Depleted Galaxy Is Vulnerable
The Dallas Burn returns to the Rose Bowl this afternoon knowing three things:
* It is 3-5 overall against the Galaxy in two Major League Soccer seasons.
* It is 1-3 against the Galaxy this season.
* It has lost the last three times the teams have met.
But none of that matters. This is a playoff game, the first in a best-of-three series, and the Burn knows it is catching the Galaxy at a time when Los Angeles is not at full strength.
Without starting goalkeeper Jorge Campos and playmaker Mauricio Cienfuegos, who are on World Cup duty, and, in all likelihood, without injured defender Robin Fraser, the Galaxy is hurting.
But not complaining.
“We’ve beaten them the last three, but obviously that’s a little dangerous,” defender Dan Calichman said. “It’s tough to keep beating the same team. They’re going to make adjustments.
“We’re without Campos and Cienfuegos, and Robin is day-to-day, so we’re going to make do. I don’t think we’re as good a team without those key players, but we’re still a good team. So, with home-field advantage, hopefully we’ll be able to win.”
The absence of Cienfuegos will be most keenly felt.
“Mauricio’s a big part of the team,” Calichman said. “We play through him offensively. Without him, the other guys have to step up. That’s not to say we can’t do it. We have done it. But having him on the field is a lot better than not having him on the field.”
Defender Greg Vanney is more concerned about Fraser’s probable absence.
“Robin will definitely be missed,” he said.
“We played Dallas earlier in the year missing Cienfuegos and we did all right against them. It was there [at the Cotton Bowl] and we won, 3-0, I think. It’s a different situation. The playoffs mean a lot more, obviously, than the regular season, and they [the Burn] should come out with really nothing to lose.
“So it’s going to be tough. We’re going to have to probably try to play a different style a little bit, without Cien, and maybe play a little more defensively and try to counterattack with the speed on the outside and up front, instead of trying to keep possession and keep the ball in their half, as we do with Cien. We’re a much better possession team with him than without him.”
Vanney, a former UCLA player, will have another former Bruin, Paul Caligiuri, beside him on defense, and another behind him, with Kevin Hartman taking Campos’ place in the nets.
“Kevin’s doing good,” Vanney said. “I think it’s important for him that when he has to make that first save, he does it. And then he gets settled into the game and starts to get into a little bit of a rhythm. Every time he’s come in during the year, he’s done a great job.”
Chances are, Ezra Hendrickson will take Fraser’s place in the back line, with Chris Armas and Martin Machon responsible for the ball-distribution duties normally carried out by Cienfuegos.
Dallas has the top American-born scorer in the league in 1992 Olympian Dante Washington (12 goals and six assists), and it is his speed and explosiveness that will most test the Galaxy defense.
Interim Coach Octavio Zambrano has been trying to get the players to focus on who is here, not who isn’t.
“We really have made a conscious effort to not talk about that issue because it has been an issue throughout the year and there’s nothing we can do about it,” he said. “We just have to go out there and win the game.
“That’s really what the theme of what we’re doing is: not to talk about what we don’t have, but what we do have.”
What the Galaxy does have is firepower in wingers Harut Karapetyan (eight goals, four assists) and Cobi Jones (seven and eight); and forwards Welton (a team-high 11 goals and four assists) and Eduardo Hurtado (eight and three). A dozen Galaxy players have scored this season, so there is no reason for Dallas goalkeeper Mark Dodd to feel overly confident.
“I think that this team has become versatile enough to be able to compensate [when players are sidelined by injury or international duty],” Zambrano said. “Martin Machon and [Chris] Armas seem to interchange in getting the ball up the field [when Cienfuegos is absent].
“It certainly changes things, but I don’t think [it does so] a great deal.”
Hurtado, whose season has been an up-and-down affair with little consistency and many miscues, is due for a big game.
“He’s certainly due and we hope that this is the time when he’s going to explode because we need this first victory,” Zambrano said. “I think it’s very important for us.”
After today, the series switches to the Cotton Bowl on Wednesday night for Game 2. Cienfuegos will be back and, if Mexico defeats El Salvador today in Mexico City as expected and thereby puts itself on the verge of qualifying for the France ’98 World Cup, the Mexicans’ coach, Bora Milutinovic, has indicated he might free Campos to return to the Galaxy for the rest of the MLS playoffs rather than calling him up for next Sunday’s match against Canada.
Of course, if El Salvador somehow wins, Cienfuegos will be on such a high at the prospect of going to France that he might want to take on Dallas all on his own.
MLS Playoffs
* Who: Galaxy vs. Dallas Burn.
* Where: Rose Bowl, Pasadena.
* When: 5 p.m.
* Radio: KTNQ (1020).
* At stake: First game of a best-of-three series.
