With all the noise regarding starters Ryan Smith, Stephane Auvrey and Jimmy Nielsen, and the rumpus over Sunil Chhetri it is easy to overlook a guy from the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park.  The manicured lawns and well to do demographics do not summon the imagination to flights of fancy and delusions of grandeur quite the way Ryan Smith’s story does.  He brings with him a little slice of Arsene Wenger, a hint of Arsenal.  We have Gallic flare and dreadlocks in Auvrey, and “The White Puma” Casino Jimmy Nielsen.  It is almost a Roy of the Rovers style comic book squad with players brought in from all over the globe and yet on Saturday night home town boy Matt Besler stood peerless above anybody else on the field.

Prior to the game, as the news that Jimmy Conrad was not included in the starting lineup filtered through the parking lot, it was reassuring to see that people were not questioning Besler but Colombian Pablo Escobar.  While both had solid games Besler really seemed a stand out as a player who is ready to fill big boots.  With Jimmy Conrad maybe approaching the end of his career it is reassuring to see that in a game where the attacking talent of Donovan and Buddle was talked about with trepidation that a defensive player should simply do his job effectively and efficiently enough to simply be a rock that opposition attacks broke upon.

The result was that the LA Galaxy looked fairly impotent going forward and it was no surprise that the game finished 0-0 on the balance of play given that the Wizards really did fail to carve out many chances that fell to the natural finishers of Wolff, Kamara, Arnaud or Smith.  The cleanest and clearest chance that came the Wizard’s way fell to Kei Kamara who managed to miss a chance that was such a sitter, that he probably would have scored it if he had been shot at the correct moment and fallen dead into the path of the ball.  Instead he contrived to slip, kick nothing but air, fall and hand ball the ball into the net from a range of about ….. an inch. Nightmare.

It happens and while The Sun newspaper and other pundits line up to take an equally easy (and cheap) shot at Kei the people who really should be concerned are his prior team Houston who will have to contend with a player who now feels he has something to prove.

The remainder of the first half was nondescript to say the least. In an effort to stifle the Galaxy attack it seemed that Escobar and Harrington played as traditional left and right back rather than marauding up the field. This cut off support for the oft triple covered Smith and the Wolff who was stranded on the right wing entirely without service or support. With the Wizard’s and Galaxy attacks both effectively shut down the ugly game continued in much the same pattern for the remainder of the game until Escobar and Kamara left the field of play. Escobar who suffered a minor concussion was replaced with Aaron Holbein, and Kamara interestingly with Diop.

The game destined to finish as a goalless draw for so long, finished with little to talk about in terms of incident. The Wizards did hold an edge in terms of possession and chances however the Galaxy defense managed to stifle much of these quickly and the chances often fell to players other than forwards. People might talk about the Wizard’s deserving to win again but it is goals that win games not possession, not effort, not even chances. In this light the Wizard’s have scored only one goal in their last three games and while the defense is stable if the Wizard’s are to progress then Peter Vermes is going to need to conjure up a strategy that will allow the the play makers on the team more freedom. I am convinced that in Galaxy and Seattle we have played two of the better teams and they and the Wizards have simply canceled each other out. Houston on the road next won’t be a breeze, but for once, and early I am calling a win for the Wizards.

Closing thought

While the Wizards are much improved, they are relatively simply to defend against at the moment. If the ability to simply stifle Smith shuts down the Kansas City offense almost entirely we need to conjure another threat up. We need to give defenses something else to worry about. Wolff deployed as a work horse isn’t going to scare anybody, Kamara is no winger, and we really lack a genuine goalscorer. If we are not going to score much, I might be more inclined to continue the education of Teal Bunbury by letting him have a run out as a sub rather than using Diop out of position.