LA Galaxy rally round AJ DeLaGarza after death of his son

In the defender’s absence, black armbands are worn and tributes are given, while Jones energizes NE and Saborio strengthens faltering RSL.

Marcelo Sarvas, Baggio Husidic, Gyasi Zardes

LA Galaxy suffers a tragedy
There was no need for AJ DeLaGarza to step forward. If nothing else, no one would have minded that the veteran Galaxy defense wasn’t as well-known as he was. However, the 26-year-old chose to look at the positive aspects of his family’s misfortune rather than dwelling on the sadness that had befallen him and his wife.

For the first time since he had announced his son’s arrival to the world, DeLaGarza stated on the team website last week, “[I]t’s important for me to help other families who are in need more than I am.”

For four months, the DeLaGarzas had known: Luca, their first child, would be born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, a congenital heart defect that rendered one ventricle too underdeveloped to supply enough blood to the rest of the body.

“Right now, he’s safe inside his mother,” DeLaGarza said, “but when he comes out, he’s going to have a hard time.”

On Thursday, Luca DeLaGarza passed away. He was seven days old.

The Galaxy organization rallied around the DeLaGarzas, promoting the #LucaKnowsHeart hashtag as a way to raise awareness of the condition. A website was created to help educate and raise funds, while beneath the club’s normal uniforms, DeLaGarza’s team-mates wore t-shirts featuring the cause’s symbol: a heart with a Christian cross above its left ventricle. When Omar Gonzalez scored the second goal against DC United last Wednesday, he immediately turned to his partner and pointed to his chest, where his raised uniform revealed the symbol, one that’s also tattooed on DeLaGarza’s wrist.

On Friday, with the Colorado Rapids visiting Carson, California, the tone was more subdued. The defiant hope that fueled the team’s previous games was replaced by grief, with black “Luca” armbands and a moment of silence taking the place of their absent defender. Through the weekend, those remembrances were replicated across MLS.

The Galaxy went on to beat Colorado 6-0, with the game’s muted significance confirmed in the first minute. Not even the earliest red card in the league’s history, shown to Rapids goalkeeper Joe Nasco after 33 seconds, could resume sports’ facade.

When Landon Donovan pointed to his armband after converting from the spot, the bigger picture came back into focus.

Marcelo Sarvas, Baggio Husidic, Gyasi Zardes

“We play a sport for a living that we tend to think is very important, and people get carried away with parts of it,” Donovan said, after Friday’s match. “We try to keep it all in perspective. Life is more important.”

If the joke had been put in a script, some critics might have called it too “on the nose,” but in the sixtyth minute of Sunday’s game at Gillette Stadium, we had the ideal allegory for Chicago’s fruitless search for Jermanine Jones.

Jones, the distant target of the Fire’s summer crush, turned on a pass out of New England’s defensive third, leaving Lovel Palmer, Alex, and Bakary Soumare to watch as a last-second play paid off for the Revolution. It was Jones’s through pass that put Charlie Davies through on goal, and the result was New England’s 2-1 victory—the Revs’ fourth straight win.

As player after player failed to stop the US international, the need for Jones in Frank Yallop’s team was laid bare. Had the former Schalke man been in Fire red, Jose Goncalves’s pass out of the back may have never found its target. Whomever would be occupying Jones’s boots wouldn’t be allowed to turn upfield without a painful end. Even if a player were allowed to transition into attack, he would not have gotten far without the ranging midfielder tracking him down.

Yet instead of plying his trade for Chicago, Jones was making his second straight start for New England, one that included a slightly alerted role. Whereas on Wednesday against Kansas City he played as a lone holder in Jay Heaps’ customary 4-1-4-1, the Revs tweaked their setup on Sunday, deploying Jones in a double pivot. The obvious benefit: rather than being obligated to sit in front of the defense, Jones was liberated to use one of his prime virtues, his ability to cover ground, to have a greater influence.

Early, that virtue looked set to be overshadowed by a mistake, with Sanna Nyassi catching Jones on the ball ahead of a turnover that sent the Fire attacker on goal. But after the right upright proved forgiving, Jones’s night was left to be defined by the positives; namely, a performance that justified his large pay packet. Leading New England in touches (108), Jones handled everything between defense and attack, meeting every heightened expectation that accompanied his arrival.

