Galaxy should know the enemy in MLS opener
SOCCER DAILY
Paul Bravo, the team's director of soccer, once played for the Colorado Rapids, L.A.'s first-game opponent in Denver.
DENVER -- With Galaxy Coach Ruud Gullit new to the league, it will be up to PaulBravo, the team's director of soccer, to get a handle on opponents early in the Major League Soccer season.
Fortunately for the Galaxy, it opens Saturday night against the Colorado Rapids, and Bravo knows them inside out, having played for the Rapids from 1997 to 2001. He won the MLS Cup with them in 1997 and is still the team's all-time scoring leader.
What Bravo sees with David Beckham, Landon Donovan and Carlos Ruiz running into the sold-out opener will be not only cold temperatures and thin air, but a team that specializes in defense and counterattack.
Like Los Angeles, Colorado has shaken up its roster, with the big acquisition being that of Argentine midfielder Christian Gomez from D.C. United. Bravo said Gomez, the league's MVP in 2006, would have to adapt to a different style of play with the Rapids.
"D.C. was a little more offense-minded and open and allowed him to be free," Bravo said. "Colorado has more of a defend-first mentality . . . but I'm sure he'll have a huge impact on their team and a lot of what they do will obviously be dictated by him.
"They're very organized defensively. They try to get 10 players behind the ball at all times and make it difficult for you to break them down, and then they'll try and catch you going the other way."
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Smart move by Colorado Coach Fernando Clavijo in picking up midfielder/defender Kelly Gray on Friday, just one day before the Rapids play the team that waived him in February.
Gray might not yet know his teammates but the motivation will be there if he gets some playing time Saturday night against the Galaxy. "Kelly knows how to win, and his championship experience will benefit this team," Clavijo said Friday.
Gray, 26, won a U.S. Open Cup in 2003 while with the Chicago Fire and the MLS Cup in 2006 with the Houston Dynamo.
He joins three other former Galaxy players with Colorado -- Ugo Ihemelu, JovanKirovski and Herculez Gomez, but the three are listed as either out or doubtful because of injury, as are MikePetke, Conor Casey and Mehdi Ballouchy.
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Interesting timing, also, by Chivas USA Coach Preki, who on Friday traded for a player from Krakow, Poland, only two days after the U.S. national team had trounced Poland, 3-0, in that city.
