The Galaxy leave the fourth of July weekend riding high on a two win streak.  And they deserve the up swell of emotion that is surely propelling them these days.  Their two most recent victories being against Western leaders Houston and deceptively low seated New England, you’ll have to forgive LA the swagger in their step.

The Galaxy have their defense to thank for their recent run of form.  Having put together 180 minutes of shut out defense over the last two games and allowing one or fewer goals in 13 of their 18 games this season (including Open Cup Play).  One must admit that this is a much improved defensive side over last season.

What makes this more impressive over the short term is the recent absence of Sean Franklin, last years Rookie of the Year.  The Cal State Northridge man saw the center back spot he became such a fixture in filled by the towering duo of Omar Gonzales and Greg Berhalter.  These changes prompted what seemed to be the obvious move for Franklin to his natural right back position.  What LA didn’t count on however was the apparent uneasiness that seemed to accompany Franklin onto the right flank.  While punctured with moments of optimism, in the form of penetrating runs, too often opposing teams counter attacks seemed to stem from his dispossession.

Combine this with his unfortunate hamstring tear suffered against Columbus in May and you can see how the stage was set for the emergence of AJ DeLaGarza.  After an auspicious start that saw him needing to learn on the fly, DeLaGarza has settled in nicely over the last two games, having to match up against the speed demons of Corey Ashe and Sainey Nyassi.

AJ’s quick rise up the depth chart begs the question, if he can continue this surge, what happens to Sean Franklin?

It’s an odd tale of dueling fates.  A collegiate centerback converted to an MLS right fullback versus a collegiate right fullback converted to an MLS centerback.  Once Franklin returns from injury can this roster support two starting right back options?

Will it be better to use Franklin as trade bait?  He obviously has the higher MLS profile of the two and if AJ can do the same job at a better price, does it not also stand to reason that Franklin would be the easy candidate for an off season move?  An off season that is sure to be tumultuous with the possible departures of both Landon Donovan and David Beckham and one that sees both Chris Klein and Eddie Lewis get another year older.  Franklin could be dangled out to one of the many teams looking for defensive depth.

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On the lighter side I wanted to take a moment to play a little celebrity look a like:

Freddy Adu vs. Vitolio from So You Think You Can Dance:

Don’t believe me just from my dirty Photoshop skills?  Check this video out here and tell me you still don’t agree.

And is it just me or does Michael Parkhurst have a viable claim to the elusive fourth Jonas Brother slot?

As always you can follow Jrodius’ non-soccer blogs at GoingGuerilla.com or on Twitter.

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