Los Angeles Galaxy Brace Themselves for Stern FC Dallas Challenge

Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy already know what they are up against on Sunday, Nov. 14 when they take on FC Dallas in the 2010 Major League Soccer Western Conference Finals.

“Dallas has been a terrific team on both sides of the ball this year," Arena said. "[Goalkeeper Kevin] Hartman’s had a fabulous record, goals against. The defense has played well but what continues to catch everyone’s eye is their quality going forward. Ferreira you could argue has been the best player in the league this year. He’s a terrific player. The combination of [David] Ferreira and whoever they choose as their forward has been outstanding.”

But it's more than just Hartman and Ferreira that makes FC Dallas the complete package, and a match for the home side.

“Their flank play, the combination of players they use whether it’s been [Atiba] Harris, [Marvin] Chávez, Brek Shea, the Brazilian [Jackson Gonçalves]...They’ve been outstanding in those categories,” Arena said of their depth. “The experience of [Daniel] Hernandez holding in the midfield...They have a team, I’ve said this before, they’re very good in every position on the field.”

The Los Angeles Galaxy defeated FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas 1-0 on May 20 before taking down the Hoops 2-1 at the Home Depot Center on Oct. 24. FC Dallas will be looking to exact payback for their regular season setbacks on Sunday.

“Dallas are incredibly athletic all around the field,” Galaxy captain Landon Donovan said. “They’ve got the best play-maker in the league on their team. They’ve got guys wide in the back and wide in the midfield who are just horses and just run and run and run.”

"They have good quickness and speed," Arena added, "and you could see that [Saturday], especially in the first half against Salt Lake. They were outstanding going forward on the break.”

FC Dallas defeated Real Salt Lake 2-1 in the first leg of their Western Conference semifinal at Pizza Hut Park. The Hoops then held RSL club to a 1-1 draw in Sandy, Utah to prevail 3-2 on aggregate.

Los Angeles shut out the Seattle Sounders 1-0 in the first leg of their Western Conference semifinal. The Galaxy also won the second leg 2-1 to advance 3-1 on aggregate.

“It’s going to be a very challenging game like it was two weeks ago,” Donovan said. “We’ve got to have the same effort, same mentality and if we do that, we think we can win.”

The Galaxy's No. 10 pointed out that the Oct. 24 victory over FC Dallas should provide more than enough motivation to deliver more of the same.

“It’s valuable that they played that game like it meant something to them,” Donovan said. “We know exactly what it’s about. Mentally there’s a little bit of advantage knowing we beat them.”

A key part of the Galaxy success over Dallas has been the play of goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, the 2010 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year. The Big Cat from Montego Bay, however, opted to keep his feet on the ground heading into this weekend's contest.

“One game at a time,” Ricketts said. “Hopefully come next week we do the job on the field and I'll think about the MLS Cup when it comes, but one more game to go before that. We have to focus and not get ahead of ourselves, and keep doing what we’re doing right now.”

Ricketts has shown his durability and mental toughness against the Sounders. In the first leg, he hurt his shoulder making a save and in the second leg, a cleat from Alvaro Fernandez hit his right knee.

Nonetheless, he was able to finish both games, making stop after stop, while gaining plenty of help from the revitalized back line of Omar Gonzalez, A.J. De La Garza, Sean Franklin and Eddie Lewis.

“Eddie played well last week," Arena said. "He was pretty rested. Todd didn’t get into practice until about Thursday. We felt Eddie was a little fitter, a little more prepared to play in this game.”

“I never leave games unless something is broken," Ricketts said. "No chance. It was painful initially, but as the game went on it got a little bit better.”

The win-at-all-costs mindset was something the Galaxy's No. 1 took to heart.

“At this stage of the season, it's whatever you have to do to win,” Ricketts said of the mindset. “Maybe it's not attractive, and maybe you guys won't like it, but once we get the win, that's OK.”

And offensively, there is no doubt that Donovan, David Beckham and Edson Buddle need to work their magic down at Victoria Street.

“This season has been going well with scoring goals,” Buddle said. “Our team is getting me the ball in the right positions so it makes my job a lot easier.

“This time in the playoffs, things are going to be tight. I expect that but I was still able to get good contact on it. That’s why I found the net.”

