L.A. GALAXY: ARE THEY UNSTOPPABLE?

L.A. GALAXY: ARE THEY UNSTOPPABLE?

For my soccer-head peeps, because nobody else will understand or care...

Perhaps this is blasphemy but – taken strictly in the context of American soccer, and considering it has as much to do with the three musketeers attitude of comradery as it does with star power – could the LA Galaxy's trio of Keane, dos Santos, and Zardis become the MLS version of Messi, Naymar, and Suarez? Is there any other MLS team who can point to similar firepower?
 
I know it’s early days for the full strength Galaxy line-up to gel, but with Keane, dos Santos, Gerrard, Zardis, Juninho, Sebastian Llegget, A.J. DeLaGarza, Omar Gonzalez, Dan Gargon, Robbie Rogers, and Leonardo on the field – and Alan Gordon, Raul Mendiola, Baggio Husidic, Bradford Jamison, Ignacio Maganto, and Tommy Meyer ready to come off the bench, and coach Bruce Arena at the wheel – is there any other MLS team with the same level of overall potential?

On the downside, there are still big issues with the defense, which could lead to a spectacular downfall. The Galaxy backline is shaky – the skill is there, but so is confusion in communication and positioning.

But the biggest question mark is plastered across arguably the most important position on the field. By letting world class Panamanian National goalkeeper Jaime Penedo get away, the Galaxy could have made a disasterous misstep. ‘Settling’ for rewinding the clock to bring back the rickety-handed not-so-world-class Jamaican national goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts is a head scratcher.

There is an old goalkeeper joke applicable to the situation: “Donovan Ricketts fell in front of a bus the other day, but he didn’t get hurt because the bus went under him…” In Sunday’s game against Seattle, Ricketts was constantly out of position and juggled more balls than a jester performing for an audience.

No matter how many goals the Galaxy’s front line produce (an amazing 30 in the last 12 games), if opponents can run rampant through an unorganized Galaxy defence directed by a ball-shy keeper, chances of a sixth MLS championship will vanish as quick as Jaime Penedo disappearing off the Galaxy roster.