CARSON, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Galaxy are in an enviable position. Their two star players, David Beckham and Landon Donovan, are as hot as anyone in MLS right now. The duo has nabbed four consecutive MLS Player of the Week awards, combining for 11 goals and seven assists on the season.
When one of the two has been shut down -- as Donovan was last weekend at Real Salt Lake, a week after scoring a hat trick and setting up a fourth against Chivas USA -- the other has stepped up, as Beckham did with his two goals against RSL.
"It shows you his quality," said Galaxy head coach Ruud Gullit about Beckham's first goal over the weekend. "Before it was Landon, now it's David. It's not only what they do with the ball, it's what they do without the ball that's helping the team."
The Galaxy currently are in a situation where they feel as though they can keep up with anyone on the scoreboard, and rightly so. They have the best offensive numbers in the league and haven't been kept off the scoreboard since their season-opening debacle in Colorado.
"I feel like we have the ability to [outscore anybody]. Every game is different," said Mike Randolph. "Sometimes things don't go your way, or you have a bad game. But I think we really do have the ability to put some high scoring games on the table like the Chivas game. I think we have the ability to do some amazing things."
Still, if Los Angeles isn't careful, they might become too reliant on Beckham and Donovan. Only one other player has scored this season for Los Angeles (Alan Gordon, with both goals coming against Chivas), and the pair has also been credited with more than half of the team's assists. While the early season results have been favorable, the rest of the squad knows that they are going to have to step it up.
"It's great to have those guys, but we can't rely on them to bail us out game in and game out," said Greg Vanney. "That goes back to the defensive effort. If we play solid defensively and let those guys do their thing, we're going to get points. When we get down 2-0 (like we did in Salt Lake), and we have to rely on those guys to get us back into games, then that's a dangerous way to play."
The good news is that offseason acquisition Carlos Ruiz is nearing full strength, and should return to the field soon. Gordon has also been making more and more of a contribution as the season progresses.
LA will need plenty more of that production though, as Donovan, Beckham, and even Ruiz are likely to miss several games while on international duty.
"What we should be doing is taking a little pressure off of Landon and David, and try to get some other people into the mix," said Randolph, who has gotten more into the attack since being moved into the left of midfield. "We don't want to be the team that only has two players and when their shut down we're kind of hopeless."
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