Kickoff between FC Dallas and the Los Angeles Galaxy is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. PT/9:00 p.m. ET and will be televised by ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.

INS & OUTS

Favorites? What favorites?

When asked of LA's role as favorites to win the 2010 MLS Cup, Arena chose not to buy into the idea as easily.

“I don’t know whether we’d be the favorite in the west or the east right now,” Arena said on Sunday after LA eliminated Seattle. “None of these games have favorites right now. The home field hasn’t held up that well. These games are hard to play in as evidenced by this past week.”

“We were very aware of the fact that all the other top seeds lost,” Galaxy captain Landon Donovan said. “We didn’t want that to happen.”

One word you need to know, says Donovan: Parity.

“All those teams are playing the best in the league right now and that’s why they’re there,” Donovan said. “We all said Colorado was playing as good as anybody going into it, San Jose has something about them that’s working right now and certainly Dallas beating, in my opinion, the second-best team in the league in a two-game series says a lot about them.”

“If there are any favorites, none of them are around from the favorites I heard about, so I guess there aren’t any favorites,” Arena said.

Well said, that manager. And it seems to be true, especially with the Columbus Crew, New York Red Bulls and Real Salt Lake unable to make use of their opportunities to seal the deal.

“Who knows? This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen,” Arena said. “You always think if it’s an advantage to play the first game, second game – who knows? All I know is that Dallas had a terrific performance against Salt Lake, San Jose against New York, and Colorado had a great effort to come back and get that goal against Columbus. Those teams did play well. Why the home field didn’t hold as well as people would have thought, who knows? I can never figure out any of this stuff.

“I’m going to make this bold prediction to counter some of the predictions I’ve heard through the media. I think a team from the West is going to win MLS Cup this year, and not only that they’re going to win the Western Conference as well as the Eastern Conference.”

So could that be playing into the hands of the Quakes or Rapids? Or will it be FC Dallas or Los Angeles conquering the QUakes or Rapids?

Such a clever question.


Introducing...the MLS Re-Entry Draft

On Tuesday, Major League Soccer introduced the Re-Entry Draft, a new park of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement between MLS and the MLS Players Union.

“If you ask a player to take a reduction in pay, he can negotiate that reduction, or make himself available to all the teams at his previous salary in Stage 1 of the Re-Entry Draft,” said Todd Durbin, MLS Executive Vice President of Player Relations and Competition.

So how does the first stage work? Well, it allows these 23/3 (options) and 25/4 (expiring contract) players to be made available to all other MLS clubs at the current option price or previous contractual salary. The order of selection by teams is based on reverse order of finish in the 2010 regular season, including the postseason.

Players who are not selected in the first stage of the Re-Entry Draft at their current option prices and contractual salary numbers will have a second crack at joining an MLS club.

The second stage of the Re-Entry Draft takes place a week later with no specific salary or option requirements that are part of the first stage. MLS teams that select unsigned players in Stage Two are then required to make concrete offers within seven business days. Players may agree to a new contract with MLS prior to Stage Twp of the Re-Entry Draft. Should no agreement be reached, the team that made the selection in the second stage will hold the right of first refusal on a contract with that player in the future.

Players who are not selected in either stage of the Re-Entry Draft can negotiate with any team on a first-come, first-serve basis.

“This is one of the major changes compared to previous years,” Todd Durbin said. “In previous years, if the player’s existing team offered him a lower salary, the player didn’t have many options. Now the players have more leverage in that negotiating process.”

And that's how it's done.

“It ensures that teams enter contract discussions with players promptly after each season,” Durbin said. “Because if they don’t, they risk losing the player to another MLS team.”

Players who do not meet the age and service requirements necessary to be included in the Re-Entry Draft and also have expiring contracts or options that are not renewed by their clubs, may be part of the Waiver Draft on Nov. 24 if they are released by their current clubs.

The time-line for the inaugural edition of the 2010 Re-Entry draft and other drafts is shown below.

MLS DRAFT TIMELINE

Nov. 24, 2010 – MLS Expansion Draft

Nov. 24, 2010 – MLS Waiver Draft (players not eligible for Re-Entry Draft)

Dec. 8, 2010 – Re-Entry Draft Stage One

Dec. 15, 2010 – Re-Entry Draft Stage Two

Jan. 13, 2011 – MLS SuperDraft