I will be honest and say it right away. I was as shocked as you were after the first 45 minutes of MLS action last week at Pizza Hut Park... but it was a good shock. Yes, I expected Los Angeles to rebound from their disappointing performance the week prior against New York, but four goals in the first half? As my partner Jim Watson and I mentioned on the air for FSN, it put a smile on our faces (and I'm sure many of yours too) to see some of the bounces go the way of the Galaxy for a change. More importantly, the Galaxy earned their first road win of the campaign, and did so in authoritative fashion!
The Galaxy now returns to the warm confines of The Home Depot Center to try and accomplish something that has eluded them twice already this year - beating an Eastern Conference team. Kansas City Wizards' coach, Curt Onalfo, has done a fantastic job over the last year and a half molding this team into contender in the Eastern Conference.
Without a win in their last three matches, you can bet Onalfo will have the team hungry to fight for a result. Their foundation begins with a solid defense, led by veterans Jimmy Conrad, who had the tying goal last week at New York, and goalkeeper Kevin Hartman. As you might expect, Hartman will have an extra chip on his shoulder when he comes to Carson looking to prove the Galaxy made a mistake sending him to the Midwest after the 2006 season. Although he is getting up there in age, Hartman is still one of the best shot stoppers in the league, and I don't think any one will ever question his commitment to the game. Going forward, the Wizards possess some solid attacking players in Davy Arnaud, Scott Sealy and newcomer Claudio Lopez. Sprinkle in some young talent in Jack Jewsbury and Michael Harrington and there is good balance in the Wizards' eleven.
One of the biggest questions this year has been who would be the player to step up and join Landon Donovan and David Beckham in sharing the scoring load? Two weeks ago it appeared to be Alan Gordon, but after Gordon missed the trip to Dallas with a hamstring injury, the question reared its head again. But never fear, Edson is here! Buddle, who also had some hamstring issues in the past month, delivered his best performance in a Galaxy kit. I believe the hat-trick outburst could open the gate for Buddle to put up some solid numbers in the coming weeks. Players like Gordon and Buddle are going to have these opportunities to find success because of the hot start for Donovan and Beckham. It was very clear from the first whistle this past week in Dallas that the Hoops wanted to limit Beck's space and time on the ball out wide. Consequently, Buddle had more room to "operate," and if he continues to score goals like the first one in the upper corner of the net, we might just start calling him the doctor.
Defensively, that was the best collective effort Los Angeles has put together for 90 minutes this season. Yes, they did give up a goal and probably were fortunate to not give up a second, but the ability to recover from those mental lapses is where fans should be pleased. Abel Xavier and Sean Franklin worked well together and I think Greg Vanney had his best performance of the young season. I would still like to see Steve Cronin earn his second shutout of the year sometime soon, but I will trade that for a three-point win every single time.
