Deep into the second half, the majority of the 20,094 in attendance were having a sinking feeling that the Los Angeles Galaxy would incur their worst loss of the season to date.

It was a matter of "Here We Go Again."

I personally believe it should have been this way. No, as a matter of fact, I'm going to go one step further in my slicing and dicing: I believe it should have been 2-0 in favor of Ben Olsen's D.C. United. And it should have been Danny Allsopp playing their chicken thief, if not Pablo Hernandez. (That honor went instead to Mr. Andy Najar; more on him later.)

But there is a reason why Johnson Lyndon of Carib Press refers to the Galaxy simply as, "The Comeback Kids."

That reason: a man by the name of Landon Donovan.

In the 81st minute, Omar Gonzalez—whose services will take a leave of absence of Friday against the New York Red Bulls due to a card from a tactical foul in the 39th minute of play—found Landon Donovan, and Clyde Simms has no one to blame but himself for giving up the equalizer in unceremonious fashion. Oh yes, that was the sixth of the year for Donovan.

And yes, the seventh came soon after, along with the first come-from-behind win this year. Gee whizniks, Landon; it took you 86 minutes to get the job done? I mean, I personally do not have any qualms, but why so long?

For the most part, though, this was just an ugly game of football from the Galaxy. The passing seemed to be broken up at will by a D.C. United defensive unit with nothing to lose whatsoever, and not even David Beckham earning more minutes seemed to help matters.

I ponder this possibility heading into next Friday's match against New York: Beckham will get even more minutes, but he will be subbed in and won't start. See, I was hoping that he would play the entire second half. But he only ended up getting about 40 minutes of action.

However, if Galaxy manager Bruce Arena (a.k.a. Bruce Almighty in some circles) does decide to give Beckham a start, I see him playing 60 or so minutes, and then he gets subbed out midway through the second. Beckham had a decent outing, but the long balls to Edson Buddle were too predictable.

Actually, the passing at numerous stretches in the game was a mixed bag of consistency vs. inconsistency. The back line were able to get a number of their sequences set, but the passing was not as crisp and consistent as last week. It was a bit of a dropoff, especially that this was against the worst team in MLS.

I have said this before, and I will say it again: this Galaxy side is still a ways away from the finished product.

At this point in the 2010 Major League Soccer season, the best sides in the league should be close to that finished product on both sides of the ball: solid finishing touches from the forwards, routine marking from the back line, the midfielders doing their part in the providing, textbook saves from the keepers, and so on and so forth.

This Galaxy team did not take a step forward, nor did they take a step back, in their win tonight.

But with the loss of Gonzalez to suspension for next Friday's tilt, what step will this LA Galaxy side take towards their race against Real Salt Lake, the Columbus Crew, FC Dallas and the rest of the league for the Supporters Shield?

Stay tuned.


INS & OUTS:


Chicken Thief No. Nine: Andy Najar

It seems to me that the Galaxy's just have a nasty habit of giving up too much space and allowing the least expected of scorers to deliver a screamer. D.C. United's Andy Najar made the defense pay for the space he got inside the penalty box. It's a huge drag when the lessons that were supposed to be learned at this juncture of the season still have to be issued in the form of refreshers at the weekly training grinds.

I'm afraid this is going to be the case.

As a matter of fact, they nearly paid for this in the first half. Fifth minute: Allsopp's shot misses the inside post. 22nd minute: Santino Quaranta whiffs on what should be an easy tap-in. 44th minute: Just a few more seconds and Hernandez would be the Chicken Thief. A poorly saved ball by Ricketts.

I don't know how long Ricketts will last walking this tightrope for the rest of the season. I'm really starting to wonder.


Moreno a no-show?

Apparently there was supposed to be a ceremony on Saturday honoring Jaime Moreno for his years of service to Major League Soccer before Saturday's match between the Los Angeles Galaxy and D.C. United.

However, Moreno didn't make the flight to the West Coast, and instead a ragtag dance team filled the void.

Makes you wonder if the celebrated Bolivian international prefers exit the limelight quietly, rather than a standing ovation.

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