How will the Phoenix fear against the Galaxy?

How will the Phoenix fear against the Galaxy?

How do you guys think we will go against the L.A. Galaxy?

I've been thinking about it recently and we know that the Phoenix (at the very least) are about midtable quality in the A-League, and the A-league is the 14th top league in the world.

The Galaxy, on the other hand, play in a more competitive league (I don't know what the MLS is ranked), but are not as competitive as a lot of the other teams in the MLS. At the moment they are in the bottom half of the table I think.

Why should we fear the Galaxy?

It's pretty hard to know how the game will go, we'll probably play our fringe players in the game, and LA won't really have that much motivation. Wouldn't be surprised if it's a draw.

You mention that the A-League is the 14th best team in the league - where did you get that stat from and what is it based on? Sounds like an interesting ranking system, do you know where to find it?

I've heard Graham Seatter say it in an article, but I have no idea who ranks it and how it is ranked.

its just a training run for the reserves  isnt it?  3 points on Friday is the main aim of the weekend and I wil enjoy Saturdays kickaround..

Dammit. I'd love to see that list... how do you think it would go?

England is a big call...

Yes it is - did have a think about it.

Back to Phoenix v Galaxy - 5-5 draw.

please no! I know it's not a proper game and our lads will be knackered from friday, but not a bloody 5-5  you score we score you score farce 

Get a grip - if it isn't five all and Beckham doesn't score three set pieces it will have been a marketing disaster. It's entertainment not a football match. Unfortunately that's why the Mrs wants to go even though she's never had any interest in the game before in the last thirty years. She probably thinks Beckham can play like Ronaldo - is she in for a shock. 

Oh sorry I forgot to put the smiley face for SiNZ

controversial

i wouldn't have the foggiest what the score will be...
Cosimo2007-10-10 23:12:37

i hope herbs will give Costa and the other youngsters a decent run in this one...and i pick us to win

hopefully it will be a crowd-pleasing exhibition match which will get the punters coming backfor the A league games - so a score draw is fine by me, complete with deadball displays.

Can we have a chant about Matthew Ridge and Goldenballs' bit on the side...

Friday night match has to be the priority...Score-draw against the Galaxy!!! Felipe to bend one over the wall, into the top corner for the win...

OK, this is off-topic but I have to respond to this. The Premiership is clearly in the best financial position in Europe, but the league that has the highest level competition among clubs and best overall quality of football is in Spain. You're right when you say that there's not much difference among the top clubs in the best leagues, but the evidence of the last 10 years or so suggests that the clubs in Spain outside of the top 3 have more overall quality than their English counterparts. The reality is that in Spain the likes of Barcelona/Real Madrid/Valencia cannot assume they'll get all 3 points from anyone in the league - in the Premiership there's always at least 4-5 teams who are absolute rubbish and are only filling in the numbers because the quality is very unevenly spread in England.
As a case in point look at some of the promoted teams in both of those leagues this season - Real Murcia from Spain look a very decent football team, the likes of Sunderland and Derby in particular are a bunch of plodders who are desperately out of their depth. The cash injections coming to clubs in England may change this situation somewhat, but at the moment, I think there can be little doubt that La Liga is the best league in the world, all the claims coming from England nothwithstanding.

PS. HN and other mods, feel free to move this to a European thread in case that paulm and I end up having a protracted argument

Taking into account all those European leagues (however ranked), and the Argentinian, Brazilian, Mexican (and other South American) leagues, I would think it unlikely the A-league is 14th.  The closeness of the Copa Libertadores, the Copa Sudamericana, and the regularity with which the South American teams win the Intercontinental Cup, meam it is likely the A-League is a lot lower than that.  Doesn't help with determining relativities to the MLS of course. 

i think we can win both, we will have teh depth to do this

BOCA!!! Por favor....haha

It's an exhibition match, let's be honest - the footy is never that great at such a match.  Just hope for some classy moves and such, but I think the atmosphere will make it worthwhile.  Got my eight tickets...

Addicks2007-10-11 13:35:39

ideally we want a high scoring draw id say, with beckham scoring one of those trademark free kicks of his, that would draw bigger crowds in to other phoenix games.

That's just what I read in an article.

