Matchday: LA Galaxy vs Houston Dynamo

The first in the series of match day profiles is from the Home Depot Centre where I went to see LA Galaxy vs. Houston Dynamo in an MLS league match in Round 15….

When: 28th July 2009, 7pm kick off.
Where: Home Depot Centre, Carson, Los Angeles, California, USA.

My original view of MLS was that it was hot on the heels of Europe – growing at an exponential rate, possibly resulting in a highly competitive league within the next decade. I believed this to be true through certain media hype, but also because it’s the United States of America and when they do something they normally do it well. However, after 15 years of growth I was quite surprised in the lack of quality football on show – maybe I caught MLS on a bad day?

The match came after in a week in which the USA were beaten by Brazil in the Confederations cup after knocking out arguably the best team in the world, Spain. So there are good American players – unfortunately I was limited to only a few on show on that particular Sunday.

The LA Galaxy centre-back Omar Gonzalez looked to have a commanding presence against a normally potent Dynamo attack, but in all honesty Houston were not firing on all cylinders – I’m sure Ade Akinbayi was thinking the same as he watched from the bench.

The left-winger for Houston, Corey Ashe, looked a tricky customer but had no end product – common I thought with a lot of Premiership players who are forced to go and play in a lower league to further their careers. MLS does not claim to be on par with the Premiership and I’d agree with comments I have heard that it is somewhere between the bottom of the English Championship and the top of League One.

Evidence of this was that neither team possessed a player capable of holding onto the ball and controlling the game. The lack of organisation got me thinking where the emphasis on tactics lies in the MLS. With the American variation of football focusing heavily on the Quarterback it surprised me they placed no emphasis on the ‘Pirlo role’, instead choosing to knock the ball long.

Closer comparisons to American sports could be made with fans however. The chanting did occasionally create a good atmosphere but was too friendly for what I’m used to in a football match – there was little pressure on the players and intermittent support. Compare that to the relentless pressure cooker of grounds in Europe then we’re talking about two different sports. The emphasis seemed to be based more around the event of the football match rather than the 90 minutes itself.

The sideshow that day involved – yes, you guessed it – David Beckham. Rumours were that when David Beckham returned he’d get a cold reception. Landon Donovan recently questioned the England star’s motivation, but one can see how it may be hard for England’s all time outfield record caps to get himself ‘up’ for an MLS game. The fact is that David Beckham has seen it all before; at Upton Park after the 1998 World Cup and on grounds around the country for years following – in comparison the Home Depot Centre is a walk in the park for him.

The focus of the MLS and unfortunately of my report (not much mention of the game itself) may be indicative of the problem Ben Cohen recently raised in that the MLS are too dependant on particular players. The wage structure is a clearly sign of the importance the Americans place on their team and is noticable when their two main players are missing in the case of LA Galaxy. Football is a team game and the importance of one or two individuals should not dictate the view of the team and sport.

Result: LA Galaxy 1 – 0 Houston Dynamo
Dunivant 24′

Have you recently been to a football match outside of your country? Send us your experiences and we’ll post it here on World Football Columns so you can share them with the world!