CCL: LA Galaxy Are in Championship Round, but There Are Questions to Be Asked

Finally, a huge monkey has gotten off the backs of Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy, who will be playing some knockout round football after defeating Jose Trevino's Club Deportivo Motagua 1-0 on Thursday night at the Estadio Tiburcio Carias Andino in the final Group Stage match of the 2011-12 CONCACAF Champions League.

With the victory, the LA Galaxy win Group A after sweeping their home matches, while dropping tough one-goal defeats away to fellow quarterfinalist Monarcas Morelia and Liga Deportiva Alajuelense.

However, in spite of the result, there are four big questions to be asked.

What to do with the match fitness of the players? The knockout rounds do not begin until March 6-8, 2012, and a lot of players will need to stay fit over the wintertime.

Injuries to players like David Beckham, Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane have decimated the Galaxy side, who had to rely on their depth to defend their MLS Supporters' Shield, and in the process, return to the Group Stages next year.

Will this result give LA momentum heading into the MLS Cup Playoffs? It is clear that LA can elect to take the final match of the regular season easy.

However, with the Houston Dynamo sitting in the fourth wild card spot, behind the New York Red Bulls, who clinched a playoff berth early in the day with a victory over the Philadelphia Union, there is a possibility that this could be a preview of the Galaxy two-legged Western Conference Semifinals.

Therefore, it should not be any surprise that the Galaxy will look to get a result, albeit with an experimental lineup while resting the big guns on Sunday.

Can the Galaxy address the inept play that plagued them on Thursday? Aside from the 30-yard screamer by Juninho that sent LA on their way, the Galaxy delivered some subpar football, highlighted by terrible finishing and the inability to assemble a string of decent passes.

In particular, forward Chad Barrett was struggling, as well as substitute Chris Birchall, and if it weren't for number of offside calls, Jerry Bengtson would have had a decent chance to destroy the pride of Los Angeles on their own saturated home turf.

Improved match fitness should lead to improved play. The MLS Cup Playoffs should be approached by Arena as a sort of warm-up heading into the knockout stages of the CONCACAF Champions League.

Will Juninho be signed out of his loan to a full contract with Los Angeles? The sentiment from the Galaxy faithful, after Juninho became the hero in LA's last two CCL matches, is that Juninho must be bought out of his loan and signed to a full contract with the team.

Negotiations must be made between Sao Paulo FC and the LA Galaxy to make this possible, and with Gregg Berhalter's retirement freeing up some cash, the time is now to make the young Brazilian a featured player for Major League Soccer's best team.

Kickoff between the Los Angeles Galaxy and Houston Dynamo at Robertson Stadium in Houston, Tex. is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 23 at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET and will be televised by Fox Sports West and Galavision.