show for it.

Kamara (who seems as if he has grown yet a little more every time I see him) had to think long and hard when I asked what he needed to do differently.

"I've just got to focus a little more when I get inside the box," he finally said after a long pause. "Next time one of them has got to go in. It's up to me now."

Earthquakes Coach Frank Yallop wasn't about to criticize the youngster.

"He's given me everything he's got - he's been unlucky," Yallop said. "He's a young, raw player. It's the most (games) he's ever played in a row."

Well, OK, maybe a little.

"The one he blazed over (the bar), I couldn't believe it," Yallop said

A vociferous crowd of 10,515 watched the action (seating capacity is 10,300, but the Earthquakes sold some standing room only seats) in one of the better 0-0 games I've seen in a while and were chanting and singing throughout.

"The crowd was huge," Kamara said. "They were a huge part of the game."

In fact, all that was missing was new Bakersfield Brigade striker Eric Wynalda (see more below); longtime MLS fans will remember it was the former U.S. international who broke the deadlock in the first-ever MLS game when the then San Jose Clash beat D.C. United 1-0.

The Earthquakes' tight little stadium will be a treat to watch games at (the sight lines cannot be beat) and none other than MLS Commish Don Garber came away suitably impressed.

"It's great to be back," he said, alluding to the Earthquakes returning to their neighborhood (the team has just two other games at the Oakland Coliseum this season both against you know who and the Galaxy). "It's very intimate. The environment is electric."

By the way, Garber also made some interesting comments regarding how soccer fans are increasingly communicating on the Internet, something that only adds to their fervor.

Against that backdrop, I counted a mere six print reporters in the main press box.

Still, Yallop doesn't think his team are too far away from playing much better.

"We did everything right, but score," he said of the performance. "We're not anticipating very well. The final touch is just out of reach.

Former Galaxy goalkeeper Joe Cannon (who pointed out he got a shutout) said he believes the team needs a player (or two) "with bite" and the ability to win 50-50 balls to improve.

Still, Cannon sounded positively dizzy about the team and Yallop's new lease on his career.

"Him and (General Manager) John (Doyle) have a much better relationship than he has with others in the past," a not so oblique reference to Alexi Lalas. "He's a guy all of us want to die for."

Meanwhile, the aforementioned Wynalda made his PDL debut Saturday against the Ventura County Fusion.

Finally, the U.S. Women beat Australia in a thriller for the second successive game.

Posted by Nick Green at 11:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Even though the Galaxy and Chivas USA are on the road this weekend, there's still plenty of live soccer on tap in the Southland this weekend.

And Becks is excited anyway.

The Ventura County Fusion open their season tonight against the Bakersfield Brigade, who include Eric Wynalda in their squad.

The San Fernando Valley Quakes play their home opener Sunday in Calabasas against the Southern California Seahorses

The Earth Quakes feature the likes of Palos Verdes Estates' UCLA playmaker Kyle Nakazawa and former Galaxy player Benjamin Benditson.

Meanwhile, the PDL Los Angeles Legends play Orange County Blue Star

Posted by Nick Green at 1:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)