Lack of Forward Production Keeps Galaxy Stuck in Neutral
The Galaxy roster, finally filled with its full complement of 22 players, lists only four forwards among them.
Perhaps that’s part of the problem: no depth up front.
For the eighth consecutive game, the forwards--the players who are paid to put the ball in the back of the net--failed to deliver Saturday night.
That allowed the San Jose Earthquakes to escape the Rose Bowl with a 1-1 tie after overtime, much to the displeasure of the crowd of 17,831, the fans having come to expect far more from the Galaxy.
Los Angeles was the league’s highest-scoring team in 1998, banging in an MLS-record 85 goals. Last year, the goal tally dropped to 49, and through 13 games this season, the team has scored only 20 goals.
In its last seven games, only six goals have been scored, not one of them by the four forwards: Cobi Jones, Seth George, Marvin Quijano and Luis Hernandez.
Jones, who started out with four goals in his first three games of 2000, hasn’t found the back of the net since April 1.
George has played a total of 44 minutes this season and Quijano has only five minutes on the field. Neither has scored.
Clint Mathis scored three goals in eight games, but was traded away so that the Galaxy could acquire Hernandez, who hasn’t scored in either of his two games and didn’t look remotely like doing so Saturday.
It all adds up to a sorry picture for the Galaxy (6-1-6), which has used an assortment of midfielders in forward positions hoping to break the scoring drought. Los Angeles now trails the unbeaten Kansas City Wizards (10-0-2) by eight points in the Western Division.
In a dispiriting and disjointed game, the Galaxy at least did most of the running, even though much of it was to no avail. It even held the lead for 10 minutes, thanks not to a forward but to defensive midfielder Simon Elliott, the most lively and committed player on the field.
The goal came in the 22nd minute after Jones had burned San Jose defender Wade Barrett on the right wing. Jones crossed the ball into the penalty area, where Earthquake midfielder Mauricio Solis cleared it out of danger--he thought.
Instead, the ball fell to Elliott and the New Zealander cracked home a shot from 20 yards that any forward would have been proud to call his own.
Solis made up for his gaffe in fine style 10 minutes later. Khodadad Azizi, San Jose’s highly paid but frequently immobile Iranian playmaker, was allowed the time to float a cross in from the right flank.
No Galaxy defender was anywhere near Solis when he leaped to head the ball past goalkeeper Kevin Hartman from about 15 yards to tie the score.
That’s the way it stayed.
Hernandez, not yet in sync with his teammates, wasted two clear scoring chances, blasting shots over the crossbar and wide right in the first half.
Under the league’s bizarre and often unfathomable rules, the Galaxy, which was forced to give up three players in order to acquire Hernandez, has since added two players.
The latest, 26-year-old Yugoslav midfielder Ivan Polic, was signed Saturday and suited up for the game but did not play.
“One of our present team needs is for another central midfielder, and that’s something that Ivan can rectify for us,” Schmid said. “He has experience overseas and is technically a very confident player.”
Although born in Kraljevo, Yugoslavia, Polic is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was a four-year starter at Southern Methodist University. After earning his degree in electrical engineering, he played for two season in the Yugoslav league, most recently for Radnicki Nis of the first division.
“He is technically a good player and passer of the ball, who makes very few mistakes and will be a good complimentary player to get the ball to [Mauricio] Cienfuegos, Jones and Hernandez,” Schmid said.
Earlier, the Galaxy acquired midfielder Brian Kelly from the New York/New Jersey MetroStars in part-exchange for Roy Myers. Kelly made his debut for the overtime period Saturday and showed some speed.
But what the Galaxy needs are forwards, not midfielders.
