The 2011 Los Angeles Galaxy season was the club's 17th year of existence as well as their 16th season in Major League Soccer and their 16th consecutive year in the top-flight of American soccer. The Galaxy entered the season as the defending MLS Supporters' Shield titleholders.
Most notably, the Galaxy became the third straight team to win consecutive Supporters' Shields, after D.C. United (2006–07) and Columbus Crew (2008–09). The Galaxy clinched their fourth Shield on October 8, after Seattle Sounders FC lost 0–2 at home to Philadelphia Union. They also won their third MLS Cup, defeating Houston Dynamo 1–0 in the final.
Outside of league play, the Galaxy participated in the CONCACAF Champions League and the U.S. Open Cup, reaching the Quarterfinals in both competitions. Along with these competitive tournaments, the Galaxy played in the friendly-match World Football Challenge, losing to Real Madrid and drawing to Manchester City.
Their record in all competitions (yet excluding their Asia-Pacific tour) was 28–9–11, earning 95/144 points from 48 matches.
Season summary
Preseason
The Galaxy had a busy month in January, mostly with transfers. On January 10, club striker, and Golden Boot-finalist, Edson Buddle left the Galaxy to sign with second division German club, Ingolstadt 04 through the end of the 2012–13 2. Bundesliga season.
On January 9, 2010, rumors about David Beckham potentially ending his three-and-a-half-year MLS career by signing with Tottenham Hotspur or going on loan with the Premier League club ended. The Galaxy announced that Beckham would be training with Tottenham for two weeks, before joining Los Angeles for the start of pre-season training. The news made it the first time since 2008 that Beckham did not go on an off-season loan to Europe.
Regular season
March
The Galaxy opened the MLS regular season with a 0–1 victory over the Sounders at Qwest Field in rainy Seattle on March 15. Second-year midfielder Juninho had the lone goal of the match. Although they were back home at the Home Depot Center for the second match of the season on March 20, the Galaxy once again played in the rain. A rare Southern California rainstorm made for difficult conditions in the 1–1 draw with the New England Revolution. Juninho scored the equalizer for the Galaxy, his second goal of the season – which already matched his goal total from his debut 2010 season. The toughest test of the early season came on March 26 – and the Galaxy failed. Traveling to Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah without captain Landon Donovan (who was away on international duty with the USA national team), the Galaxy lost 4–1 to Real Salt Lake. To be fair, Rio Tinto is a difficult venue for any visiting club, as Real hasn't lost at home in nearly two years. The only consolation was seeing Juan Pablo Ángel open his Galaxy goal account in his first start for his new club. Ángel had been suffering from a virus and didn't start the first two matches (though he did come on as a substitute in the second half against the Revolution).
April
The Galaxy rebounded from the loss to Real Salt Lake with a 1–0 victory over the Philadelphia Union at the Home Depot Center on April 2. Donovan Ricketts and Omar Gonzalez saw their first action of the season after recovering from minor injuries. Leonardo headed in a David Beckham free kick in the 33rd minute for the game's only goal. It was the defender's first goal in a Galaxy shirt. A 53rd minute red card for Chris Birchall meant that the Galaxy had to spend the majority of the second half protecting their narrow lead a man down.
Next up was a 3-games-in-8-days cross-country road trip. To complicate matters, the Galaxy would be without captain Landon Donovan, who did not travel with the club while he nursed a knee injury. The first match of the trip came at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., on April 9. Mike Magee nodded in a Beckham corner to give the Galaxy the early lead. But Charlie Davies drew a dubious penalty and converted from the spot himself in the 90th minute to save the draw for D.C. United. The squad traveled to Toronto to take on Toronto FC 4 days later. The fans at BMO Field saw a largely unentertaining affair resulting in a scoreless draw. Most notable from a Galaxy perspective was the sending off of Juninho in stoppage time of the 2nd half. Also, Beckham received his 5th yellow card of the season in the 44th minute. These two events meant that the Galaxy would be without 3/4ths of their preferred midfield (Donovan, Beckham, and Juninho) when they finished their trip on April 17 in Bridgeview, Illinois against the Chicago Fire. Yet it was no problem as the Galaxy won 1–2 behind goals from Chad Barrett and Gonzalez with Miguel López providing the assists on both goals. Although there was one concerning casualty on the Toyota Park field – Leonardo picked up a right knee injury late in the match. It was revealed a couple days later that he tore the ACL and LCL in the knee, and he is expected to miss the remainder of the season. Heading home to LA, the Galaxy had picked up a very respectable 5 points on their travels.
