LA Galaxy's David Beckham Gets Full 90, but Improvements May Be in Order

Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder David Beckham went the distance in LA's 2-0 defeat to the New York Red Bulls at the Home Depot Center last Friday. It was an unexpected situation for the Galaxy's No. 23 to be in, but for Becks, it was motivation enough.

“I felt pretty good,” Beckham said after the defeat. “There were some stages where I felt tired, felt my lungs a little bit. We had a few players pull up with injuries, so I had to stay on in the end. It was good to get 90.”

“I was shocked he was able to go 90, and he seemed to get stronger as the game went on,” Galaxy captain Landon Donovan said. “His passing is still a little behind and his sharpness [too], but you can still tell that he can make real plays in the game. I thought he did well.”

Unfortunately, according to BigSoccer, his postion on the right wing proved to be a failure with the lack of pace up and down the sideline. Furthermore, the lack of chemistry with Juninho compromised the quality the service in the midfield, resulting in a series of missed cross to the front.

Against Chivas USA this Sunday, Beckham will need to be more aggressive in the attack and step up the pace on the sideline while brushing up on those crosses, which, combined with the inexperience of the Galaxy defensive back line, proved to be fatal against New York.

“I would have preferred that he played less than 90 minutes,” Galaxy manager Bruce Arena said. “David felt he could play 90 minutes. In a perfect world, he should not have played that long, but he showed tremendous character and quality in the last 20 minutes when by all rights he should have been off the field.”

Hopefully, if Beckham should start, he will be subbed in the second half as a precaution. Stay tuned next weekend for the final verdict, live from Victoria Street.

Los Angeles are 11-3-5 all-time against Chivas USA and are 4-1-3 when playing as the road team. Donovan leads the Galaxy with seven career goals against the goats, while striker Edson Buddle has four, withtwo game-winners in the last three games between the two sides. A victory or draw  will eliminate the Goats from playoff contention.

Kickoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. PT and will be televised by ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.

INS & OUTS

10 points in October...a tall task to ask?

With a record of 15-6-5 (50 points), the Galaxy can become the third team in MLS history to reach the 60 point plateau, joining the 1998 rendition of the G's and the 2005 San Jose Earthquakes.

How can they do this? Well, LA will need to record at least 10 points from their final four games. A 3-0-1 or a 4-0-0 record will get the job done.

Since 2003, the Galaxy have played 22 games in the month of October, going 9-8-5 in those contests. Last season the Galaxy were 2-0-1 in October for their first-ever unbeaten October. They defeated the Chicago Fire and the Quakes while playing to a draw against the Houston Dynamo, keeping a clean sheet in all three of those games.

It might be a tall task to ask heading into the final stretch of the regular season, though. That's because Los Angeles have never recorded more than seven points in October, going 2-1-1 in 2007 and 2-0-1 in 2009.