For the Revolution, it was a proof of concept, albeit one that took a surprising form. Whereas it was assumed Jones would slot into a tried and true scheme, Heaps showed a willingness to build around his new talent. Unfortunately for Chicago, the end result highlighted what had slipped away.

Real Salt Lake ought to have been more motivated to get Alvaro Saborio back after the events of the previous two weeks, even though they didn’t appear to be. The RSL defense, which has been crowded, has been content to wait behind attacks in search of counterattack during recent trips to Dallas and San Jose. RSL is typically able to break through with distributors like Javier Morales and Kyle Beckerman, but their creators weren’t getting off the ground when the team didn’t have its best player. RSL was trailing the leaders of the Western Conference by one point after two games.

This weekend in Utah, Saborio returned, making RSL’s bench three months after winning the World Cup’s broken metatarsal lottery. While he wasn’t brought on until the 76th minute, the Costa Rican international made an immediate return, running straight from the sidelines on to a Morales corner that became the night’s game winning goal.

It was a just turn for the home side, who saw a dominant opening hour go for naught when Michel’s 62nd-minute free-kick converted Dallas’s first shot on target. Though FCD went on to claim a greater hold on the match, they never again tested Nick Rimando, leaving RSL to take the match after Saborio’s timely return.

Along with the debut of Argentinian forward Sebastian Jaime, who looks ready restore versatility lost with Fabian Espindola’s departure, Real Salt Lake have gone from a hamstrung attack to one of the league’s deepest over the course of a weekend, a development that threatens to complicate an already intense Western Conference. While LA and Seattle have distinguished themselves as Cup contenders, RSL’s flaws were seeing them fall back. But if those flaws suddenly become a strength? Once again, the Claret and Cobalt become a team capable of making it out of the West.

The importance of Saborio, perhaps the most complete No9 in Major League Soccer, is hard to oversell. Add in Ecuadorian Joao Plata, due to return from international duty this week, and Jeff Cassar has his first-choice forwards back in the fold. Throw in Jaime to a bench that already includes Garcia and Robbie Findley, and RSL’s forward depth becomes unmatched.

Whether that trumps Seattle or LA remains to be seen, but player-for-player, it’s clear RSL’s new options will pose problems.

When do the reigning champs no longer have the upper hand? Sporting’s results should be viewed in a wider context, as suggested by three straight places in the top two in the East, but the question becomes more pertinent every weekend. How much worse can Peter Vermes’ squad become before we lower our standards?

Our hopes for this weekend’s trip to Red Bull Arena were high, but the defense of New York Kansas City collapsed once more inside nine minutes of kickoff when the ever-fragile Matt Besler gave up a penalty. Bradley Wright-Phillips scored from the spot as the question of whether Besler should have been sent off was being discussed.

By the end of the half, it looked as if Besler’s mistake would be an outlier, even though Lloyd Sam and Thierry Henry nearly doubled the lead in the first half-hour. Come intermission, Sporting were on the front foot, with only a few moments of inspired desperation allowing New York to preserve their lead into halftime.

Shortly after the break, while Sporting sought to consolidate momentum, Henry offered another reason for regret. With retirement assumed to be on the horizon, the Arsenal icon seems intent on forging a new series of highlights – perhaps his final farewells. In the 52nd minute, the 37-year-old offered another reason for fans to lament that impending departure.

Sporting responded quickly, Dom Dwyer converting from close range two minutes later, but the imposing play that oppressed New York just before halftime never returned. Though Saturday’s game was an improvement, that improvement wasn’t enough to prevent a 2-1 loss, giving Kansas City their first four-game losing streak since 2011.

That was the last year in which Sporting failed to make the postseason, and while a repeat of that failure is beyond reason, 11 conceded in four games demands an explanation. Yet when we look at Sporting’s squad, the causality is not hard to find. Jimmy Neilsen has been missed in goal, right-back Chance Myers has been lost to injury, and holder Oriol Rosell was sold to Sporting Lisbon. Add in downturns from Besler, Aurélien Collin, and left-back Seth Sinovic, and Sporting’s entire back six has diminished from 2013.

Besler and Collin are Best XI talents. Peter Vermes should expect them to return to form. Elsewhere, though, Sporting’s changed. Perhaps we should have adjusted our expectations long ago.

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