Lalas Has Ambitious Goals

Galaxy defender Alexi Lalas didn’t waste a second in answering the question. Not that it required much thought in the first place.

What did he want to achieve in the Major League Soccer season ahead?

“I’d like to play better than I played last year,” Lalas said. “It’s the same old story. You get older and wiser. I’d like to think that what I lack physically now, I make up for in an understanding of the game and a reading of the game.

“Certainly, I’d like to be part of another championship team. It was a wonderful run last year and a great experience on and off the field for me. Obviously, from a personal standpoint, it was nice to get that championship.”

Lalas hasn’t wasted any time making his first crucial contribution this season. On Saturday, in the Galaxy’s MLS season opener in Columbus, the 32-year-old former U.S. World Cup player and seven-year MLS veteran cleared a ball off the goal line in overtime to preserve a 1-1 tie with the Crew.

In 2002, Carlos Ruiz was the story, scoring 24 of the Galaxy’s 44 regular-season goals en route to the title. The second-leading scorer? None other than Lalas with four goals, most of them on headers off corner kicks or free kicks. Time might have slowed him a tad, but his instincts at both ends of the field are as sharp as ever.

Necaxa of the Mexican league will have to bear that in mind tonight when it plays the Galaxy at 7 at Cal State Fullerton in the first leg of their two-game CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinal series.

Lalas’ starting position was thought to be in possible jeopardy when the Galaxy signed South Korea’s Hong Myung-Bo, whose defensive skills helped the Koreans to fourth place in last summer’s World Cup.

After all, it was more likely that Hong, 34, would take Lalas’ spot rather than that of one of the Galaxy marking backs, Danny Califf, 23, or Tyrone Marshall, 28.

But Coach Sigi Schmid has crossed up the pundits by playing Hong in defensive midfield, leaving the back three intact. Given that, Lalas has been happy to welcome Hong to the Galaxy fold.

“You look at it on paper and any time you can bring in somebody who has played in four World Cups and has captained different teams and has the respect of his players and stuff like that, you want to do it,” Lalas said.

“We’ve had experience bringing in players on this team where it hasn’t gone well. That’s completely not the case here. He’s come in and not only has he been able to do it on the field, but coming in and learning a whole new language isn’t easy. He’s been accepted in the locker room, and that’s half the battle.

“He’s got all the skills and everybody respects him as a soccer player, but they also like him as a person, and that’s a good thing. Especially on this team, which is formulated on having a group of guys who work very hard on the field and enjoy each other’s company off the field. That’s part of where the success comes from.”

Player camaraderie, of course, is a cornerstone of Schmid’s coaching philosophy.

“One of the things that’s very important for me as a coach is the ambience of the team in the locker room,” he said. “Not that there have to be 18 friends on the team, but there has to be a feeling that exists there, because that helps you on the field.”

Hong and the team’s other newcomer, Honduran forward Alex Pineda Chacon, 33, have fit right in.

“Both of those guys are tremendous additions in that regard,” Schmid said. “They’re both tremendous characters. Pineda Chacon has got a great sense of humor. Myung-Bo’s English is more than adequate for getting along with the team.

“They’re also both excellent professionals in terms of their approach to training, their approach to timeliness, all of those aspects.

“Soccer-wise, it just makes us that much deeper of a team. Myung-Bo gives us someone who can play midfield and play defense, who is an excellent passer of the ball, he’s very two-footed, and he has tremendous experience.

“Both of them supply something that we need, but more than anything, they’re great professionals who fit into our team and are willing to share and pass on their experience to the younger players.”