Woes continue.

The LA Galaxy lost again today in an MLS Cup rematch against the Houston Dynamo, their only meeting this season due to a lopsided schedule. The Galaxy struck early through Edson Buddle but were completely outplayed from there on out and ended up losing two to one. The second half was by far the most embarrassing part of this torrid run the Galaxy have been on, Houston were never under any trouble and controlled the game against a tired, and emotionally drained Galaxy team.

• Bruce Arena surprisingly gave rookie Kenney Walker a start today when Marcelo Sarvas was expected to start with Juninho out. Walker was solid and rarely made a mistake, moving the ball well and not over complicating things. He was, however, replaced by the more offensive minded Michael Stephens at half time. This ended up being the wrong decision as Stephens wasn't nearly as disciplined as Walker and this helped Houston control the game even more in the second half.
• Mike Magee scored an own goal that got Houston back into the game and will now probably miss some amount of time after acting out late on and throwing the ball away. One game is a  safe bet as he didn't throw it at someone, just acted out of frustration. A frustrating afternoon for the player all around.
• Bryan Jordan has no business starting for such a stacked Galaxy team, he wasn't proactive and made Jimenez's performance on Wednesday look that much better. To top it off he left his post on the Houston corner that resulted in the goal to prevent a short pass. Normally its a smart move but Beckham was already there covering it and the domino effect meant Stephens moved over to guard the near post leaving the back post open for Hainault to score. Obviously you can't be sure it would have been cleared off the line if Stephens was there but Jordan didn't need to be where he was.
• Buddle and Barrett continue to struggle despite the goal and assist. Buddle killed every LA attack and over complicated things throughout. Barrett is a serviceable striker and one I wouldn't mind keeping around but he doesn't have the pedigree or skill set for the salary hes making (more on that in another blog).
• Bryan Gaul was solid again early but was exposed later in the game as inexperience and tired legs got the best of him. He should have seen red for a last man tackle about halfway through the second half. David Junior Lopes was introduced late on to prevent Gaul from seeing red and will probably start the next game to protect the rookie.

Bruce Arena's future as coach has to be under serious scrutiny now as the Galaxy are on their worst run ever under the coach who turned this franchises fortunes around. Seven games without a win, tied for the worst goals against, third worst goal difference, and more losses than every other team bar Toronto. His pedigree and success with the club will probably buy him a bit more time but if the window opens and the Galaxy are still at the foot of the table expect wholesale changes, this team is too good to crash and burn so badly.