Los Angeles Galaxy: Ins and Outs, November 15, 2011

David "The Comeback Kid" Beckham

Welcome back, Mr. David Beckham. The Galaxy midfielder was named MLS's Comeback Player of the Year on Monday by the league office.

After recovering from a torn left Achilles tendon in March 2010, Beckham played in 26 of the 34 regular season games for Bruce Arena's side, a new MLS career high. As a key provider in the central midfield, Beckham recorded 15 assists, second only to Houston's Brad Davis for most league assists.

In the 13 games that Beckham had at least one assist, the Galaxy went 9-1-3, and in both matches he scored, Los Angeles went unbeaten. In addition, Beckham was also named to the MLS Best XI for the first time ever.

As a result of Beckham's set piece deliveries and quarterbacking of LA's attack, Los Angeles finished 19-5-10 (67 points) and completed a successful Supporters' Shield defense. In the CONCACAF Champions League, Beckham has recorded two assists in the Group Stage, while in the MLS Cup Playoffs he has assisted at least one in every game Los Angeles has participated in.

Bruce Almighty Returns!

To the Shield defenders go more spoils. Manager Bruce Arena was named MLS Coach of the Year by the league on Monday, making him the first-ever manager to win the award three times.

The news was only fitting, so the players argued.

“One hundred percent deserving,” said Mike Magee to LAGalaxy.com's Larry Morgan. “There’s no surprise. We almost broke the record for points, we almost broke the record for shutouts and we won the Supporters’ Shield.

“In my eyes he’s the best coach in the country.”

As the manager of the Galaxy, Arena has compiled an impressive 51-23-30 record for a .742 win percentage. This season, the Galaxy conceded only 28 goals and turned the Home Depot Center into a fortress, going unbeaten in all 17 home matches.

In addition, despite a congested schedule, Arena helped guide the Galaxy to the Championship Round of the 2011-12 CONCACAF Champions League.

“It was a great year for the whole team, and he was the main man. He was the brains behind it,” defender Frankie Hejduk said. “I don’t think there was any question that he was going to get it with the year we had.

“He’s used to getting this type of stuff and it’s always well-deserved. We’re all really happy for him.”

Assistant manager Dave Sarachan, himself no stranger to success as a former manager of the Chicago Fire, also felt that it was expected news.

“He was the best coach in the league this year,” Sarachan said. “We all know Bruce’s quality and what he brings to the table. To be able to manage the kind of players we have here, the leadership with the ownership group, the pressure of being here in the final, there’s a lot on his plate.

“He would never externalize it; it was more internal. I don’t think people on the outside really know how hard it is. Without a doubt he deserves that award this year.”

“I think Bruce is fully deserving," said team captain/midfielder Landon Donovan. "For those of us who spent the entire year here, being with him every day, we realize even more than a casual observer just how valuable he’s been to this team.

“We’re very lucky to have him. You could argue if we win MLS Cup it possibly could be his best coaching job ever.”

Job well done for Robbie Keane and the Boys in Green

For Arena, this week he was sweating out the condition of Robbie Keane, who is the team captain for the Republic of Ireland national team. The Galaxy manager was hoping that he would see limited amounts of playing time.

“I had asked [Republic of Ireland national team manager] Mr. [Giovanni] Trapattoni  if he would give it consideration,” Arena told MLSSoccer.com's Luis Bueno. “However in reflecting on that, I really believe that he does belong with the Republic of Ireland for this game in that he’s the captain and they haven’t made it [yet]. I wanted him to at least consider limiting his minutes if that was possible.”

Trappatoni complied, and Keane only played 67 minutes in a 1-1 draw with Estonia which all but sealed a place in Euro 2012 for the Boys in Green.

With Keane's health not an issue, Arena was confident that it would be back to business for the Galaxy forward.

“Robbie is the kind of guy that can step off the plane and play,” Arena said. “That’s the way he is. We’re going to certainly give us a couple of easy days and have him ready for Sunday.”

Favorites? What favorites?

According to oddschecker.com, the Los Angeles Galaxy are placed as a 4/6 favorite, while Dominic Kinnear's Houston Dynamo are a 9/2 longshot.

Don't tell that to Donovan, because this past week he dismissed the "favorite" tag as nonsense propagated by greedy bookmakers burning the midnight oil to pull coins off punters' ears.

“We’re always favorites. That’s just the way it is, and especially here,” Donovan told Bueno. “We know that teams get excited to come here and play. We’ve been dealing with that all year so that’s not anything new.”

Arena also believed that the favorites tag is merely a distraction and that the real talking was on the pitch.

“Our expectations are that we have to step on the field and play hard in order to win,” Arena said. “We understand how you’re supposed to prepare to win the game. I don’t think that if anyone expects us to win the game it’s going to affect us one way or the other.”

Scavenger hunt as final countdown to the Cup begins

Los Angeles Galaxy fans were in a frenzy as they completed challenges to collect free tickets to MLS Cup 2011 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California (kickoff: Nov. 20, 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET, ESPN and Galavision).

From Woodland Hills to El Segundo to Century City, fans met their players and the Galaxy Street Team, as well as the Miss LA Galaxy court while taking photos of the silverware that the club won...and the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy, which LA hopes to lift by the end of Sunday night.