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Man United thrash Galaxy in Rose Bowl friendly

DannyWelbeckManUnited1-LAGalaxy2014Friendly (AP)

By MARK EDWARD HORNISH

PASADENA, Calif – If anyone wanted to assess where American soccer stands in comparison to European football, they need not look at the lopsided result on the scoreboard at the Rose Bowl, where the LA Galaxy hosted international giants Manchester United on a warm Wednesday night.

A glance into the stands would tell all. The Red Devils red souvenir shirts outnumbered Galaxy white by at least 10-1. And most of the fans wearing Man United colors, and singing Man United songs, were speaking with American accents.

Man United humbled the LA Galaxy, 7-0, before an announced crowd of 86,432, most of them supporting visitors. Wayne Rooney put the Galaxy on its heels with a first-half brace. Rooney converted a penalty kick to double the Man United lead in the 26th minute, and then enjoyed a gift goal on a horrid Galaxy back line blunder shortly before the half to put the game beyond reach.

Danny Welbeck opened the scoring for the Red Devils in the 13th minute with a muscular left-footed blast from 30 yards out that deflected off the post and beat Galaxy goal keeper Jaime Penedo.

With MLS All-Star defender Omar Gonzalez in street clothes for the match, the Galaxy back line was exposed early and often. Rooney’s penalty came after a beaten A.J. DeLaGarza attempted a slide tackle to recover on a run from Welbeck. Welbeck’s cross hit DeLaGarza’s hand, and referee Baldomero Toledo pointed to the spot.

The worst was yet to come for LA. In the waning minutes of the half, the Galaxy were pushing numbers forward hoping to get back into the game.  They got caught out, and Juan Mata found a wide open Welbeck sprinting alone down the right flank.  Welbeck’s cross rolled under the lumbering Leonardo, and Galaxy center back Tommy Meyer whiffed on the clearance to allow a wide open Rooney to walk in on a helpless Penedo and tap home another.

“I have nothing but the greatest respect for the show that Man United put on. A bunch of guys out there fighting for jobs, and it looked that way. They punished us on every mistake” Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena said after the match. “It was a real lesson for a lot of our players. You talk a lot about some of the things that happened tonight, but you very rarely see it.

“Tonight, being on the field and getting punished for mistakes, and really getting a lesson on speed of play, it was there.  It was all out there for them. So I think that we can actually use this as a positive.”

New signing Ander Herrera looked impressive for the Red Devils in the central midfield, dictating play with crisp passing, and winning multiple challenges as well.  Herrera had a hand in at least four of the Man United goals, and played the full 90 minutes in his first effort to attempt to impress new manager Louis van Gaal.

The second half saw both sides sub on their entire junior rosters, and the differences in depth between the two franchises became painfully apparent. United scored four more times, on a brace from Reece James and a late pair of goals from Ashley Young.

“I think always the results, they do matter,” Van Gaal said. “7-0, it was for a me a surprise. But they were all beautiful goals. We scored out of beautiful attacks.”

By the time the flood gates opened, most fans not wearing red were streaming toward the exits.  If the LA Galaxy, and the MLS, hoped to establish some legitimacy in the eyes of the international football community, they failed miserably tonight.  Galaxy captain Robbie Keane did not mince words.

“Of course it’s embarrassing,” Keane said. “The score line doesn’t reflect on how good of a team we are. You look at the three goals in the first half – all three, mistakes, every one of them. We actually played well in the first half. Pressed them. Made it hard for them. Kept the ball well at times. But when you give opportunities to good teams, they’re going to punish you. And that was the case.

“The sooner we move on from this game, the better.  Because the most important thing is the league” continued Keane.  “Our bread and butter is on Monday against Seattle.”

Man United continues their North American tour in Denver against Roma on Saturday, followed by a matchup against Inter Milan on Tuesday in Washington DC, before closing against Real Madrid in Michigan.

The Galaxy get the weekend off to lick their wounds, then travel to Seattle to face Clint Dempsey and the MLS-leading Sounders on Monday night.

Comments

  1. Inserting friendlies in the middle of the season tells your fans just how little you care about regular season matches. Why on earth would anyone bother watching MLS.

    Reply
      • I think you missed Norman’s point. Unless by “live soccer” you mean “as much live soccer as possible, even when the game doesn’t count and dilutes the quality of the games that do count.”

