ARENA TAKES BLAME

The LA Galaxy manager Bruce Arena has said that much of the early season poor form of the team was down to him. He has said that he made significant changes to the team in the second half of the campaign, which has led them to dominate the latter stages.

The 4-2 win over Toronto in recent match put them in a great position to defend the MLS title that they won last season. LA Galaxy are now unbeaten in the last six matches, while they have won five matches in this run. Despite this, they are currently third in the table some 11 points behind the leaders San Jose earthquakes.

Both teams have played 31 matches and Bruce Arena has said that the early season form is one of the reasons for not finishing top of the MLS table in the Western Conference. The former Aston Villa and Tottenham striker Robbie Keane has been a major player for the club since his arrival in the summer. He has scored 14 goals in just 24 matches for LA Galaxy during this period. He has helped the club offset the injury problems suffered by the star midfielder David Beckham during this campaign.

"I just think we're playing better. I think players understand their responsibilities. Maybe you can attribute the poor start to bad coaching and maybe we got them, helped get them turned around. It's good to see him back on the field. In May this would have been an unlikely scenario, so it's been a terrific run of probably close to 20 games," said the LA Galaxy manager in a recent interview. This has been a good season for David Beckham after he has scored seven goals in 21 matches, but his season has been stop and start due to the injury problems.