2011 Los Angeles Galaxy season

Season summary

Preseason

The Galaxy had a busy month in January, mostly with transfers. On January 10, club striker, and Golden Boot-finalist, Edson Buddle left the Galaxy to sign with second division German club, Ingolstadt 04 through the end of the 2012–13 2. Bundesliga season.

On January 9, 2010, rumors about David Beckham potentially ending his three-and-a-half-year MLS career by signing with Tottenham Hotspur or going on loan with the Premier League club ended. The Galaxy announced that Beckham would be training with Tottenham for two weeks, before joining Los Angeles for the start of pre-season training. The news made it the first time since 2008 that Beckham did not go on an off-season loan to Europe.

Regular season

March

The Galaxy opened the MLS regular season with a 0–1 victory over the Sounders at Qwest Field in rainy Seattle on March 15. Second-year midfielder Juninho had the lone goal of the match. Although they were back home at the Home Depot Center for the second match of the season on March 20, the Galaxy once again played in the rain. A rare Southern California rainstorm made for difficult conditions in the 1–1 draw with the New England Revolution. Juninho scored the equalizer for the Galaxy, his second goal of the season – which already matched his goal total from his debut 2010 season. The toughest test of the early season came on March 26 – and the Galaxy failed. Traveling to Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah without captain Landon Donovan (who was away on international duty with the USA national team), the Galaxy lost 4–1 to Real Salt Lake. To be fair, Rio Tinto is a difficult venue for any visiting club, as Real hasn't lost at home in nearly two years. The only consolation was seeing Juan Pablo Ángel open his Galaxy goal account in his first start for his new club. Ángel had been suffering from a virus and didn't start the first two matches (though he did come on as a substitute in the second half against the Revolution).

April

The Galaxy rebounded from the loss to Real Salt Lake with a 1–0 victory over the Philadelphia Union at the Home Depot Center on April 2. Donovan Ricketts and Omar Gonzalez saw their first action of the season after recovering from minor injuries. Leonardo headed in a David Beckham free kick in the 33rd minute for the game's only goal. It was the defender's first goal in a Galaxy shirt. A 53rd minute red card for Chris Birchall meant that the Galaxy had to spend the majority of the second half protecting their narrow lead a man down.

Next up was a 3-games-in-8-days cross-country road trip. To complicate matters, the Galaxy would be without captain Landon Donovan, who did not travel with the club while he nursed a knee injury. The first match of the trip came at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., on April 9. Mike Magee nodded in a Beckham corner to give the Galaxy the early lead. But Charlie Davies drew a dubious penalty and converted from the spot himself in the 90th minute to save the draw for D.C. United. The squad traveled to Toronto to take on Toronto FC 4 days later. The fans at BMO Field saw a largely unentertaining affair resulting in a scoreless draw. Most notable from a Galaxy perspective was the sending off of Juninho in stoppage time of the 2nd half. Also, Beckham received his 5th yellow card of the season in the 44th minute. These two events meant that the Galaxy would be without 3/4ths of their preferred midfield (Donovan, Beckham, and Juninho) when they finished their trip on April 17 in Bridgeview, Illinois against the Chicago Fire. Yet it was no problem as the Galaxy won 1–2 behind goals from Chad Barrett and Gonzalez with Miguel López providing the assists on both goals. Although there was one concerning casualty on the Toyota Park field – Leonardo picked up a right knee injury late in the match. It was revealed a couple days later that he tore the ACL and LCL in the knee, and he is expected to miss the remainder of the season. Heading home to LA, the Galaxy had picked up a very respectable 5 points on their travels.

Squad

Roster

-- Do NOT add new players before their signing is officially announced by the club -- and do NOT assign unreferenced squad numbers as well. -- Do NOT create articles for new draft picks until they make either their MLS or U.S. Open Cup debut, and do not add red wikilinks to these players as it prevents the creation of articles by people who don't understand the WP:FOOTY notability guidelines – Players with international caps should NOT be bolded – as per Wikipedia:WikiProject_Football/Clubs – This is Wikipedia, not a football gazette. – Any unconfirmed and unsourced signing/transfer will be reverted at sight. – Thanks in advance.

Squad information

Transfers

In

Out

Loans

In

Out

Competitions

Pre-season

Ángel Berhalter Juninho Cardozo Kirovski Cardozo Donovan Orozco Magee
López
Barrett
Kirovski Molina Orozco Otreras Yacuzzi

Major League Soccer

Main article: 2011 Major League Soccer season

Overall table

Western Conference table

Results summary

Results by round

Match results

González Juninho
Beckham Morales Paulo Jr. Beckham
López
Leonardo
Ángel López
Birchall
Ricketts
Beckham
Donovan Williams
Harvey
Califf
McInerney Davies Dunivant
Beckham
Kirovski Stevanović Jordan
Juninho Oduro , Barrett
Stephens
Gonzalez
Hejduk Donovan
Franklin
Magee Shea Juninho Rodgers Torres Mwanga , Williams Birchall Gonzalez DeLaGarza Ángel Juninho Beckham Valentin Franklin López White Beckham DeLaGarza Ángel Henry Gordon
Casey
Folan
Mastroeni Juninho
Barrett Corrales Saunders Beckham
Birchall Nazarit
Cháves
Mikulić Franklin
Juninho
Beckham Stephens
Franklin
Cristman Perlaza
Brunner
Chará
Zizzo Gonzalez
Berhalter
Juninho
Magee
Stephens Villar
Benítez Hejduk
Magee Beitashour Zusi
Júlio César
Collin
Bravo (pen.) Hejduk
Donovan
Beckham Keane Koffie Hassli Borchers Henry Boswell
Costly

