If you hadn’t noticed, people are talking about the LA Galaxy coming to town. I hear it everywhere I go – the barbershop, the town recreation center, when I’m out to dinner – David Beckham is coming to Foxborough.

And that’s true. He’s here. And it’s great that there’s a buzz, after everyone had written off the Beckham Experiment as a failure it seems that was not the case. There should be a good crowd at Gillette Stadium for the third straight season he’s been here with Galaxy.

Now, I’m not sure exactly why that is. Certainly, he’s still a player with quality that’s worth paying to see. And there’s certainly been buzz generated from Grant Wahl’s book, The Beckham Experiment and from the fallout it generated within the Galaxy and in the media.

Some of Beckham’s histrionics with fans in LA and Kansas City that got him onto SportsCenter,  (let’s seriously hope nothing like that takes place on Saturday at Gillette Stadium) put Becks back on some fans’ radars.

And then there was that amazing Beckham free kick against Barcelona last Saturday night that got him onto the highlight reels around the world.

So, Beckham is still a big-time star – for both the right and the wrong reasons – and it’s thus only fitting that everyone I’ve met for the past few years is contacting me this week looking for tickets.

But the Galaxy is about more than just David Beckham. Coach Bruce Arena has really turned things around in LA, and the Galaxy come in a five-game unbeaten streak. Much more structured and disciplined, Arena has things set up so that Beckham no longer has to chase the ball box-to-box trying to make things happen.

eanwhile, Landon Donovan can play in a free role, in which he can float to find those soft spots that he can attack so adeptly with his good first touch and explosive speed on the ball.

And, you can make a strong case that Donovan is LA’s best player right now, not Beckham. But, as Peter Hirdt aptly points out (with number to back up his arguments), while the Galaxy actually have a worse record with Beckham than without him, Donovan is a lethal weapon with Becks’ service at his disposal.

Los Angeles’s left side is strong, too, with Eddie Lewis and Todd Dunivant both capable of whipping in good crosses from the flank. Their back line, however, remains somewhat suspect in my mind. Greg Berhalter and rookie Omar Gonzalez can both be beaten for speed and A.J. Delagarza, while he’s having an impressive first season in the league, is still naïve at times.

The Revs’ Kenny Mansally had a good game the last time these teams played – the 1-0 Galaxy win (in which the only goal of the game was well offside, replays clearly showed) – really coming out of his shell and getting after Delagarza. He’ll need to do that again for the Revs to have success on Saturday evening. I’m also looking for Jeff Larentowicz to have another monster game in the middle of the field.

But again, and I write this pretty much every week, it comes down to the big names. If Shalrie Joseph, Edgaras Jankauskas and Steve Ralston are fit and on their games, the Revs can beat any team in MLS.

The Revs’ back line has got to minimize the dangerous back passes and giveaways and not allow the danger men, Donovan, Beckham, and Alecko Eskandarian, to pick the ball up with time and space in spots where they can do damage. And that includes set pieces, where you-know-who… but that goes without saying, yeah?

As with most of these games – including the last LA-New England matchup – it comes down to a moment or two. One bad turnover or foul in the wrong spot on the field changes the game. Paul Mariner – coaching for the suspended Steve Nicol – will surely have his charges on watch. If they don’t keep the concentration up for 90 minutes, Becks and Co. could give the Revs a buzz.