FIFA Updates

On Form

Columbus Crew: After a home defeat to Kansas City and some questions about the team’s strength in depth, the Crew bounced back brilliantly, defeating New York 2-0 at Crew Stadium to open up a five point lead at the top of the Eastern Conference. Emilio Renteria continued his strong play against New York and has presented himself as another alternative to partner Guillermo Barros Schelotto up top. Brian Carroll has played an understated, though quite important role in making the Crew’s midfield work this season, and finally got his moment in the spotlight with a fine strike against New York. However, he will will miss out on this weekend’s match due to a left ankle sprain.

Houston Dynamo: All season, left back Mike Chabala has been the most consistent piece of the Dynamo squad. The team was visibly impacted by his two game layoff for a hamstring injury, but since returning he’s showed no ill effects and picked up right where he left off. His combination of positional sense and great distribution from the back makes him a complete left back that the Dynamo rely on in multiple facets of their game. Throughout the game, he’s likely to be matched up with Columbus’s Eddie Gaven and, in his current form, he’s likely to be up to the task.

Off Target

Columbus: Frankie Hejduk has not had the best of months, and although he was not bad against New York, he earned a foolish ejection for hitting out at Carl Robinson. Even though Hejduk’s backers will argue he was provoked, a veteran like him can’t react like that. Furthermore, the defense looked shaky at times, with Andy Iro and Chad Marshall occasionally losing their man and allowing New York some efforts on goal, but, luckily for them, Will Hesmer was on his game and the clean sheet remained intact.

Houston: All of the strikers. Even the usually reliable Brian Ching has missed a couple of laughable sitters. The recently re-acquired Joseph Ngwenya is working to change that, but we’re still a few games away from having a good idea of what exactly Ngwenya can contribute. Houston is now short a body, or should we say one and a half, after releasing Designated Player Luis Angel Landin. The first auto-complete when you Google his name is “Luis Angel Landin fat” so I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that it won’t be much of a loss for the Dynamo. Ngwenya, Cam Weaver, or Dominic Oduro is going to have to step up soon if the Dynamo wants to break their streak of six games in the league without a win.

Tactics

Columbus: Robert Warzycha has strayed very little from his tried and true 4-4-2, and it should be no different this time. He went for a slightly altered setup against New York, with Emmanuel Ekpo getting a rare start on the left wing with Emilio Renteria moved up top, and that seemed to work well, which is good news for the Crew considering that Steven Lenhart will miss out with a nose injury. With Brian Carroll’s injury, expect to see Eddie Gaven partnering Adam Moffat in the center of midfield and Robbie Rogers regaining a starting spot. Frankie Hejduk’s late sending off against New York means he will miss out, which will likely give Gino Padula another shot in the starting lineup, though Robert Warzycha could look to any number of players to make up the right and left back positions.

Houston: Nothing fancy for the Dynamo, expect them to stick to their tried and true 4-4-2 diamond formation. Besides Geoff Cameron, the team is injury-free and Dominic Kinnear has a variety of choices to fill out his lineup. The team has struggled to find consistency at Cameron’s vacated attacking midfield spot, with Ngwenya, Richard Mulrooney, and Brad Davis all doing decent but not spectacular jobs. I expect to see Ching up top with Ngwenya, Mulrooney behind them, Davis and Danny Cruz on the wings, and Lovel Palmer in the defensive midfield spot, but I would not be surprised to see Ngwenya drop into the hole with Oduro playing up top and Mulrooney dropping to the bench. The distribution of the aforementioned Mike Chabala from the back will be key to starting Houston’s attacks.

Intangibles

Columbus: Can the Crew find a consistent striker? Although the problem has been diminished this season by the fact that the Crew are getting solid contributions from all over the pitch, the fact remains that the Crew are lacking a consistent goal-getter. As we have seen in a few games this season, the inability to convert chances has caused the team to drop points and manifested itself in the team’s occasionally erratic results.

Houston: Quite simply, it’s almost impossible to measure the mental struggle players go through when they can’t seem to find a win despite not playing poorly. While the Dynamo haven’t played their best lately, they certainly haven’t played so badly that you would expect them to be winless in the last six matches. Hopefully for Dynamo fans, the players will be completely unaware of the fact that they’re winless in their last six matches and will just go out and play like it’s just another game.