  2. Most drafted NCAA players who make it to MLS need two years before they make an impact in the league. Look at Europe who at 16, 17, 18, are ready to make an impact in there leagues. Problems:

    MLS has some fascination, based on different sports in the USA, to rely on the NCAA for talent. The NCAA is killing MLS. Quit making excuses and arguments for the NCAA.

    Too much emphasis from MLS teams to replicate EPL teams, but to be fair, I see teams playing more compact, and it is paying off.

    Coaching needs to look at how the game is played in Europe and South America: NOT THE EPL

    Reply
    • Ideal for soccer, but what about the academic problems with not getting an education? one of the things that makes AMerica great is the education. You don’t see that kind of education in the countries your talking about. For every Luis Suarez, there are thousands of kids struggling to make ends meet in Latin America. Getting an education should be valued more than having kids becaome better soccer players.

      Before people hamper me about effectiveness of College, I know it sucks (gonna be paying those bills for a long time) but its light years better than the countries MikeG is talking about.

      Reply
      • Were talking about pro development here. If you got talent and determination to be a pro.. then why let college be your development tool??…..Glad they are starting up acadamies..

    • Is this really that big of a problem? By the time a kid with elite talent is thinking about college, he would already have been identified by the professional market, as has been the case for some time. The NCAA isn’t really robbing the system… by the time they show up the raw diamonds have already been harvested.. how many guys do we have in the pool who went to college for even a year? A handful? You could easily argue that colleges reclaim as much or more talent than they stunt, while also providing a very nice backup plan for the 18 year olds who are still clinging to the dream that would’ve been killed unceremoniously in a European academy 3 years earlier.

      Reply
      • When Germany massacred Brazil 7-1 everyone went looking for ways to compare scores.

        One article I read compared the 7-1 loss to losing an NBA game 124 -16.
        What does that make a 7-0 score?

    • first half was not so crazy. Unfortunate 2nd goal on the PK, did you see it? and then Meyer blundered in #3. Then the Galaxy played them straight up the first 15 minutes of 2nd half before subbing on 6-7 players all at once! Ummm, they conceded immediately after that and the game was a joke from then on out

      Reply
      • yeah, i watched the game. i get all of that, i’m just saying i’m glad i didn’t drive up to LA from SD to witness that in person. it wouldn’t have been worth the time or money. let alone the traffic.

  3. Sold my LA-United tix.. Sure glad I didn’t go to that game. Give us a 100 million payroll, then come back. To all those United “fans” come out and support your local team and create some history instead of living off of someone else’s. Some of the arguments are ridiculas.. The playing field is not even. Apples to oranges folks.

    Reply
    • Well said. Apparently these guys would rather watch a team 6,000 miles away at 4am on a saturday than watch live soccer here and help the sport develop in this country. Don’t really get that. Of course, it’s great to watch European leagues and that’s where the world’s best soccer is played (for now) but don’t forget MLS!

      Reply
      • I prefer MLS over all other leagues, but I understand why some are fans of the Premier League over MLS. Would you rather go to a lesser restaurant in your hometown or patronize another in a different town with much better quality food?

        You have to admit, from a pure soccer stand point, Spain, England, Italy and Germany leagues are all better to watch than MLS. But I watch MLS because I’ve been involved with the league from Day 1, attending the first ever match for the team in my hometown.

      • Met some Brazilian exchange students at my school, and asked one of them if they saw the Champions league game that was on at the time. And they said no they dont even watch that. They only watch brazilian league football, and only support their local team.

      • Brazillian soccer has the passion, skill, and stars that MLS simply doesnt have. I would argue people not watching MLS is mostly the quality of the league.

        People wanna watch good soccer. Would you rather watch a USL Pro game or an MLS game? Apply that logic with the MLS and Germany/Italy/EPL.

        Plus its more exciting to watch people who want to become the best in the world vs people who want to “help the league grow”.

      • teams in lower divisions in Europe have fans that love them and follow them because they are their local team. we get to do that here in the states with MLS, nothing short of miraculous if you experienced what came before it.

        and the quality continues to improve, the payrolls, the depth, the passion

      • Hmm… Brazilians are watching European leagues more and more often. Especially as the increase cable TV make those broadcasts more readily available.

        Brazilian championship attendance continues to decline and averages less than MLS (approx 14,000 per match)

  4. I love these international friendlies, but it is important for soccer in this country that the MLS teams play all their starters and try to win. The MLS teams can’t look at these games the same way the European teams do. It should be the MLS team with all starters putting the 7-0 hurt on the European team testing out reserves. In the big picture, this is more important for the good of soccer in this country than the MLS team resting people for its next MLS game.

