The Whiteboard: David Beckham’s SuperClasico

Origin: WenYang time: 2010-10-06

Welcome to a new series breaking down individual player performances from Major League Soccer and beyond.

This past Sunday’s edition of the Los Angeles SuperClásico once again featured two teams on opposite sides of the table. The Galaxy, statistically the best team in MLS, faced struggling Chivas USA, statistically the worst team in the Western Conference and second worst in the entire league. Despite the gulf in league points, the contest presented a tighter challenge for the Galaxy as they have been dealing with poor form over the second half of the season, seemingly unable to conjure up the team chemistry representative of the best team in MLS.

Last week’s egg, which LA laid against the Red Bulls, revealed a discombobulated midfield which was incapable to generate either positive possession or meaningful distribution to the forwards. Comments made after the game by the coach and players highlighted the fact that the Galaxy midfield lacked the semblance of “shape” which gave the New York midfield too much space to exploit. It was clear that simply placing the Galaxy’s best players in the midfield (Donovan, Beckham, and Juninho) was not good enough to have an impact on the game. The challenge throughout the week going into the derby, for coach Arena, was to find a way to put the correct pieces on the field in order to complete the puzzle. He was going to have to put a new combination together, to hopefully access the players’ talents, while creating chemistry, flowing from the back line up through the forwards.

In the previous game against New York, Beckham played on the right wing and ran into problems as he stayed further back, content to whip hopeful crosses halfway up field into the box. This strategy was met with little success, as he completed only 37% of his 19 crosses, turning the ball over as a result. Since Beckham sat so far back, he encroached upon holding midfielder Juninho’s territory, thus confining the Brazilian to limited space and distribution opportunities. This lack of chemistry forced the midfield into many mistakes and stranded the forwards with little quality service throughout the entire game. The Galaxy was dominated by a flowing and aggressive New York midfield and they lost handily, 2-0.

Arena’s solution on Sunday was to counter act Beckham’s propensity to sit back by playing him as a center midfield. Filling David’s spot on the right from last game was Chris Birchall, who, unlike Beckham, has the legs to run up and down the midfield in workman-like fashion. On the left was Michael Stephens, the talented rookie out of UCLA, slotting in for Donovan who was moved up top with fellow striker Buddle. Behind Beckham, in his classic defensive midfielder role, was Juninho. Obviously, Arena knew if any chemistry would be formed, things had to change from the week before.