Prediction

Columbus: Despite the Crew’s striking woes, excellent team play will prevail and the Crew will finish off their three game homestand with a 1-0 win.

Houston: The injury to Brian Carroll will certainly help Houston’s chances. Whoever starts in the attacking midfield role for Houston will have an easier job because of it. However, the Crew still look too strong for a struggling Dynamo team. Coming off a complete domination of the New York Red Bulls, Columbus appear to be firing on all cylinders and should be confident. I see a 2-1 win for the Crew.

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On Form

Los Angeles Galaxy: LA is slowly looking like their better selves again. Omar Gonzalez is back in the line up stuffing shoots from the opposition and Edson Buddle got his 11th goal last week after displaying some square dancing moves around the D.C. United defense. The Galaxy victory over D.C., in congruence with Real Salt Lake losing to FC Dallas, gave LA back their commanding nine point lead over RSL in the West.

San Jose Earthquakes: Is there much that can be taken from a scoreless exhibition match? Sure there is. How can you host a team from England, most likely exhausted from a trek that took upwards to a day, and not score a goal? One week prior, they scored two against a not-so-expansion-like Philadelphia Union in a win. Where’s the consistency with the Quakes? It’s not up top. Can the playmakers have two consecutive good games?

Off Target

Los Angeles: Even though they won last week, LA still has a few loose nuts to tighten, namely: Chris Birchall. The Trinidad and Tobago international has been in a goal drought all season and in the last two games, against the New England Revolution and D.C., his frustrations became apparent on the pitch. In or out of the 18, out of place or not, Birchall went for goal and was either stuffed or way off target. The midfielder needs to cool his horses, take a deep breath and remember, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one.”—Mr. Spock.

San Jose: Between Steve Beitashour and Chris Leitch on the right side of defense (they even tried Jason Hernandez on the flank too), Frank Yallop can’t seem to find a formidable body out there. One person after another gets torched, and it’s bound to hurt them soon. If they sure that up, San Jose could be – and this is a stretch – the stingiest defense in MLS, especially with the more apt keeping of Jon Busch.

Tactics

Los Angeles: LA have a lot on their hands in the next few days. There’s this game on Thursday, a face-off against the Puerto Rico Islanders in a CONCACAF Champions League qualification match next Tuesday, the All-Star game against Manchester United (four Galaxy players are involved: Landon Donovan, Edson Buddle, Omar Gonzalez, and Donovan Ricketts). Then off to Chicago on Sunday and Puerto Rico on Wednesday, and then Real Madrid on Saturday. Long story short: they’re not going to have time to sleep. Coach Bruce Arena will have to keep revising his line up to keep fresh legs on the pitch starting this Thursday. Expect Eddie Lewis, Jovan Kirovski and others to get some playing time and a lot of conservative play as they try to keep some gas in the tank.

San Jose: Frank Yallop continues to rely on his traditional 4-4-2 formation. Some games it works; sometimes it doesn’t. There’s not much more you can expect from a middle-of-the-road team with a predictable formation. Perhaps Yallop can spice it up with a 4-5-1 with Cornell Glen up top. Glen’s relentless play seems like a match with a one-forward formation. Drop Chris Wondolowski into a goal scorer, facilitator hybrid with Bobby Convey and Joey Gjertsen on the wings and they might produce more often.

Intangibles

Los Angeles: Its the first meeting of 2010 for these rival clubs. Los Galacticos have had a clear edge on the visiting Quakes in the California Clasico and lead the series 24-14-6. LA is undefeated at home with one draw and will use that as an advantage when they take on a fifth place in the West, San Jose.

San Jose: When Ike Opara shoots, he’s likely to score. If the Quakes rookie defender takes a shot this Thursday, it has a 43 percent chance of going in. Opara has taken seven shots this season, scoring three times. If the Quakes build up from the back, don’t be surprised to see Opara filling in a lane to collect a cross.

