Jones Is Latest Issue for Galaxy
As if Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid did not have enough troubles, with his team having lost two consecutive Major League Soccer games and three of its last four, now Cobi Jones has been sidelined.
Jones will sit out tonight’s match against the Fire at Chicago after suffering a concussion and neck strain during Wednesday night’s 3-0 loss to the New York/New Jersey MetroStars at the Home Depot Center.
The injury occurred when Jones, dribbling down the left flank, collided with Gilberto Flores, the MetroStars’ Brazilian midfielder. Jones, the team’s all-time leader in minutes and games played, is expected to return in time for the home game against the San Jose Earthquakes on the Fourth of July.
Because of injuries and national team call-ups, Schmid has found it almost impossible to put the same team on the field from game to game this season.
Besides Jones, the Galaxy also will be without defenders Tyrone Marshall and Ricky Lewis and midfielder Peter Vagenas for the match at Soldier Field.
Chicago is the only team the Galaxy has beaten in its current slump, having overcome the Fire, 3-2, at the Home Depot Center on June 12.
The changing of the starting lineup, especially on defense, has hampered the Galaxy’s attempt to achieve rhythm, according to Schmid.
“Defensively, in the first seven games we allowed only eight goals and were fairly responsible and consistent,” he said. “We’ve had to make a lot of lineup changes in the back and that has impacted us a bit.
“We’ve just got to sort out our concentration for 90 minutes.”
In the last seven games, the Galaxy defense has given up 16 goals and the team has slumped from a 3-1-3 record in its first seven games to a 3-4 mark in its last seven.
No player has taken on the responsibility of taking charge on the field, a situation that Schmid says needs to be addressed.
“The guy who is our most vocal guy in midfield, Peter Vagenas, is injured,” he said. “Marcelo [Brazilian midfielder Marcelo Saragosa] obviously language-wise can’t always communicate everything that he sees and senses.
“Andy [Austrian veteran Andreas Herzog] is a good pro but is more on the offensive side of it. So he can demand certain things offensively, but he can’t organize us coming out of the back or defensively.
“Cobi does it at times and at other times he’s more preoccupied with getting out on the wing and doing his individual thing, which we need him to do if we are to be successful.”
In other words, there is no natural on-field leader.
“In fairness, that’s probably an area that we could be better at,” Schmid said. “The leadership really has to come from somewhere in the middle of the field, whether it’s Marcelo, or Sasha [Victorine], or Peter, when he comes back, or Andy.
“It has got to come somewhere from there.”
