LA Galaxy's US Open Cup campaign derailed in Carolina

The LA Galaxy did something this year they hadn't done since 2011, win their first US Open Cup match of the tournament, but they came short of hosting their first US Open Cup match since 2010 losing at the Carolina Railhawks 1-0 in added extra time.  Daniel Jackson scored in the 105' for the Railhawks, who were able to withstand the Galaxy's pressure in regular time.

The Galaxy are 25-14-1 all-time in US Open Cup play, having entered the tournament every year since 1999. They've only lost to non-MLS competition five times, with three of those coming in the past three years each time at the hands of the Carolina Railhawks.

Certainly a loss to non-league competition with Robbie Keane in the starting lineup and Landon Donovan available off the bench isn't inspiring, but of greater concern should be that it's June 24th and this team has no real identity. Robbie Rogers the left back is suddenly the best distributor. Kenney Walker is now a semi-regular at DM, and Zardes is a forward again.

Bruce Arena likes to tell the media that we focus too much on formation, but even focusing solely on roles it does seem that players don't really know week-to-week what role they're expected to play. Certainly the injuries haven't helped, nor the international duty, but that's not an excuse. Why wasn't Landon Donovan fit to start tonight?

This isn't about club depth anymore. It's a long season and we're only halfway through, but there's still some holes to be filled at the transfer window. That's not to mention the mysterious injuries that have plagued LA all year. Hopefully we'll start getting some answers to our questions sooner than later.