Galaxy Starts Its Season in Mystery
Galaxy Coach Steve Sampson has kept his cards well hidden going into his first season opener as a Major League Soccer coach, against the Columbus Crew tonight.
All that is known for sure is that Landon Donovan will play and Naldo will not. Other than that, the Galaxy starting lineup remains a mystery.
Donovan’s much-heralded arrival, meanwhile, raises a question, one that harks back to another era: How much did the Galaxy coaches and front office personnel know and when did they know it?
If Sampson and Doug Hamilton, the team’s president and general manager, knew well in advance that the playmaking midfielder was going to be joining the team, were their other off-season acquisitions made with that in mind?
Did they, for instance, acquire Guatemalan midfielder Guillermo “El Pando” Ramirez specifically to play wide of Donovan on the left? Was Brazilian forward Naldo brought in to be the target man up front specifically because his speed matched Donovan’s?
In short, did the Galaxy reconstruct itself around Donovan long before Donovan had even arrived?
“Well, obviously, once I caught wind that there was a good chance that that [trade for Donovan] was going to take place, then I had to start making some decisions on how we would play,” Sampson said, deflecting the question.
“We’re going to play in a 4-4-2 or in a 4-3-3 [formation]. He fits beautifully into that system, either as a withdrawn striker or as a No. 10 [playmaker] for us in the midfield. So we really don’t have to change that much.”
But the team will change, said veteran winger Cobi Jones, who starts his 10th MLS season tonight.
“We’re definitely going to see a team, with Landon, that can keep the ball a lot more than it did in the past,” Jones said. “He’s obviously not an out-and-out striker but he’s definitely someone who can play underneath and hold the ball for us and allow others to get forward and bring other people into the game.”
Most intriguing of all questions tonight is which forwards Sampson will field. Alan Gordon is out injured and Naldo is ineligible because he has yet to receive his work visa.
That leaves Jovan Kirovski and Joseph Ngwenya as likely possibilities, but with all the changes Sampson has made even they are not sure bets.
The same situation exists on defense, where Sampson can choose any four from six: Chris Albright, Michael Umana, Pablo Chinchilla, Tyrone Marshall, Ugo Ihemelu and Todd Dunivant.
Chances are, especially in the opener, especially on the road, especially if Friday night’s rain continues, Sampson will go with experience and select his MLS veterans over the newcomers.
Donovan’s starting place, however, is assured.
“I think he’s a phenomenal athlete,” Sampson said at the Home Depot Center on Thursday. “I think he’s proven at every single level that he’s an impact player. I love having his kind of player around us.”
