Galaxy jumping to Time Warner Cable in $55-million deal

The Galaxy has reached a broadcast agreement to jump from Fox Sports West to Time Warner Cable’s fledgling regional sports channels –- one in English, one in Spanish.

 The 10-year deal is valued at $55 million for an undetermined number of the games. The Galaxy said it will lose money this season despite advancing to Sunday’s Major League Soccer championship game with the league’s best record.

The value of the regional contract dwarfs the three-year, $30-million contract between MLS and NBC.

An official announcement of the deal was scheduled for Friday outside team owner AEG's offices at L.A. Live.

Although the Galaxy has been the league’s marquee franchise since signing David Beckham before the 2007 season, it has not been a ratings winner for FSW, never drawing more than 16,000 homes -– a .28 rating. In the last few years, ratings have dropping as low as .11%.

Landon Donovan joins U.S. team that has games during MLS playoffs

The Galaxy's push for the Major League Soccer Cup might have hit a small bump in the road Thursday when U.S. national team Coach Jurgen Klinsmann named Landon Donovan to his 22-man team for a pair of friendlies in Europe beginning next week.

For Donovan, who is coming off a leg injury, that will make for a challenging schedule beginning with Thursday night's playoff match with the New York Red Bulls at the Home Depot Center. If the Galaxy win the two-leg playoff series with New York -- and since they lead 1-0 after Sunday's win, to advance the Galaxy must simply avoid losing by two or more goals -- Donovan will play Sunday in the conference final.

[Updated 1:45 p.m.:]

The U.S. team is scheduled to gather in Paris on Monday, ahead of matches with France on Nov. 11 and Slovenia Nov. 15. The MLS Cup final will be played at the Home Depot Center on Nov. 20.
 
Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena was hoping that Klinsmann would avoid calling up players involved in the MLS playoffs -- and he largely did, selecting only Donovan and Real Salt Lake defender Kyle Beckerman on MLS teams that are still playing. And Klinsman said that whichever player's team makes the MLS Cup final will be allowed to leave the national team after the France friendly to return to his MLS team a week before the final.
 
"We have a very positive line of communication with MLS," Klinsman said. "We agreed that whoever will be involved in the final will be released after the game against France, which gives them more than a week to prepare.”

U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION

GOALKEEPERS (2): Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Tim Howard (Everton)

DEFENDERS (7): Carlos Bocanegra (Rangers), Timmy Chandler (Nürnberg), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Alfredo Morales (Hertha Berlin), Michael Orozco Fiscal (San Luis), Oguchi Onyewu (Sporting Lisbon)

MIDFIELDERS (9): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Chievo Verona), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), Brek Shea (FC Dallas), Danny Williams (Hoffenheim)

FORWARDS (4): Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar), DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla), Edson Buddle (Ingolstadt), Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy)

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Photo: Landon Donovan. Credit: Joe Nicholson / US Presswire

Galaxy leaves Donovan home with strained quadriceps

With a win Tuesday over the New York Red Bulls, the Galaxy will clinch home-field advantage throughout the MLS playoffs. But it will have to earn that without captain and leading scorer Landon Donovan, who didn't make the trip after sustaining what team officials are calling a "mild right quad strain" in Saturday's win over Real Salt Lake.

Donovan was the focus of a physical Real Salt Lake defense, which repeatedly knocked him to the turf -- and eventually knocked him out of the game when Donovan had to be helped from the pitch in the final minute of regulation time.

Donovan, who helped set up the game-winning score in the Galaxy's 2-1 win, is tied for the Western Conference lead with 12 goals. Team officials said Monday he was left back in Los Angeles to have his leg treated and evaluated. After Tuesday, the Galaxy don't play again until Oct. 16.

The Galaxy will also be without midfielder Chris Birchall and forward Mike Magee, who also stayed home with injuries, while forward Robbie Keane reported to the Irish national team ahead of its upcoming international fixture.

Tuesday's match was originally scheduled for late August but was postponed by Hurricane Irene. As a result, the Galaxy will be playing its ninth match in 30 days -- a difficult schedule that may have played a role in Donovan's injury.  But it hasn't hurt the Galaxy much on the scoreboard since it hasn't lost an MLS match in more than two months.

With a win Tuesday the Galaxy will clinch the league's best record, winning the Supporter's Shield for the second consecutive season. That will also assure it of home-field advantage throughout the postseason --  a plum reward for the Galaxy, which has yet to lose at the Home Depot Center.

