Real Salt Lake at Los Angeles Galaxy - 3 questions

Well folks it is that time of year again, a time for some Q & A with a LA Galaxy blogger. In this case it is someone I consider a friend within the SB Nation family it is Jocelyn Becker, the mind behind LAG Confidential.

So here are the questions I asked and her responses:

1) With the pressure of most of the MLS and US on the Galaxy to put forth their best effort in CONCACAF Champions League, and with a match on Wednesday and another next Wednesday, do you expect Bruce to rest some of his first string players after a high tempo match in Toronto?

A) Absolutely. Andrew Boyens and Juninho were the only players not to go the 90 minutes on Wednesday as it was clear Bruce Arena felt the need to get that second away goal. So in a perfect world, Beckham and Donovan would take a bit of a breather on Saturday. However, given that it's the season opener, at home, and the new kits are being unveiled, I imagine you'll get the ideal starting lineup again. Perhaps Marcelo Sarvas instead of Landon Donovan if Donovan still isn't 100%. Also, perhaps Tommy Meyer instead of Andrew Boyens, Boyens cleaned it up in the second half, but took a lot of flack on the first half goals. It'll be very interesting to see what lineup Arena trots out on Saturday. CONCACAF is unmistakably the more important project at this stage, and Arena has never been one to succumb to ceremony. Which is all Saturday is, in the grand scheme of things; pomp and circumstance.

2) So while nobody doubts the ability of the Galaxy to score goals, with Omar Gonzalez out and with Josh Saunders in goal, there are questions about the defense. We saw some mistakes on Wednesday night against Toronto, who do you think will step up to become the leader of the defense on Saturday?

A) Let's get one thing straight: Josh Saunders earned Donovan Ricketts being traded, he is no backup. Saunders did a fine job replacing injured Ricketts, so good that Ricketts was never able to earn his spot back. So the question has to be, how much of that was Omar Gonzalez? In truth, probably a fair amount. The Galaxy weren't expect the year of no Gonzalez when they traded away Ricketts. A.J. DeLaGarza is going to have to be the one who steps up and is the leader on defense. I'd rather it were Todd Dunivant, but it's really hard to yell at Sean Franklin from across the pitch. A.J. should be up to the task, but having the skill and having the ability to maintain those around you are two different things. We'll see as the season goes on.

The rest of our Q&A after the jump:

A) Absolutely. Anytime the Galaxy say someone has a cold, that's code for we rode them so hard their body exploded. See David Beckham in the build up to MLS Cup. However, the reason they say it's a cold is because players like Donovan, Keane, and Beckham have that drive which means they'll go at 75%. I expect they'll be treated with kid gloves, but at the same time I know that players like that see a lineup card and they expect to be in it. Even if they played the day before. So it's fear/knowing how it'll probably play out.

and as always a:

Bonus Question) If you could take one player from the RSL roster and add them to the Galaxy roster, who would it be and why.

A) Jamison Olave, cause then the Galaxy defense would be otherworldly again.

Well it looks like RSL's Alpha Male has another fan to add to the masses.

So if you want to check out my answers to Josie's questions well just jump over to LAG Confidential

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