Squad
Roster
Squad information
No. Nat. Player Birthday At LAG since Previous club MLS appearances MLS goals Goalkeepers 1 Donovan Ricketts2009 Village United 59 0 12 Josh Saunders2009 Miami FC 12 024Brian Perk2010 Philadelphia Union 1 0 Defenders2Todd Dunivant2009 Toronto FC 59 23Gregg Berhalter2009 1860 Munich 41 04Omar Gonzalez2009 Maryland Terrapins 62 45Sean Franklin2008 San Fernando Valley Quakes 72 06Frankie Hejduk2011 Columbus Crew 1 020A. J. DeLaGarza2009 Maryland Terrapins 44 222Leonardo2010on loan from São Paulo 17 128Ryan Thomas2011 Stanford Cardinal 0 055Joshua Kelly2011 University of California, Riverside 0 029Dasan Robinson2011 Toronto FC 85 3 Midfielders7Jovan Kirovski2008 San Jose Earthquakes 46 68Chris Birchall2009 Brighton & Hove Albion38015Dan Keat2011 Team Wellington0016Héctor Jiménez2011 California Golden Bears0019Juninho2010on loan from São Paulo31421Dustin McCarty2011 North Carolina Tar Heels0023David Beckham2007 Real Madrid631125Miguel López2011on loan from Quilmes5026Michael Stephens2010 Chicago Fire Premier25130Paolo Cardozo2011 Quilmes50 Strikers10Landon Donovan2005 Bayer Leverkusen1487111Chad Barrett2011 Toronto FC7114Robbie Keane2011 Tottenham Hotspur0017Adam Cristman2011 D.C. United0018Mike Magee2009 New York Red Bulls44427Bryan Jordan2008 Portland Timbers37232Jack McBean2011 IMG Soccer Academy00
Transfers
In DatePlayerPositionPrevious clubFee/notesRef December 15, 2010 Juan Pablo Ángel FW New York Red Bulls Re-Entry Draft December 15, 2010 Luke Sassano MF New York Red Bulls Re-Entry Draft, subsequently traded December 15, 2010 Frankie Hejduk DF Sporting Kansas City Acquired in exchange for Luke Sassano January 11, 2011 Adam Cristman FW D.C. United Acquired in exchange for a Supplemental Draft pick January 13, 2011 Chad Barrett FW Toronto F.C. Acquired in exchange for undisclosed future considerations February 14, 2011 Paolo Cardozo MF Quilmes SuperDraft, 1st round February 14, 2011 Héctor Jiménez MF University of California, Berkeley SuperDraft, 2nd round February 14, 2011 Dan Keat MF Dartmouth College Supplemental Draft, 1st round February 14, 2011 Ryan Thomas DF Stanford University Supplemental Draft, 1st round February 14, 2011 Dustin McCarty MF University of North Carolina Supplemental Draft, 2nd round March 16, 2011 Sean Alvarado DF Unattached Free May 11, 2011 Kyle Davies DF Unattached Free August 15, 2011 Robbie Keane FW Tottenham Hotspur Undisclosed, believed to be roughly $4M transfer fee September 15, 2011 Dasan Robinson DF Toronto FC Acquired for Kyle Davies
Out DatePlayerPositionDestination clubFee/notesRef November 15, 2010 Eddie Lewis MF None Retired November 15, 2010 Chris Klein MF None Retired December 3, 2010 Dema Kovalenko MF None Option declined, retired December 15, 2010 Tristan Bowen FW Chivas USA Traded for allocation money December 15, 2010 Luke Sassano MF Sporting Kansas City Traded for Frankie Hejduk January 1, 2011 Alex Cazumba MF São Paulo Loan expired, option declined January 10, 2011 Edson Buddle FW Ingolstadt 04 Undisclosed January 26, 2011 Yohance Marshall DF Vermont Voltage Option declined, free transfer August 17, 2011 Juan Pablo Ángel FW Chivas USA Traded for a 2012 Supplemental Draft, 3rd round pick September 15, 2011 Kyle Davies DF Toronto FC Traded for Dasan Robinson
Loans
In DatePlayerPositionPrevious clubFee/notesRef December 23, 2009 Leonardo DF São Paulo Loan December 23, 2009 Juninho MF São Paulo Loan January 28, 2011 Miguel López MF Quilmes One year loan, terms undisclosed
Out
Competitions
Pre-season
Major League Soccer
Overall table
Western Conference table
Results summary
Results by round
Match results
MLS Cup Playoffs
Conference semifinals
Conference finals
Championship
CONCACAF Champions League
The Los Angeles Galaxy qualified directly into Group stage play by winning the Supporters' Shield. The Galaxy played in Group A with Alajuelense of Costa Rica, Morelia of Mexico, and Motagua of Honduras.
