Galaxy Hopes It Has Answers
The questions surrounding the Galaxy’s match this afternoon against the New York/New Jersey MetroStars at Giants Stadium are enough to keep Major League Soccer fans busy for hours. Or at least 90 minutes.
* Can the Galaxy remain unbeaten?
* Will MetroStar Coach Octavio Zambrano, fired by Los Angeles after a 2-3 start last season, gain a measure of revenge or will he fall to 2-5 this year and put himself in new danger?
* How will former Galaxy defender Steve Jolley, acquired last week, perform against his old team?
* Speaking of old, will 39-year-old Lothar Matthaeus be up to another 90 minutes after playing for Germany against Switzerland in Kaiserslautern on Wednesday? What about 39-year-old Thomas Dooley, returning from injury?
* Will the temperamental Matthaeus again throw his captain’s armband at game officials or expose his rear end to reporters, both of which he has done this season, or will he behave?
* Will oft-injured former U.S. national team midfielder Tab Ramos finally make his season debut for New York/New Jersey and what impact will he have? Ramos hasn’t played since July 10.
* Is the Galaxy’s speed too much for the MetroStars’ defense to handle?
* Have Robin Fraser and Cobi Jones recovered sufficiently from their Thursday flight from Moscow, where they played for the U.S. in a 2-0 loss to Russia on Wednesday?
* How will Clint Mathis play now that he has signed a hefty new contract with MLS?
* Can the MetroStars score, considering that Colombian striker Adolfo “El Tren” Valencia is suspended because of a red card in the last game?
* Will the fans return to Giants Stadium? The MetroStars’ most recent home game drew only 7,800. And that was the announced figure.
Zambrano isn’t concerned with too many of these questions. His focus is on rebuilding a club that is a combined 9-29 over the last two seasons.
Signing Jolley and another former Galaxy player, Daniel Hernandez, was a step in that direction, but more is needed, said Zambrano, who has threatened a widespread house-cleaning.
“These are the first moves we think are important to us to improve our team,” Zambrano said.
But just how many more changes will MLS allow the MetroStars to make, considering it already has signed Matthaeus, Valencia and fellow Colombian Alex Comas this season?
The importance of MLS succeeding in the nation’s largest market is likely to cause some bending of the rules, but that won’t necessarily translate into wins.
In an effort to lure fans back and also to replenish the team’s coffers, the MetroStars announced that they would be staging four international games.
On May 20, Parma (Italy) will take on Benfica (Portugal); on May 27, Colombia will play Jamaica; on July 22, Luis Angel Firpo (El Salvador) will meet Deportivo Cali (Colombia); and on Aug. 20, Haiti will play Honduras. All four games will follow MetroStar matches as the second half of doubleheaders.
