The old rivalry between the San Jose Earthquakes and the Los Angeles Galaxy was built on years of close matches in important games. On Thursday, the Galaxy welcome the reincarnation of the Earthquakes to The Home Depot Center. The rivalry has a chance to pick up right where it left off with so many ex-Galaxy players and coaches back in San Jose.
Leading the charge in San Jose is Frank Yallop, who coached the Galaxy for the past season and a half. He brought Gavin Glinton and Joe Cannon with him to the Bay Area, both of whom were with the Galaxy last season. Yet another former Galaxy player, Ned Grabavoy, is also on San Jose's roster. It's a familiarity that should breed an instant rivalry once again.
"San Jose is going to be ready to go and I'm sure Frank (Yallop) will have them adequately prepared to play us," said Chris Klein. "We know a lot of their guys. Some played here last year. I'm sure they're going to want to come in here and prove their worth."
Los Angeles headed into their season opener not quite sure what to expect from Colorado. The Rapids started several young players that the Galaxy simply didn't know much about.
Against San Jose, there will be very few surprises. In addition to the familiarity between the players, the Quakes don't have a very lengthy roster heading into the season opener, meaning there should be few surprises as to who trots onto the field on Thursday evening.
"I think in our league, there usually aren't too many surprises. The guys tend to know each other pretty well," said Klein. "We know Frank's system and the way he plays. That will help some of us. Knowing their players so well, I think it will be an advantage, but you could say the same for them."
One area where San Jose is expected to be strong is on defense. allop has never been categorized as a defensive coach by any stretch of the imagination, but he has certainly built from the back for year one with the new Quakes. In addition to Joe Cannon in goal, the Quakes have a slew of proven MLS defenders at their disposal. It's one area in San Jose's lineup that the Galaxy knows will be hard to beat.
"Knowing Frank, they'll be hard to play against. They'll be organized and they'll compete," said Landon Donovan. "That's always hard to play against."
The Galaxy will also be trying to break down the San Jose defense without their star offseason acquisition, Carlos Ruiz. The Guatemalan international was the victim of a fearsome late challenge in the Colorado game, suffering a torn meniscus in the incident, forcing him to have knee surgery. It will keep Ruiz sidelined for 4-6 weeks and it will open the door for someone else to step in and make an impact.
"We still have good players," said Galaxy head coach Ruud Gullit. "Gordo (Alan Gordon) is still there. (Edson) Buddle is back from an injury. We still have players."
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