    If we can’t do it that way, then they need to stop. I can at least hope that the MLS all-star team will have the right approach against Bayern Munich.

    Reply
    • That’s life in SoCal. Man United, Mexico, Club America: same sh*t, different day. All Galaxy and USMNT fans can do is show up and sing loudly.

      Reply
    • If you are ever in LA, go to the King’s Head Pub in Santa Monica, and you will meet a good chunk of them Better yet, I’ll spare you the experience, which is not really additive to your life, once you have an idea of what English drinking in the morning looks like.

      These games are one of those things British expatriots buy tickets to every year within hours of the game announcement, in spite of their conscious awareness that they did not particularly enjoy it in the previous years, and expect nothing to change. Perhaps it is something of a climax of the persistent non-mating season that explains why so many of these make the annual pilgrimage out to Pasadena wearing an ill-fitting Gary Pallister jersey, to watch a dull game in sweltering conditions, and show nothing that would suggest they are at all enjoying themselves, Occasionally somebody will yell “Bring on Heskey!!!” for no apparent reason other than to maintain some level of engagement/alertness. Bruce Arena could’ve put his buddies or his dog or even David Luiz out there — inconsequential to the ritual.

      And then they go back to Santa Monica and drink Tetleys and eat beans on toast for another 364 days. Circle of Life.

      Reply
  5. It’s nice to see a overrated team with too much confidence get put in there place. If the L.A. Galaxy want any type of success in the future they can start by firing Bruce Arena. He’s not making them any better and his complaining every time something doesn’t go his way is getting old.

    Reply
    • I think Arena’s cycle in LA will probably wind down with Donovan and Keane in the next 1-2 years, if it makes you feel any better. But he is a good coach and like slowleft said above this game is not a very good standard. Arena’s Galaxy teams have been doing these friendlies’ year-in, year-out for as long as anybody and it’s obvious they just don’t rate the importance anymore. I don’t blame them. Their best players are old and managing fatigue, and their youngsters and role players are a very pedestrian crop, with no European moves appearing imminent (save for perhaps Omar, who did not dress). In the end, everybody avoided injury and we split up a nice stack of cash wth our English friends for a few hours of half-@ssed work on a Wednesday. I’m sure we’ll find some club to go trick-or-treating with us again next year, regardless of the coach.

      Reply
    • It isn’t embarrassing. It’s a meaningless game which was held solely because 90k people will come out to watch Man U for some reason. They might as well grab 11 guys off the street and put them in Galaxy shirts because it wouldn’t make any difference to the crowd.

      Reply
      • Nah, I agree with Donovan. How is it embarrassing when they put out a bunch of scrubs and the game meant nothing?

      • The players may or may not be embarrassed but the fans will be. The people who organized the match will be as well assuming they care about taking your money and giving back garbage in return.

        It’s pretty hard to beat anyone 7-0 regardless of how little the other team is trying. How many 7-0 games of any description, anywhere, have you seen the last few years?

        The Man U guys were trying to win jobs but you mean to tell me the Galaxy scrubs weren’t trying to win jobs too?

      • Are you comparing the Sounders to a half run-over possum? That’s a match I’d like to see.

        Really though, if any team is the wounded possum, it’s LA. They last to SKC and were annihilated by ManUtd.

      • Galaxy fan here and no argument

        2 positives for Galaxy in the carnage I saw. first was ball movement which sucked vs. SKC but was much quicker and crisper last night once the awe factor wore off–sucks showing up intimidated the first 15 minutes or so but that’s what it looked like to me–but re.quicker ball moment they seemed to have worked on that. another was Opare imo. it wasn’t crazy thru first 60 minutes but after the mass subbing at 60 minute mark, Nurse Ratched

    • I’m beginning to get Klinsmann’s distaste for Donovan—too often when Donovan speaks he comes of as something of a self-absorbed twit.

      Reply
    • I’m with you. I personally hate them, never buy tickets for them, and can hardly stomach to watch on TV, but I support them because they make money for the team and league. They also provide our players with good practice against MUCH better competition. So be it.

      Reply
  6. This is all Bruce Arean’s fault. Don’t schedule these games, so your 4th choice in every position can say they played against Man U. Play your real team for just about the entire game or don’t play at all. At least try to be competitive for once.

    Reply
    • No, why risk injury and wear out your starters when you have league matches on both sides. I know LA played on the road on Saturday and I’m assuming they play again on the weekend. SKC has TFC in a big match on the weekend that is way more important then how they fare in a friendly against MCFC.

