Let me get this straight, Bruce Arena: I am getting word from Tukwila, Washington that your Los Angeles Galaxy reserve team did not take their contest against the Seattle Sounders seriously. They let a man by the name of Nate Jaqua salvage a win against your club, 2-0, in the quarterfinals of the 2010 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

Unacceptable. What were you thinking? Did you lose your mind by not starting Tristan Bowen at least, given that you chose to rest the players that would have allowed the guys to progress in the U.S. Open Cup?

If this is the case, Bruce Arena, you should have forfeited this match. The Galaxy did not take this match seriously and had the mindset of "Oh whatever. After we swept them in MLS competition, we'll go with 'two out of three ain't bad.'"

It's a asinine mindset, Arena. Why don't you take the U.S. Open Cup seriously? It would be a really good feather to go in the cap of the club, and it's not a difficult mindset to take.

Instead, Arena, you go with a patchwork group of second-stringers who have no business being in a match like this, and eventually get run over by a Nate Jaqua brace.

Seriously, the Puerto Rico Islanders will be believing that they have a chance against the best team in Major League Soccer right now in the preliminary round. It is a doomsday machine in the works with this effort.

These players need to turn it around. Wednesday showed why they needed Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle in this match. You can't rely on a group of second-string players and hope to pierce home-field advantage at a place that isn't even the home field of the defending Open Cup champs. It simply won't work.

I observed the fluidity and ball movement of the Galaxy tonight, and they were lacking. In all facets. You would have thought they didn't miss a beat from the last match at the Home Depot Center. Instead, they were out of rhythm all game. You cannot let that happen in any contest if you want to hoist hardware.

All in all, this was an unacceptable effort by the Los Angeles Galaxy. It's the price the team must pay for not taking the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup seriously, if ever. This was not the brand of football that its supporters should ever associate themselves with. Wednesday night's outing at Starfire was nothing short of a disgrace.

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Youth Academy Update

The Los Angeles Galaxy Youth Academy U-20s got their revenge against Chivas USA on Monday, shutting the Goats out 3-0 in a USL Super-20 Pacific Southern California Division game.

The victory exacts sweet payback for the Galaxy's 3-1 demise at the hands of Chivas at Bell Gardens to open the season. Since their defeat, LA has been 5-2-1 overall, outscoring their opponents 24-5 with a clean sheet in five of their last seven outings.

On Wednesday, LA faced off against SUSA-Everton at UC Riverside. The match ended in a 1-1 draw. The Young G's will next face the Poway Vaqueros at Poway High School. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. PT. A victory here should seal the division.

The Galaxy Youth Academy U-20 wraps up the regular season on Tuesday, July 13 with a match against the Southern California Seahorses in La Mirada. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. PT.

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