Galaxy Take Second Leg of California Clasico 2-0

By: Chris | August 21st, 2011

Well, the Quakes’ 11 game winless streak continued after last night’s 2-0 loss to the Galaxy. The Quakes have now not won in the last 12 games, since their 4-2 win against DC United on June 24. Los Angeles’ newest signing, Robbie Keane, opened the scoring in the 21st minute and Mike Magee, who stymied the Quakes in July while in goal, put the nail in the coffin in the 90th minute.

I can say that after a 3 week vacation it was nice to get back to MLS and the Quakes. But when I got back I was hoping to see that the Quakes had won at least 2 of their 3 games during their home stand. I was at the DC game and it was not a pretty sight. I tried to keep tabs on the team news for the Portland and Colorado games. As I understand, the team started to play better than they had been in the last few games before Portland, and the Colorado game could have ended with at minimum a draw, if not for a questionable penalty call against Sam Cronin for a handball in the penalty box.

The Quakes have started to regain their positive, possessive form they had during their hot streak from late April to June. The problem is that the squad is being hampered by injuries, suspensions, lack of fitness, absences and new players. Injuries are plaguing the Quakes again this year, similar to last year. Ike Opara has once again been out for an unidentified amount of time due to a foot injury. Andre Luiz has been out all year, similar to the entirety of last season after April. Simon Dawkins was out with calf surgery, and recently has recovered from a hamstring injury. Steven Beitashour was out for 4 weeks with a leg injury, and other players have had injuries here and there.

Bobby Burling has been red carded twice this season; Sam Cronin and Beitashour each with 1 red card. With the exception of Brandon McDonald’s red card in April, the Quakes have been red carded 4 times since mid July, and each red card seemed to be flimsy or due to soft second yellows. There have been 4 new players that have joined the team since the beginning of July, and new players always need time to gel with the team and figure out how the new system works and where they fit in. Currently, new loanee Edmundo Zura is going through this process. Finally, Steven Lenhart has been absent randomly throughout the season due to his father’s death before the start of the season. Lenhart has been listed as being on an indefinite leave of absence for personal reasons, so there’s no telling when he might be back.

As a team and professional organization, none of these situations are being used as excuses for why the team has been under performing, and they most certainly have been under performing. But if you ask anyone associated with the team, they would conclude that they certainly are a factor. With injuries, suspensions and absences, continuity in the starting lineup has been nonexistent. Consistency in the starters is vital to team cohesion and familiarity on the field, something which can clearly be seen during games. Players are not connecting on passes and plays, not anticipating where their teammates are going to be to make that crucial pass or defensive stop.

However the team has been improving in the last few weeks. During the Galaxy game, the Quakes held their share of the possession. In fact, according to the TV’s numbers, the Quakes had 52% possession at halftime. In a game where the lineup was once again shuffled up, the Quakes were most vulnerable in the midfield. Ramiro Corrales was playing in the middle with first time starter Rafael Baca. Corrales was playing Cronin and Brad Ring’s holding midfielder position while Bobby Convey on the left was running all over the field, forcing Baca to play out left. Joey Gjertsen started his second game in a row at right mid. So a hastily made up midfield was the most jumbled area of the field.

Robbie Keane’s goal came off a David Beckham free kick, but it was not a typical Beckham free kick. The Quakes were burned several times last night on quick restarts and Keane’s goal came off exactly that type of restart. While the backline was walking with Keane, Beckham took his kick and placed it in step with Keane within the penalty box. Jason Hernandez tried a jump kick to knock the ball away but whiffed. Keane juked Jon Busch into jumping for a potential block but kept the ball on the ground and easily slotted the ball into an empty net.

The Quakes had their share of opportunities at goal, including 4 powerful shots at goal, but each of these shots was sent directly at Josh Saunders, and only one was parried onto the field, but there was no player nearby to take a shot at goal. Chris Wondolowski missed a great opportunity halfway through the second half on a Gjertsen cross. After out muscling Beckham on the sideline, Gjertsen drove into the box and laid the ball out for Wondo at the top of the 18, but Wondo’s attempt was scuffed and the ball sailed over the touchline, 90 degrees away from the goal or goal line.

The Quakes continued to threaten until the 81st minute when Beitashour was shown a straight red for a foul against Landon Donovan. Donovan went to the ground after some contact with Beitashour and as Beita was leaping over Donvan, he planted his left foot on Donovan’s knee, lifted his foot and landed on the other side of him. Beita got some crazy air on his jump and it seemed like he hovered in air for a long time, which is what made the foul so strange. Beitashour could have just jumped over Donovan, but as he hung in the air, he touched the side of Landon’s knee, brought his foot back up and then landed. Donovan of course acted as if an anvil fell on his leg, and the ref gave Beita a straight red card.

So for the last 9 minutes the Quakes played a man down, but they still had a few more attempts at goal. However their efforts for an equalizer were in vain as Mike Magee doubled the Galaxy’s lead in the 90th minute with a goal of his own. That’s twice now Magee has beaten down the Quakes this season and it’s frustrating.

So what next? The Quakes are currently 7 points behind New York in the last wild card spot. Of the last 9 games of the season, 3 are at home and 6 are on the road. Mathematically the Quakes still have a chance, but the chance of making the cut are getting slimmer and slimmer. Last year the Quakes made it in the 8th spot with 46 points. In order to match that, the Quakes would have to win at least 7 of their last 9. The fact that 6 of the games are away makes this possibility tough to imagine. If the Quakes are going to stand a chance, the next game away to Toronto is a must win situation, probably the next 2 games including the home game against Colorado after Toronto.

Hopefully Zura can provide the spark and help that Geovanni brought to the team last summer, and hopefully Wondo finds his scoring touch again, I get the feeling that he’s mentally not there since leaving for the Gold Cup. The Quakes have a tough hill to climb if they want to reach the promised land of the MLS Playoffs, but I’m eternally an optimist when it comes to my teams.

GO QUAKES!