It may not be all that effective, considering the team’s record, but at least the L.A. Galaxy is attempting to play Ruud Gullit’s brand of “sexy football,” says ESPN’s Steve Davis, for which the team should be commended. Under the Dutch legend’s direction, the Galaxy midfielders are settling into their roles, moving the ball quickly through the midfield and into the safe hands of stars Landon Donovan and David Beckham. “The final third still lacks some sophistication and imagination,” Davis says, “but things have improved so much from Round 1 to Round 7 that there is reason to believe Gullit can coach up the missing element. To some extent, anyway.”
Can he though? L.A. might be moving the ball better, but its defense is still terrible. The Galaxy has conceded a league-worst 15 goals, and week-in week-out these come down to defensive errors. Even if it’s a personnel issue (and it is), the team’s tactical defending could also use a vast improvement. That has to be the team’s primary concern moving forward, not playing “sexy football.”
One way to bolster the team’s defense is to trade for an experienced defender. Davis points out that Wilman Conde, for one, is rotting on the bench in Chicago, and he’s not happy about it. If Paul Bravo and Alexi Lalas in the L.A. front office can work more of their creative magic, Conde would be the perfect addition to the Galaxy backline. “The problem for the Galaxy, of course, is that everything they would consider trading has all the value of a bucket of warm spit,” Davis says.