-- Kevin Baxter

Robbie Keane to start for Galaxy against San Jose

Coach Bruce Arena has made good on his word. Irish striker Robbie Keane will start for the Galaxy on Saturday night against the San Jose Earthquakes.

Friday, Arena said the Galaxy's newest player would play "significant minutes" and joked that Keane would prefer to play 100 minutes in a 90-minute game. Keane is two days removed from landing at LAX and has one practice with the team under his belt. But Landon Donovan said Friday that Ireland's all-time leading scorer looked ready to go in training.

The Galaxy tied the Earthquakes, 0-0, in June, but San Jose is in a record slump -- winless in its last six games. The Earthquakes, however, tend to elevate their level of play for each installment of the "California Clasico," and the fanfare surrounding Keane's debut could provide extra incentive for San Jose to knock off the first-place Galaxy.

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Photo: Robbie Keane.  Credit: Jae C. Hong / Associated Press

Irish striker Robbie Keane joins Galaxy

One day after being greeted at the airport by enthusiastic L.A. Galaxy fans, Irish striker Robbie Keane trained with the team for the first time Friday afternoon in front of equal fanfare.

In the biggest splash since the signing of David Beckham, Keane, 31, was introduced at a news conference filled with green, orange and white balloons and a buffet of corned beef and cabbage. With a mix of international media filling the east terrace of the Home Depot Center, the English Premier League’s 10th all-time leading scorer sat alongside Landon Donovan and Beckham -- the team’s other designated players -- and discussed his new home. Keane is expected to add punch to a Galaxy squad that is in first place and is seeking its first Major League Soccer Cup since 2005.

“I certainly had a good feeling about this move,” Keane said. “I had played in the Premiership for quite a long time and I had scored a lot of goals there. … It was an easy decision.”     

Coach Bruce Arena said that the Irish national team captain would play “some extended minutes” in Saturday’s match against rival San Jose. Donovan and Beckham said they are happy to have Keane here, and neither seemed fazed by the mounting pressure to win.

“In my opinion, pressure is perceived,” Donovan said. “Our jobs just got easier since Robbie got here. We want to win championships. I have no reservations about saying that.”  

Added Beckham: “Everyone loves the Irish, so we’re glad to have him here.”

-- Matt Stevens

Galaxy trades Juan Pablo Angel to Chivas USA

 The Galaxy on Wednesday traded Colombian forward Juan Pablo Angel to rival Chivas USA for a third-round pick in the 2012 supplemental MLS draft.

The deal clears a designated player spot on the Galaxy’s roster for Irish international striker Robbie Keane, whom the Galaxy acquired from Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League on Monday. Keane, 31, captain of Ireland’s national team, might play in the Galaxy’s next game Saturday against San Jose.

Angel, 35, was a disappointment this season for the Galaxy, scoring only three goals with one assist in 22 games.

The Galaxy (13-3-9) has the best record in the MLS, while Chivas (7-8-9) is fighting for a playoff spot.

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Photo: Juan Pablo Angel celebrates after scoring a goal for the Galaxy against Toronto FC during an MLS game in June. Credit:  Lori Shepler / Associated Press

Galaxy acquires Irish international striker Robbie Keane

The Galaxy on Monday officially announced that it has acquired Irish international forward Robbie Keane from Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League.

To make room for the 31-year-old Keane, who will join the Galaxy as a designated player after his U.S. work visa is approved, the club will have to shed one of its current three designated players.

The belief is that with David Beckham and Landon Donovan virtually untouchable, it will be Colombian forward Juan Pablo Angel who is traded or released.

Angel, 35, has scored only three goals and assisted on one in 22 games for the Galaxy this season.

Keane, a 14-year professional who has played 108 games for Ireland and scored a record 51 goals for his country, is the 10th-highest goal scorer in Premier League history.

His playing resume includes stints with Wolverhampton Wanderers, Coventry City, Inter Milan, Leeds United, Tottenham, Liverpool, Celtic and West Ham United.

Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena said he needed a proven striker as the club moves toward the MLS playoffs and pursues the CONCACAF Champions League title.

“I have followed his career and have always respected his ability as a competitor and a goal scorer,” Arena said of Keane in a statement released by the Galaxy.

“I believe that he brings qualities in and around the penalty area that we have been lacking.”

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Photo: Robbie Keane. Credit: Georgi Licovski / EPA