Los Angeles Galaxy vs. FC Dallas: Back on the Revenge Tour

Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy hit the road on May 1 to take on Schellas Hyndman's FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas.

One player that the Galaxy will not have to worry about is 2010 MLS MVP David Ferreira, who suffered a broken right ankle in the Hoops' 2-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps.

“He’s a special player in this league,” Arena told LAGalaxy.com's Larry Morgan, “as evidenced by the MVP award last year and Dallas’ progression to the Cup final."

“He’s a terrific player and we want all good players on the field as much as possible.”

Of course, the G's will be without the services of Leonardo, who suffered torn knee ligaments and will be out for the remainder of the season.

“It just sucks for their team,” central defender Omar Gonzalez said. “He was the MVP last year and he carried them a long way. For them to lose a high-caliber player just sucks, like it did for us when we lost Leo. There have been a lot of injuries around the league, and it’s sad to see it happen."

“If he was on the field then we would have to keep an eye on him the whole game. But I’m sure they’ll put someone else in there who will have an effect like he did, or at least try to. Either way Bruce is going to show us film and we’re just going to focus on our game.”

“Last year, we might have put a little bit of emphasis on him alone,” said defender A.J. DeLaGarza. “We know he’s a different player. Now, we can just do what we have to do and not have to worry about him."

“Obviously, I’d much rather play against him than have him out. It’s just unfortunate. He was MVP for a reason.”

Eric Avila was instrumental in FC Dallas's victory over Vancouver. Avila currently has a goal and an assist to his credit but is expected to play a bigger role on Sunday.

Other capable scorers include Brek Shea, George John and Milton Rodriguez, all who have a goal each. Marvin Chavez is the team's best provider, with two assists to his credit.

Defensively, the combination of of Jair Benitez, Jackson, captain Daniel Hernandez, John, Zach Loyd and Ugo Ihemelu will need to replicate their Western Conference Final efforts against David Beckham, Landon Donovan, Chad Barrett and the Galaxy attack without Ferreira.

Currently, FC Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman has a 2-3-1 record and a 1.50 goals against average. His counterpart, Donovan Ricketts, owns a 3-0-2 record, a 0.40 GAA and a 87.5 percent save percentage.

David Beckham leads the Galaxy in assists with four and should get his share of free kicks to work with on Sunday. However, the Galaxy will win this game with solid ball distribution. Los Angeles defeated Portland with free-flowing sequences dictated by precision passing.

If the Hoops are unable to break up the possession game Los Angeles needs in order to win, Dallas will see payback coming their way.

Prediction:

This should be a Galaxy win. I like the Galaxy building on their win streak and creating chances based on sequences from short and intermediate passing. The absence of David Ferreira also plays into Los Angeles's hands.

Los Angeles Galaxy 3, FC Dallas 1

Kickoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. PT/7:00 p.m. ET and will be televised by Fox Sports West and Galavision. 


INS & OUTS

Dreadful start for reserves

The LA Galaxy reserves were unable to replicate the efforts of the first team, falling to the Portland Timbers 3-1.

They will look to rebound on May 3, when they take on the Chivas USA reserves. Kickoff is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. PT/2:00 p.m. ET with the location to be determined.


Youth Academy Update

After taking the week off, the LA Galaxy Youth Academy will resume action on Saturday, April 30, when they take on Chivas USA. The Under-18s will kick off at 1:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. ET while the Under-16s will clash at 3:30 p.m. PT/6:30 p.m. ET.

THe Under-16s are 14-2-1 (43 points) and are 5-2-0 in the Southern California Division of the US Soccer Development Academy. As for the Under-16s, they are 10-5-2 (32 points) and are 3-2-2 in the SoCal Division.

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/679994-los-angeles-galaxy-vs-fc-dallas-back-on-the-revenge-tour

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