Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Getting Ready for Round 3

After being given the day off on Tuesday, the guys had today what Bruce Arena describe at the end of the training session as a "good day, guys-- good day of training."

This week the Galaxy will travel to Colorado, where things don't always go as plan. ll-time the Galaxy are just 7-15-3 in Colorado, with their last win coming on July 13, 2002 when Danny Califf, Ezra Hendrickson and Carlos Ruiz all scored in a 3-1 win over the Rapids. Since that game, the Galaxy have played 11 regular season league games in Colorado, going 0-8-3.

Saturday's game will be the Galaxy's fourth trip to Dick's Sporting Goods Park since it opened at the start of the 2007 MLS season. In the previous three games, the Galaxy have allowed eight goals and failed to score any, while losing all three matches. In 2007, LA suffered 1-0 and 3-0 loss on the road to the Rapids before opening the 2008 MLS season with a 4-0 defeat, a game that ended with Abel Xavier getting sent off in the 89th minute and Carlos Ruiz being badly injured shortly thereafter.

Looking to exorcise past DSG demons, the guys started preparations with a good day of training on Wednesday.

The guys worked on ball control, one-touch finishing near 18 and also played a 6v6 game, which was won in the final stages by a group that included Gregg Berhalter, Todd Dunivant, Landon Donovan, Sean Franklin, Omar González, Alan Gordon, Jovan Kirovski, Chris Klein, Dema Kovalenko, Eddie Lewis, Stefani Miglioranzi and Josh Saunders. The group was down 3-1 before unleashing a three-goal flurry during a span of two minutes.

Being able to come from behind is something this team has proved capable of doing twice already this season.

This week's opponent is no stranger. Saturday's game in Colorado is the third and final game on the schedule between the Galaxy and Rapids this season. Last year, the Galaxy did not finish their first season series with an opponent until May 31, when they played their second and final game of the year against Toronto FC.

Edson Buddle went through the entire training session and Leo Griffin took another step forward in his rehabilitation by participating in the 6v6 games. Griffin, who took part in some drills last week, will continue to work on his match fitness this week.

University of Maryland Head Coach Sacho Cirovski stopped by to watch the Galaxy's training session, as well as check-in on two of his former players. Proving that soccer is a tight-knit community, a lot of the guys went out of their way to say hello and congratulate Cirvoski on winning the 2008 NCAA Championship.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wouldn't it be smart to travel a few days before so the players get acclimated to the altitude?

charlesj27 said...

Appreciate the training updates. Please keep them coming. Our LA galaxy players have some definite payback that's due to them. I hope all of the players realize how very important it is to play better and better - to show strength, unity, better flow & coordination. But, most importantly, to stop giving up goals in the first half. Somehow, the guys need to understand how to play by starting strong, with tempo and aboslute alertness. Again - keep the ball in posession, keep it on the floor and in motion. Hope that the guys are getting more connected with the final passes and set-ups.
Congrats again to Sasho Cirovski on getting the NCAA-Division-1 Title along with his team/players.
The team needs to understand that they have to get much more better, together - more connected, more fluid, and better ball-control/posession throughout different areas of the pitch.

Anonymous said...

more better lol

Anonymous said...

Please dear God, no Alan Gordon. Bryan Jordan is obviously the better striker between the two. Gordon is good for nothing... it's amazing he's stayed on the team for so long despite contributing very little.

Anonymous said...

I don't think getting their early to get used to the alitude will help. Either way, we're gonna give up a cheap goal in the beginning and as usual have to chase the game the rest of the way like the no defensive talent team we unfortunately are at the moment. Hopefully Buddle can contribute and Donovan can explode from his non scoring funk. Sorry for the gloom, but this team has yet to prove to me otherwise. Does anyone feel like the craps gonna hit the fan even further once BrandTraitor (whoops, I meant BrandBeckham) arrives. Gosh it sucks watching such a once proud team fall so low. I pray they win this one and start to take a step in the right direction.

Anonymous said...

they'll lose again, I have lost confidence in Galaxy after watching them the last 3 years and seeing them lose over and over again. So I'm sure they'll lose.

Anonymous said...

No quality in the middle, no win.