Outcome

Los Angeles: LA, more times than not, show up for the California Clasico. However, this time they’ll be operating with three days’ rest. They’ll have heavy legs, but not heavy enough to give San Jose the advantage. LA trumps SJ, 2-1.   

San Jose: Los Angeles is the class of Major League Soccer. With Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle, it’s already a tough match-up. And really, that’s all that needs to be said. The Quakes have been having their troubles lately, and I don’t see them solving them against the Galaxy. In the end: 2-0 Los Angeles.

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On Form

D.C. United, by Max Zeger: On the year, United has conceded the most goals in MLS (tied with Philadelphia and New England), but of late their defense, for a change, has been the only consistent part of the team. In their past two matches, D.C. has only surrendered one goal, a late winner for Seattle that was a product of a rookie error, rather than a defensive breakdown. Julius James has been the catalyst for improving a previously poor defense. He was able to stop Fredy Montero and Juan Pablo Angel, two of the league’s most talented forwards, from scoring in United’s past two matches.

Los Angeles Galaxy, by Jonathan Vera: Well, judging by last weeks meltdown against the Revolution—nothing. However, the Galaxy will be coming into Sunday’s match in the nation’s capital well rested. The face of American soccer, Landon Donovan, will be back in the lineup as “el capitan” along with defender Omar Gonzalez coming back from suspension—which means the passing will be more crisp, and the defense will be a wall.

Off Target

D.C. United: While defensively things have improved for Curt Onalfo’s side, offense still remains a major trouble spot. United has managed just one goal in four games since the World Cup break, and has resorted to playing Santino Quaranta as a forward, when he is more effective coming out of the midfield. In their last match, United created a handful of decent chances, but couldn’t finish them. Perhaps the addition of new signings Branko Boskovic and Pablo Hernandez can spark the team offensively and provide some much needed composure in front of the net.

Los Angeles: It was a rude awakening in the match against the Revs, who exposed and exploited a tired Galaxy side and revealed to the rest of the MLS the Galaxy are human after all. No one on the pitch was on the same page, the passing was all over the place, the defense was getting worked—the team was lost and disoriented. Not to take anything away from New England, they outplayed LA and deserved the win, but this needs to be a dominant team home and away. They’ve surrendered two losses and two draws on the road. LA needs to kick it up a notch while traveling and start showing up.

Tactics

D.C. United: Coming off just two days of rest, United will need to make a few changes if they want to compete with the league’s best team, the Los Angeles Galaxy. Jaime Moreno, 38 years old, will likely be replaced, and Curt Onalfo may opt to bring some fresh legs into the midfield in place of Stephen King. Don’t look for new Designated Player, Branko Boskovic to start, as Onalfo intimated that he has a long way to go in the fitness department.

Los Angeles: It’s going to be their regular 4-4-2 formation with Donovan looking to set up play. The backline of Todd Dunivant, Omar Gonzalez, Gregg Berhalter, and Sean Franklin will hold and on the other side Edson Buddle and Tristan Bowen will be stalking the goal. Look for them to press on and create pressure on the D.C. defense—looking and waiting for them to make a mistake until BAM, LA seizes an opportunity and strikes like a viper.

Intangibles

D.C. United: The United locker room was quite somber after their gut-wrenching loss to Seattle on Thursday, but the players will be relieved that they only have two days to sit on their stinging loss before hosting Los Angeles. Look for D.C. to come out motivated and aggressive against the league leaders.

Los Angeles: LA is walking into D.C. with a full squad in a match against the worst club in MLS. They have a lot to make up for and playing D.C. United is the ideal opposition for them to bounce back from that loss, while United try to muster up a repeat miracle and defeat the MLS giant.

Outcome

D.C. United: RFK has been a fortress in the past, but when you have a team as woeful as D.C., it becomes a much easier place to play for visitors. Add on that Los Angeles has Landon Donovan back in the lineup, and it is tough to see how the home team can pull out a win. We should see a 2-0 Los Angeles victory.

Los Angeles: The Galaxy may have been knocked off their high horse but they’re going to get back on the saddle this Saturday when they defeat D.C. 2-0.

For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com’s MLS page and join Goal.com USA’s Facebook fan page