Don't mean to upset you, but Charlton are an excellent example of the lack of quality in the Premiership once you go past the top teams. The mere fact that they stayed in the Premiership for as long as they did testifies to that fact. Don't think they would have lasted more than a single season in La Liga.

el grapadura - judging by your username I detect a little bias.. but nonetheless i respect your comments. To be honest I watch a hell of a lot more premiership than i do la liga, so obviously I also have a large degree of bias myself. I do believe that La liga used to be a better quality spectacle than the premiership, but I think that la liga has now been ovetaken, and that the premiership will continue to pull away.

The user name comes from an ex-Mexican wrestler. It means the stapler in Spanish and I took it as I thought it really fitted nicely with my footballing style . So I have no real connection with Spain.

I watch both leagues regularly - and the Premiership only out of habit, because beyond the top 6-7 teams no-one else is really worth watching, at least as I'm concerned. I suppose you stating that 1-0 loss for a team is a good result goes to prove my point somewhat; hey, at least they didn't smack in 6 against 'us'    .
I would argue the teams 7-20 in Spain are significantly better than their counterparts in England - they are better organised, more tactically astute and adaptable, with a broader base of talent. As a point of comparison (and it's not a particularly good one, since other factors come into play here as well), the Spanish teams steamrolled their opposition in the first round of the UEFA Cup, and all the English teams, bar Spurs, struggled mightily against apparently significantly inferior opposition, at least on paper. Hell, Blackburn got knocked out by a Greek team that even the Greeks on this forum had never heard of before.
Ultimately, of course, this is an unwinnable argument for both of us, but hey, you can't blame us for trying, eh?

Agreed on the unwinnable argument front... I tried going into last years tables and putting some stats together, but everything came out more or less even! I even thought that the amount of draws in the season might be a good indicator, and amazingly both the premiership and la liga had 96 drawn matches each!

Also - to add to this comment you made;

paulm2007-10-12 20:00:21

El Gradapura, suggesting Blackburn lost to a team even the Greeks on this forum hadn't heard of is a bit like suggesting a team like  Bolton Wanderers (as an example) is one the English on this forum won't have heard of. Larissa are in fact a very good side, difficult to beat. I wasn't surprised they beat Blackburn.

Good call pao1908 - was going to ask what was up there. Would have thought greek football fans would have heard of a team in their own top-flight... you have proven this thought correct... Don't think this argument can be based on individual results really. If that was the case I would highlight the game last weekend where Barca beat Ateltico 3-0. That game appears to outline a significant gulf between the top two tiers of la liga... but we know that is not the case, it was merely a one-off outstanding performance - just goes to show that individual results are not a good basis for proving whichever league might be the most competitive

That was meant in jest mate, I suppose I should have put a smiley there...I have heard of Larissa before in fact, I beleive they were Greek champions on one occasion in late 80s or early 90s if I'm not mistaken (going on my memory alone here, which has slowly wasted away after so many years of alcohol abuse)...

I wasn't suggesting that individual results are a good barometer of competetiveness...I was suggesting that the pattern set by less fancied clubs in Premiership in European competetions displays a lack of tactical nous and adaptability. Forget the Blackburn-Larissa game, have a look at the other ones in the lates round in the UEFA Cup. Bolton barely beat Rabotnicki from Macedonia 2-1 on aggregate. Now 20 years ago this club was languishing in the depths of regional leagues of former Yugoslavia, and it's players probably get paid less than what Anelka gets in a week (Special smiley for our Greek friens, sorry to take the Macedonian example, I know it strikes a chord with some of you). That same pattern is displayed in the Premiership as well, and is clearly evident to me, whereas I don't really see it in La Liga. So I'd think that the teams 7-20 in La Liga are overall better than their English counterparts, although individual results would obviously vary depending on the circumstances. But since there's no way of winning this argument, I'm inclined to just drop this and enjoy all the football that's on offer right now.

Yes, that's excellent basis for deciding the quality of football played in different leagues. Some bureaucrat in Shanghai watches Reading play Sunderland and that makes those teams better than Espanol and Getafe. What next...

ESPN doesnt help itself there picture quality is crap!

Sorry to ask a question off topic( not too sure where to ask it but)
When I went to buy my Galaxy tickects at the Wellington Ticketec office the serving dolly told me she had some in aisle 22. I said thats the YF zone and she said the YF zone is disbanded for the Galaxy game.......is this true?