MLS Cup Playoffs

Main article: 2011 MLS Cup Playoffs

Conference semifinals

Franklin Donovan

Conference finals

Magee Keane Carson, California

Championship

Main article: MLS Cup 2011

Carson, California

CONCACAF Champions League

Main article: 2011–12 CONCACAF Champions League

The Los Angeles Galaxy qualified directly into Group stage play by winning the Supporters' Shield. The Galaxy played in Group A with Alajuelense of Costa Rica, Morelia of Mexico, and Motagua of Honduras.

Group A Table

Group Stage Matches

Donovan Berhalter Gonzalez Donovan
Barrett Magee
Juninho Sabah
Juninho

U.S. Open Cup

Main article: 2011 U.S. Open Cup

Gonzalez
Magee
Cristman Rivera
Momeni
Sesay Alonso
Montero
Parke
Neagle
Fucito Cardozo

World Football Challenge

Main article: 2011 World Football Challenge

Cristman Joselu
Ronaldo
Benzema Savić Birchall Juninho Dunivant
Stephens McBean Gonzalez McCarty DeLaGarza Weiss Suárez Kolarov Guidetti Lescott De Jong Wright-Phillips Hart

Asia Pacific Tour 2011

Gonzalez
Magee

De Jong Magee
Keane
Cristman
Berhalter

Cernak Jeggo
Pondeljak
Retre
Rojas Jiménez
Berhlater
Stephens
Cardozo

Statistics

:All statistics are for competitive matches only.

Appearances and goals

Goalkeeper stats

References

1. Lalas, Greg. (January 9, 2010). "Beckham loan deal off, will train with Spurs". MLSSoccer.com.
2. Bueno, Luis. "Galaxy can't afford to let blowout at RSL linger". MLSsoccer.com.
3. "LA Galaxy defender Leonardo to undergo right knee surgery". MLSsoccer.com.
4. (December 15, 2010). "LA Galaxy Select Forward Juan Pablo Angel In Stage 2 of MLS Re-Entry Draft". LAGalaxy.com.
5. (December 15, 2010). "LA Galaxy acquire the rights to Juan Pablo Angel and Frankie Hejduk". LAGalaxy.com.
6. (January 11, 2011). "Galaxy acquire forward Cristman from DC". MLSsoccer.com.
7. (January 13, 2011). "Barrett Traded To Los Angeles". TorontoFC.ca.
8. (February 14, 2011). "LA Galaxy agree to terms with five players". LAGalaxy.com.
9. (March 16, 2011). "LA Galaxy mid-week update: Galaxy return from SEA; Host New England in home opener on Sunday". LAGalaxy.com.
10. (May 11, 2011). "MLS Ticker: Galaxy signs Davies". Soccer by Ives.
11. LA Galaxy Communications. (August 15, 2011). "LA Galaxy Agree to Terms With Ireland International Robbie Keane". Lagalaxy.com.
12. LA Galaxy Communications. (September 15, 2011). "LA Galaxy Acquire Defender Dasan Robinson". Lagalaxy.com.
13. (October 20, 2010). "Midfielder Eddie Lewis to Retire Following 2010 MLS Season". LA Galaxy.
14. (October 20, 2010). "Midfielder Chris Klein to Retire Following 2010 MLS Season". LA Galaxy.
15. "MLS veteran Dema Kovalenko is retiring". The Washington Post.
16. (December 15, 2010). "trade forward Tristan Bowen to Chivas USA". LA Galaxy.
17. (January 26, 2011). "LA Galaxy announce preseason roster and schedule – OurSports Central – Independent and Minor League Sports News". OurSports Central.
18. Seitzer, Greg. (January 10, 2011). "Buddle leaves LA, signs with German side Ingolstadt". MLSSoccer.com.
19. LA Galaxy Communications. (August 17, 2011). "trade Juan Pablo Angel to Chivas USA". LA Galaxy.
20. (December 23, 2009). "Galaxy Sign Three On Loan From Sao Paulo". Yahoo Sports.
21. LA Galaxy Communications. (January 28, 2011). "sign midfielder Miguel Lopez". LA Galaxy.
22. "Galaxy clinch CCL Group stage berth". Concacaf.com.
23. Winarti, Agnes. (December 1, 2011). "Keane fires Galaxy past Indonesia Selection team". [[The Jakarta Post]].
24. "2011 MLS Roster Rules". MLSsoccer.com.
25. (November 22, 2010). "Timbers Acquire International Roster Slot from Galaxy". Portland Timbers.
26. LA Galaxy Communications. (February 17, 2011). "Acquire International Roster Slot from D.C. United in Exchange for Allocation Money". LA Galaxy.