Friday, July 24, 2009

The Beckham Circus is in Town

The David Beckham circus has continued since his return to the Galaxy this season. His recent fine for his altercation between Beckham and an LA fan is proof of that. LA comes into KC on an impressive win streak, as they have won 4 straight MLS games. Only one of those wins have been with Beckham with the team. During the hot streak, the Galaxy have not just been scoring goals but not giving them up either, playing good defense during that stretch as well. The Galaxy are certainly one of the hottest teams in MLS.

With Adam Cristman's return from injury, the Wizards will be hoping to be breaking out of the scoring slump that they've been in since their 3-1 win over New England in early June. The lack of scoring has not been due to a lack of chances, but due to a lack of finishing. The Wizards have been out shooting their opponents, but have unable to find the net. The defense has been a bit of a surprise without Jimmy Conrad anchoring the the back line. The team will be without Lance Watson due to his red card, but the rest of the team should be similar to the team that played New England a few weeks ago.
Hartman
Leathers - Hohlbein - McKenzie - Besler
Hirsig
Gomez - Jewsbury - Harrington
Lopez - Wolff

Key Match Up - Hirsig vs Beckham - Beckham has been playing centrally for the Galaxy so far this season so his match up against Hirsig should be a big part of the game. Hirsig will need to shut him down while also having to keep an eye out for Landon Donovan as well.

Prediction - These two teams are at almost complete opposites of the form spectrum currently and that's not a good thing for the Wizards who have not scored a league goal in their last 2 games (and only 2 in the last 5 games not counting the open cup). If form is any key, this won't be a pretty game for KC. I'll be hoping for the best, but I have my doubts.

KC - 1 (Lopez)
LA - 2 (Donovan, Gordon)

Here's a news segment from NBC Action News, about Beckham's game here, including quotes from yours truly talking about the game.

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