      As far as quality, I think that the top MLS sides would probably be a mid-table or lower Championship side. Give it another 5 years and hopefully, with the new TV deal and just overall growth of acadamies in the US the deapth of MLS rosters will be greatly improved and there won’t be such a gap in quality between the best players on the pitch and the worst. That is where MX and the other leagues we are striving to catch are ahead.

      Reply
  7. Two narratives:

    1. MLS club gets shellacked = these friendlies are pointless
    2. MLS club gets a result = these friendlies show how MLS is improving and can play with top teams.

    Read narrative 1, rinse, repeat.

    Reply
    • You forgot two other narratives:

      3. MLS club gets shellacked = these friendlies show how MLS is not improving and cannot play with top teams.
      4. MLS club gets a result = these friendlies are pointless

      Reply
  8. Don’t think there’s much to be learned from a soccer standpoint. But if you can get 90k people to pay to watch Man U v. LA Galaxy reserves, MLS would be crazy not to do it. The RBNY v. Arsenal game is included in season ticket packages so I have seats but I don’t plan on going, it’s a waste. However, I bet the crowd will be bigger than the average RBNY league game.

    Reply
    • I put them up on stubhub a few minutes ago for a little under face value and they sold in under two minutes. Face value is about 12 times what I pay for these seats on a per game basis for my season tix. I cannot believe there are so many people willing to pay this much to watch Arsenal. Imagine if they actually won trophies! (I kid).

      Reply
  9. As a Galaxy fan that is an embarrassing result. Why should MLS play friendlies against euro/Mexican sides with scrubs. I understand that the league is more important and you don’t want injuries. But come on. Not saying starters should play the full 90 with starters. Do all your scrubs gotta play?

    Reply
    • Unfortunately these things spin off a decent amount of money — for a bare minimum of administrative effort– so they will continue to be an unpleasant and avoiadable annual event for the forseeable future. These days I can’t stomach them anymore… I just let the 90k people who haven’t lost the thrill visit with the wallet inspector, and pray for their souls that the Galaxy don’t drag Clint Mathis out of Five Guys for another ambush “testimonial”

      Until we make our big score, we really can’t say no to these pre-season tour matches right now…. otherwise it’s back to selling Avon or working at the Christmas tree lot to make sure all the bills get paid, and Robbie Rogers has a nice place to nap

      Reply
  10. So can two of MLS’s top known teams really not compete with top EPL teams in a friendly? I couldn’t watch the games, but these scorelines and highlights are pretty retched. And it also looks like most starters played in the game for MLS team. Are we chalking this up to “being a friendly” and we don’t really care that two of the most well know MLS teams got spanked or are we walking away feeling pretty bad about this?

    My personal take is that these friendlies are disastrous for the league in a way that young guys abroad here that LA Galaxy lost to Nan U by a score of 7-0 and just chuckle to themself about the quality of MLS.

    Reply
    • Meh.

      SBI didn’t report on the Tottenham Toronto game. Where the 3rd place team in the weak East played even up. The Sounders ended up tying but took it to Tottenham last weekend.

      It is about what you expect though. Top level MLS can compete with Euro teams, but definitely not with the SuperClubs….and definitely not with Subs against SuperClubs

      Reply
      • LOL….and 90k paid to go see that !?!?!

        Hilliarious. Whoever is cashing that check this AM, has to be killing themselves laughing.

      • That’s the reason I don’t usually go to these things, is it’s not the top people playing with money on the table.

      • Its an odd position to put the MLS teams in. These friendlies are only benficial (from a non-finacial point) if the top players play and show they can compete with top players from around the world. However, no team wants to risk there players for a meaning-less friendly.

        MLS should scrap these or they should construct the scheduale so that these friendlys happen with ample rest time before/after so that the top MLS players participate.

      • Why scrap the cash, they have to play midseason because it is the European pre-season, no way they have a break for friendlies, that would make the league a joke.

      • The League looks like a joke losing 7-0 and 4-1. I guess its just a lose lose in all accounts other than the finacial.

      • I don’t think you can judge the general idea from City or ManU, I expect City to be strong and ManU to be right back up there post Moyes. van Gaal is an excellent coach who will fix them.

        If you look at the other games, it’s 2-2, 3-2, 2-0, competitive, and we’re not playing our starters 90 either.

