Schmid Making Sure Galaxy Won’t Burn Out
The MLS Western Conference championship remains an open competition, but as the Galaxy enters the final week of the regular season, Coach Sigi Schmid has begun to focus on the big picture.
With or without the home-field advantage that comes with winning the conference title, the Galaxy is assured a berth in the playoffs. And with sights set on advancing deep into those playoffs, Schmid has started to plan ahead, resting some players as he did in Wednesday’s 4-0 victory over Colorado and working others into the lineup.
“We are a team that can go 15, 16 players deep,” Schmid says. “There was a time when we were hesitant to do that. But I think for us to win the title, we need to keep fresh legs out there.”
Two players inserted into the starting lineup by Schmid--defender Steve Jolley and midfielder Clint Mathis--contributed to the rout of the Rapids. Jolley scored the game’s first goal in the fifth minute, heading in a corner kick from Greg Vanney, and Mathis set up the Galaxy’s third goal with a long, precise feed to Ezra Hendrickson, who crossed to Cobi Jones in the box for the goal.
“One of the decisions I came to after the game with D.C. [a moribund 2-0 loss last Saturday] was that . . . maybe guys were getting a little bit too comfortable about [always] being in the lineup,” Schmid says. “And, we also felt like we needed to get fresh legs in there.”
Schmid used the maximum 14 players against the Rapids, a rotation he figures to repeat today against the Dallas Burn in a game starting at 10 a.m. PDT in Dallas. The Galaxy enters the match in first place in the Western Conference, three points ahead of Colorado and six ahead of third-place Dallas.
Wednesday, the Galaxy had opened a four-point lead over Colorado with its pounding of the Rapids at the Rose Bowl. Colorado defeated San Jose, in a shootout, 1-0, Friday night, sending the Galaxy and the Rapids into their final two games separated by three points, 51-48.
The remaining schedule for both teams slightly favors the Galaxy. The Galaxy plays its last two games on the road--at Dallas today and at Kansas City Saturday--but is 8-2 in its last 10 games against the Burn. Kansas City, at 8-22, is buried in last place in the West and has the second-worst record in MLS.
Colorado closes at home against the league’s defending champion, Chicago, on Wednesday before traveling to Miami to face the Eastern Conference’s fourth-place team Saturday.
