Putting in the Work

After a day off on Wednesday, the Galaxy were back in training on Thursday. With just two days of preparation available ahead of Saturday's game against the Wizards, the team open things up a bit by closing the session with 30 minutes of full field, full squad play.

With nearly the full squad available for the game (only Beckham, Berhalter and Brian Perk did not take part) and the team coming off a loss last weekend, the intensity level was ratcheted up a few notches with a handful of players trying to catch the eye of the coaches and get into the first team this weekend.

As such, a number of team changes were made at the midway point of the game, giving Bruce and the res of the staff a chance to observe an judge a number of different options for Saturday's game.
Following the game, about half the squad made their way to one end of the training field where they worked on finishing, bringing back a game that was popular with the guys at the end of last season.

The 10 players, split into teams of two had to score a total of four goals to win, with each teammate having to serve the ball in from the wing, once from the right with their right foot and then again from the left with their left.

In the end, it was the midfield duo of Birchall and Dema that came out on top, edging out Landon and Mike Magee as well as Tristan and Edson.

While he has never scored as a member of the Galaxy, it is not unusual for Dema, one of the most competitive guys in the squad, to win these types of games at training. To learn more about Dema and his competitive nature, be sure to set your DVRs for Galaxy Live, which airs at 7 p.m. on Saturday night on Prime Ticket, immediately before the Galaxy-Wizards game.