        We’re off sequence so our choice is either limit ourselves to CCL and other off sequence teams for friendlies, or accept less than ideal summer matches with marquee opposition. Bluntly, I’d rather they be playing MLS here — where it redounds to our benefit — than that they play Roma here and it’s basically building up Europe on our charge card.

      • The European teams need preseason games, this is one way of achieving that (they aren’t going to stop going somewhere else if we turn them down), MLS could use the money (although as a ticket buyer I think the smarter play is save your money for regular season, CCL, or playoffs). But for those who want to watch MLS while placing any form of Europe on a pedestal, here it is.

        I think it’s relatively harmless and when we play decent can offer European players a window into our world. Maybe they enjoy it and want to sign here later.

        And if we get our tail kicked it’s a reality check from well-trained teams.

      • Exactly. I was there. We paid to see one of of the most storied clubs in the world play, live. The Galaxy were the side show…if that.

        Nice to see great execution. LVG is right, they were mostly very good goals (Meyer’s defending excluded).

    • It’s a toss up. Some MLS teams have beaten European teams, but if a European team has something to play for (in this case United players wanted to impress their new coach) then team get annihilated.

      I think a top tier MLS starting XI side could compete at the bottom of the Championship. But I don’t think any MLS team could survive a full season. Our teams just aren’t built for depth. See LA last night: It was the second team against second team in the second half, and LA’s got utterly destroyed.

      We need a salary bump for our players to attract real depth.

      Also, in terms of youth players, this is a great way for the really good youth players to make a name for themselves. Most will leave disheartened but there are a few who stand out, and it’s for them that these friendlies really mean something. It’s a way to test yourself.

      Reply
      • Hahaha, hahahahahah, hhahahahah, MLS teams can compete in English championship? Why do none of the MLS fan bois respect the gulf in talent that exists in high end soccer? We are not as good as Liga MX teams, Liga MX is not as good as English championship sides. English championship sides are not as good as Premier sides. Its not a knock on MLS we are a young league, but the constant claims that MLS is somehow close to the rest of the world’s leagues is laughable.

        LIGA MX is not a good league and we are worse than them!

      • I’ve attended dozens of Championship games and MLS is certainly comparable. Championship might be a touch better, especially teams challenging for promotion. Also Championship squads tend to have a little more depth, in part because they need it more since they play a 46 game season. But I don’t there’s much of a gap, if any, between MLS and the Championship and whatever gap exists is closing.

      • We will only know when an MLS team and championship team play for reals some day. Tilll then we get thrashed by Premier teams 3rd stringers on holiday. We are nowhere the English leagues.

      • Did you watch the Spurs v Sounders game because the MLS side was not the one getting thrashed in that game. Final scoreline aside, Spurs were very lucky to not be down multiple goals at half

      • well that game wasn’t a “real game” in the way Del meant it. it’s just a friendly.

        not saying i agree with him 100%, but your example doesn’t really change what he said about never knowing until they play a competitive game. which is never going to happen. closest we can hope for is playing an EPL team in the Club World Cup.

      • He said “Tilll then we get thrashed by Premier teams 3rd stringers on holiday” I was disputing that fact.

      • You do recall that the Galaxy beat Juventus last summer 2-1? Hate on the MLS all you want, but at least try to keep last night in perspective.

      • depends on the teams imo. the top MLS teams are pretty good, the rest not so much. But there are more and more good MLS teams each year

      • The MLS is pretty much a 3rd tier league.
        I watched long portions of several of the games last night and the technical differential between the MLS and EPL was embarrassingly huge. The MLS strategy of getting a few ageing, big name Euro players may be good business, but can’t hide the fact that the teams are mostly crap.

      • Put most MLS teams in the Liga MX and most wouldnt survive. Put most Liga MX teams in Germany, England, or Italu and most wouldnt survive.

        1) Germany, England, Italy
        2) Liga MX
        3) MLS

        Sounds right to me.

      • I just copied his and put in the leagues better than mx. I didn’t want to argue order, just that liga mx is not second tier

      • I think our best playing sharp are bottom EPL, look at Kamara and the guy from KC. You get a well drilled MLS team and I think they’d fight for relegation. I think your average MLS team is Championship, which is why modestly gifted Americans can make that lateral move….Ream.

        I think it might also matter how disciplined a MLS team we’re talking about. Some teams are well drilled. Others seem to rely on stars. The better “teams” would cope better with tougher weekly play.