Group A Table
Group Stage Matches
U.S. Open Cup
World Football Challenge
Asia Pacific Tour 2011
Statistics
All statistics are for competitive matches only.
Appearances and goals
Goalkeeper stats
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align: center;" |- | rowspan="2" style="width:1%; text-align:center;"|No. | rowspan="2" style="width:1%; text-align:center;"|Nat. | rowspan="2" style="width:30%; text-align:center;"|Player | colspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|Total | colspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|MLS | colspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|Champions League | colspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|Open Cup |- |MIN |GA |GAA |MIN |GA |GAA |MIN |GA |GAA |MIN |GA |GAA |- | style="text-align: right;" |1 | | style="text-align: left;" |Donovan Ricketts |1014 |6 |0.53 |1014 |6 |0.53 |0 |0 |0.00 |0 |0 |0.00 |- | style="text-align: right;" |12 | | style="text-align: left;" |Josh Saunders |1459 |17 |1.05 |1189 |14 |1.06 |180 |0 |0.00 |90 |3 |3.00 |- | style="text-align: right;" |18 | | style="text-align: left;" |Mike Magee |47 |0 |0.00 |47 |0 |0.00 |0 |0 |0.00 |0 |0 |0.00 |- | style="text-align: right;" |24 | | style="text-align: left;" |Brian Perk |180 |1 |0.50 |90 |0 |0.00 |0 |0 |0.00 |90 |1 |1.00
| TOTALS |2700 |24 |0.80 |2340 |20 |0.77 |180 |0 |0.00 |180 |4 |2.00
Starting XI MLS regular season matches only.
Top scorers
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align: center;" |- !width=60|Rank !width=60|Nation !width=60|Number !width=150|Name !width=80|Total !width=80|MLS !width=80|Champions League !width=80|Open Cup |- |1 | |10 |Landon Donovan |13 |12 |1 |0 |- |2 | |11 |Chad Barrett |5 |4 |1 |0 |- |3 | |5 |Sean Franklin |4 |4 |0 |0 |- |3 | |4 |Omar Gonzalez |4 |2 |1 |1 |- |3 | |19 |Juninho |4 |4 |0 |0 |- |3 | |18 |Mike Magee |4 |3 |0 |1 |- |3 | |9 |Juan Pablo Ángel |4 |4 |0 |0 |- |8 | |17 |Adam Cristman |3 |1 |1 |1 |- |9 | |23 |David Beckham |2 |2 |0 |0 |- |10 | |8 |Chris Birchall |1 |1 |0 |0 |- |10 | |14 |Robbie Keane |1 |1 |0 |0 |- |10 | |22 |Leonardo |1 |1 |0 |0 |- |10 | |25 |Miguel López |1 |1 |0 |0
Top assists
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align: center;" |- !width=60|Rank !width=60|Nation !width=60|Number !width=150|Name !width=80|Total !width=80|MLS !width=80|Champions League !width=80|Open Cup |- |1 | |23 |David Beckham |14 |12 |2 |0 |- |2 | |11 |Chad Barrett |3 |3 |0 |0 |- |2 | |10 |Landon Donovan |3 |3 |0 |0 |- |2 | |5 |Sean Franklin |3 |2 |1 |0 |- |2 | |25 |Miguel López |3 |2 |0 |0 |- |6 | |2 |Todd Dunivant |2 |2 |0 |0 |- |6 | |19 |Juninho |2 |1 |0 |1 |- |8 | |9 |Juan Pablo Ángel |1 |1 |0 |0 |- |8 | |3 |Gregg Berhalter |1 |1 |0 |0 |- |8 | |8 |Chris Birchall |1 |0 |0 |1 |- |8 | |20 |A. J. DeLaGarza |1 |0 |1 |0 |- |8 | |4 |Omar Gonzalez |1 |0 |0 |1
Disciplinary record
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align: center;" |-