LET THE TEAMS PLAY. It got physical, especially in the first half when Cobi Jones and Douglas Sequeira chest bumped and exchanged verbals. Ryan Suarez dumped Naldo every chance he got, but that was the first half. The second half was a display of Galaxy dominance.
At one point it felt as though the field was tilted toward Martin Zuniga's net. L.A.'s efforts paid off in the 62nd minute on set play. Jovan Kirovski bent a nice ball into the box and Pablo Chinchilla did the rest, heading it home. In the 76th, goal scoring phenom Peter Vagenas took another pass from Kiro and tucked it nicely into the right corner and that's all she wrote folks. Four goals already for Vagenas! Keep'em coming Captain Peter V.
A nice tune up for the Galaxy. You see, this team will be without five starters next Saturday when the Metrostars come to town. No Landon Donovan or Cobi Jones. They'll be with Team USA. Pando Ramirez heads to Guatemala. Michael Umana has a date with Costa Rica and then there is the M-A-S-H unit, Chris Albright and Joe Ngwenya. Boys, wrong time for injuries, as if there is a right time.
The Galaxy knew this was coming and thus feel they have built a team to deal with departures. Galaxy Reserves, lace up your boots. Here's your chance to help the club. Coach Steve Sampson gave us a glimpse on Saturday as Herculez Gomez and Paul Broome came on as subs. Sampson has told me he likes what he has seen in Gomez. Of course Broome has been around the block and is chomping at the bit to return to the starting lineup.
The bulk of the weight will rest of the likes of Kirovski and Vagenas orchestrating the attack - and they have done a nice job. Ugo Ihemelu did a nice job replacing the injured Albright and Todd Dunivant was used more in the attack along the left side. It could be a more balanced club once the other players return from national team service.
Moves: Thomas Rongen was replaced as coach of the Goats on Monday. What?! Because? You have to be kidding me. If Greg Andrulis is still coaching a team in Columbus that actually has players, how is Rongen let go with a team fielding, well, hmmm, how can I say this? Let me put it this way, this team couldn't win with Franz Beckenbauer on the bench. Come on get them some players. How about an attacking midfielder? A forward that can get more than two touches on a ball? That might help. God forbid the man's name could be Smith or Jones! All I can say is welcome to American Soccer. It's not the coach.
Next up: The MetroStars come to town. Last year Eddie Gaven was unconscious, scoring two of the prettiest goals you'll ever see. But, he's gone with the U.S. Under-20 national team. Frenchman Youri Djorkaeff will be looking to find the back of Kevin Hartman's net. He scored a Goal of the Week finalist at Columbus last Saturday night.
The MetroStars are a weird bunch. Every year it seems like they are starting from scratch. Even the latest genius on the bench, Bob Bradley, hasn't been able to get these guys going with consistency. To me, the MetroStars were never better than when half of the Galaxy showed up in their uniforms.
For now, I'm Joe Tutino, your friendly voice of the Galaxy, and that's how I saw it from the broadcast booth.
Joe Tutino is in his seventh season as the English radio voice of the Los Angeles Galaxy. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of the Los Angeles Galaxy or Major League Soccer.