        I think people are over-stating the value of peripheral English players, if we built up MLS rosters to their size — tapping the minors — I think we’d still be comprable. The issue is not so much do we have talent somewhere, as that MLS lacks their U-21 bridge and roster size as currently configured. But if we wanted rosters their size we could match the size, and I don’t see a talent gap until the top 10-15 teams.

        I mean, there’s a reason we routinely outfinish England lately. It’s a talented creme of the crop that doesn’t have as strong a team concept, and then I don’t think they’re superior once you start talking rank and file. They have more infrastructure and money but they also have a 100 year headstart. Most EPL teams running away from us are quite cosmo, not English.

    • I agree. It does nothing for MLS clubs trying to fill seats. Many fans who are on the fence about MLS, but follow foreign leagues will fall firmly into the “it’s crap” camp and never give MLS another chance. Much better to have mid/lower table Premiership clubs and Championship sides as far as MLS is concerned. The all-star game a few years back where the all-stars got thumped was a disaster also. Let Man. U, City, Bayern and Madrid tour Asia or some other place and let us play Villa, Schalke, Stoke, Fulham, QPR where we have a chance of winning and drawing new fans to MLS.

      Reply
      • It’s a balancing act, the better teams are the better draws for cynical purposes but the poorer sporting matchups if they show up ready to play. Fulham is a fair matchup but also a poor ticket seller.

        I would throw in my monkey wrench which is that I’d rather see MLS v. Foreign games where we are showcased than be a neutral site that is demonstrating the quality of other leagues, and they take the cash and run. I don’t think that does the domestic sport any good more than make people money.

    • American soccer fans, as a general rule take friendlies more seriously than just about any other set of fans I am familiar with.

      Reply
    • Yet if LA tied, won, or lost by one most would be shouting how close MLS sides are to their European counter point.

      These friendlies are about money which helps MLS. There was almost 90,000 people there.

      BBC called Tommy Meyer’s defending “abysmal.”

      Reply
      • Didn’t watch the match last night, but he looked pretty “abysmal” against SKC over the weekend.

      • Meyer was poor, but in his defense Rooney elbowed him in the face and cut him below the eye early on, but wow, did he struggle. Third goal was embarrassing for him

      • “Rooney elbowed him in the face and cut him below the eye early on,”

        Did Rooney break his nose? Was the cut a big one like what Schweinsteiger got in the World Cup final?

        If he stayed on the field it could not have been that bad.

    • You are both right. Tottenham looks like they wouldn’t win MLS.
      And I sold my tickets when they played the Sounders, because it is a waste of time.

      Reply
    • Pointless? You build team and player relationships, both teams get to play a variety of players who may not normally play first team, LAG gets to see how a top team plays (Arena himself was saying it should be an education in speed of play), LAG gets their mistakes punished which might be instructive, and you don’t just abandon playing because the teams are on two different timelines. Not being ideal doesn’t make it pointless.

      Reply
      • You insert an exhibition into your crowded schedule. To the extent you play your starters, it’s an extra game they don’t need. To the extent you play your subs and reserves, it’s a glorified scrimmage. Any result can be rationalized — a loss can be chalked up to your not playing your top players, but a win can equally be attributed to the other team’s not playing its top players. Face it — it’s a money grab and a marketing ploy that unnecessarily congests the schedule and yields no real informaion about the state of the league..

      • Brain Guy,

        The Galaxy are a business right? They are supposed to make money.It is is how they get to have all those expensive players.

        Or are they a non -profit organization dedicated to educating the public on the beauty of the game?

        There was a point to this game; to make money.

        You want a comment on the state of the league?

        One of MLS’ best teams very likely do not belong on the field with one of the EPL’s best teams.

        I don’t care how many scrubs you play unless you are Brazil giving up seven goals is a huge embarrassment.

      • I stand corrected. The Galaxy, and MLS, will do anything to make money, including throwing out a watered-down product that has a good chance of embarrassing the team and the league and/or making it more difficult to perform in real games that count.

      • Mr. Guy,

        “embarrassing the team and the league and/or making it more difficult to perform in real games that count.”

        How exactly does this game make it harder for the Galaxy “to perform in games that count”?

        Because they are embarrassed?

        These guys are used to getting pimped out. It’s the fans who will be embarrassed, the ones who talk about MLS being on par with the Championship. Championship teams often play EPL teams in Cup competition and rarely lose by a touchdown.

        Because they are tired?

        Which Galaxy player exerted themselves hard enough to where this game qualified as more than a hard practice?

        The Galaxy bent over, assumed the position, and got their money and it will make them a better team down the road. You do what you have to do.

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