Los Angeles Galaxy Ins and Outs, August 11, 2011

No match days, no off days

Even with Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy off for the week, the club were busy preparing for next Tuesday's CONCACAF Champions League contest with CD Motagua at the Home Depot Center (kickoff: 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET).

“We tried the last few days to get our legs back and kind of take a break,” Galaxy defender Todd Dunivant told MLSSoccer.com's Luis Bueno. “We don’t have many opportunities like this during the season. We have Thursday off and we come back Friday watching video and really diving into Motagua [the Galaxy’s first opponent in the CONCACAF Champions League on Aug. 16].”

“We’re a team that needs a couple of days off, get a little rest, get our legs back and get ready for what’s going to be a really difficult August, September and October,” Arena remarked. “The little bit of a break we have right now is a plus.”

Landon Donovan was the only Galaxy player that really didn't have an off day, as he was on national team duty against Mexico. The USA drew 1-1 with El Tri on Wednesday.

“[The break] helps a lot,” Donovan said earlier this week. “Guys are beat up from the last week of travel and two games on turf and a really hard, physically-challenging game [last Saturday].”

“It’s been pretty weird to get this many days off,” Galaxy midfielder Mike Magee added. “[Wednesday] was the first time we really spoke about and started to prepare for the tournament.”

Here are your officials for the match with CD Motagua

Referee: Enrico Wijngaarde (SUR)
Assistant: Ramon Louisville (SUR)
Assistant: Garnet Page (JAM)
Fourth: Kevin Thomas (JAM)

The rest of the lineup

Here are the remaining CONCACAF Champions League matches for the Los Angeles Galaxy:

Tuesday, September 13
5 p.m.   LA Galaxy at Monarcas Morelia (MEX)     Estadio Morelos in Morelia, Michoacan, México
                     
Wednesday, September 21
7 p.m.   LA Galaxy at LD Alajuelense (CRC)         Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto in Alajuela, Costa Rica

Wednesday, September 28
7 p.m.   LA Galaxy vs. Monarcas Morelia (MEX)    TBD

Thursday, October 20
7 p.m.   LA Galaxy at Club Motagua (HON)          Estadio Tiburcio Carias Andino in Tegucigalpa, Honduras

A new deal with NBC

Major League Soccer is stepping its game up with a three-year agreement with NBC, allowing the league to reach households it has never reached. The new agreement begins next season.

“[Increased exposure] was a big part of our decision to move forward with [NBC],” MLS Commissioner Don Garber told MLSSoccer.com's Nick Firchau earlier this week. “We think Major League Soccer and US Soccer are ready for prime time and ready for network television.

“We had those windows years ago, but frankly, we weren’t able to support it. We didn’t have the audiences that warranted us being on network television. I think we’re ready.”

“We’re going to try and get games on some of those weekends when the NBC Sports Network has Olympic programming, and we can throw right into live Major League Soccer games,” said Jon Miller, the president of programming of NBC Sports. “That’s the kind of lead-in and promotional platform that [MLS] probably hasn’t seen in while, and that’s one of the benefits that we think we bring to the table.

“We’re  going to try and get games on some of those weekends when the NBC Sports Network has Olympic programming, and we can throw right into live Major League Soccer games. That’s the kind of lead-in and promotional platform that [MLS] probably hasn’t seen in while, and that’s one of the benefits that we think we bring to the table.”