A tactical breakdown of this week’s Los Angeles Galaxy-Red Bull New York encounter was a simpler proposition two weeks ago.
But both sides are in a bit of flux at the moment—mostly in a good way.
Bruce Arena’s Galaxy have happily re-introduced David Beckham and his unique set of skills. He could conceivably be available for a full half this week as his fitness improves and his minutes gradually increase.
Hans Backe’s New York Red Bulls, meanwhile, are tinkering with their own offensive arrangement. His Red Bulls, fortified with three Designated Players, are good enough to make the playoffs at the moment—and they almost surely will do so. But he wants to push past the current sticking point, to really turn the vice and put teams under more pressure with better stuff in the final third.
So each manager has an assortment of cards to play. Here are some of the aspects to consider in a contest that could be rife with action-and-reaction responses from both sides.
First, there can be no question that Beckham remains a game changer. He certainly won’t be flying up and down the right side; he admitted that he got pretty tuckered in just 37 minutes in Saturday’s 2-1 win over D.C. United. Besides, his pace was never a distinguishing quality. Rather, it’s his ability to spray precision passes over distance that can devastate defenses. And Beckham has hardly lost that ability. Just ask D.C. United defenders, who found themselves on the business end of some of those lasers last week.
It’s not just Beckham himself and those signature passes that will be so troublesome to the Red Bulls back line. It’s about the player on the other end: a fast cat named Landon Donovan.
Here’s how it went last week: Donovan started along the right. (And he was fairly ineffective by his high standards). Beckham’s introduction along the right early in the second half allowed Donovan to go play as a second striker behind Edson Buddle. So that crushing combination, Beckham’s vision and pinpoint passing and Donovan’s ability to run in behind defenders, simply must be accounted for.
That means Red Bulls center backs Tim Ream and Carlos Mendes must be constantly vigilant and especially careful about how high they hold the back line. When Beckham picks his head up with time and space, they cannot be caught flat-footed or too far forward; they have to be retreating or Donovan’s speed will be too much to overcome.
Limiting Beckham’s opportunities to get his head up and pick out Donovan’s bursts will be Joel Lindpere’s job; early pressure goes a long way in such efforts of prevention.
That’s all problematic for the Red Bulls because LA won’t play that way before Beckham comes on the field. (Unless he starts … ?) Rather, they like to pressure in certain areas and create opportunities to counter. So, Red Bull essentially has to game-plan to deal with two completely different styles of attack.
One the other hand, Beckham’s inability to be the “full” Beckham presents its own special set of issues for the Galaxy. Specifically, the midfield gets slower, and Beckham certainly can’t provide much defensive help at the moment.
Backe will be very aware of Beckham’s limitations. Lindpere has lined up along the left whenever Rafa Márquez has played centrally. Lindpere is a bit of a workhorse anyway. So Beckham will hardly be able to deal with the busy Estonian midfielder, especially with Márquez able to feed Lindpere in areas where Beckham will have to pursue.
So the Galaxy will probably ask their holding midfielder—Dema Kovalenko recently—to tilt toward the right and provide help. Of course, that opens up areas centrally, where newly acquired Mehdi Ballouchy will be working for his Red Bulls.
Plus, such a defensive shift would open up more space for Dane Richards along New York’s right side. The additions of Márquez and Henry have energized Richards, who still doesn’t make consistently good choices but always manages to be dangerous due to that blazing speed.
Backe could even ask Ballouchy to slide over toward the left side of the attack as he plays in behind Juan Pablo Ángel, adding even more of a defensive burden on Beckham.
Arena could alternatively choose to deploy Beckham into a deep-lying playmaker role, a position he has occupied occasionally at the Home Depot Center. Pairing him with a defensive-minded central partner like Kovalenko would mitigate some of Beckham’s defensive liabilities.
Either way, Beckham’s introduction could require a complete reconfiguration of the Galaxy midfield. If Juninho lines up at the top of the midfield diamond as usual, having Beckham on the field means the Galaxy essentially have two midfield playmakers and precious little defensive cover. That sounds like something former manager Ruud Gullit, a man who treated defense as a burden and an afterthought, might have done!
On the other side, the Red Bulls’ plans have been further complicated by Thierry Henry’s MCL strain, which will prevent the French international from participating in the Week 26 marquee biggie.
Backe was pleased with Ballouchy as a withdrawn presence last week playing behind Henry. So, most likely, Ángel will replace Henry in the target spot in a similar setup this week.
Backe said last week he wanted to explore a different attacking arrangement at some point, with Ballouchy situated behind two strikers (probably Ángel and Salou Ibrahim). In that event, Backe would have to remove one of his current starting midfielders. Rookie Tony Tchani could be sacrificed, but that would leave Márquez with lots of ground to defend in his screening role in front of the back four.
Lindpere and Richards would then have to squeeze into the middle to support Márquez, and that would constrict their ability to stretch the Galaxy’s midfield across the field. As the Galaxy lack speed in the midfield, that may not be something Backe wants to do in this particular matchup.
