Galaxy Is on the Road to Nowhere
The Galaxy, once favored to win Major League Soccer’s Western Conference, continued its precipitous slide Saturday night when it was beaten, 2-0, by the Colorado Rapids at Invesco Field in Denver.
Los Angeles has won only one of its last 10 league matches (1-6-3) and is clinging to third place in the conference, only five points ahead of the Rapids, who hold the fourth and final playoff spot.
As disappointing as the result was to Coach Steve Sampson, the Galaxy’s lethargic and uninspired play was even more troubling.
Only goalkeeper Kevin Hartman’s first-class saves on shots by Jeff Cunningham and Alain Nkong prevented what could have been a 4-0 loss.
The suddenly .500 Galaxy (8-8-5) has not defeated the Rapids in Colorado since 2002. This time it trailed after only seven minutes. Cunningham, the league’s leading goal scorer, burned rookie defender Ugo Ihemelu 6:28 into the game before firing a shot into the far left corner of the net for his 11th goal.
At 29:17, Cunningham’s strike partner, Haitian forward Jean Philippe Peguero, put a move on another rookie defender, Troy Roberts, and doubled the advantage for the Rapids (7-11-3).
From then on, the Galaxy appeared to lose interest and Sampson’s second-half substitutions did nothing to change the outcome.
What is likely to change soon is the Galaxy roster.
The international transfer window reopens on Aug. 15, allowing teams to acquire players from abroad, and Sampson is seeking help.
Costa Rican international forward Steven Bryce’s name has emerged, and Sampson, who coached Bryce when Sampson had charge of the Ticos, acknowledged the Galaxy’s interest in the former Alajuelense player.
“To be honest, I’ve been looking at Steven for quite a while,” Sampson said before leaving for Colorado. “He’s a free agent and he’s never played outside Costa Rica, so he’s someone we’ve been looking at.”
The fact that Bryce, who turns 28 this month, is on the national team and will be unavailable for long stretches because of World Cup qualifying and, probably, during the Germany ’06 World Cup itself, makes him less appealing, however.
“That’s the downside,” Sampson said.
The team also is talking to a player from Chile, but Galaxy officials declined to reveal his identity.
Meanwhile, Sampson was invited by MLS to coach the league’s all-star team in an Aug. 24 game against Real Madrid in Spain but said he turned down the offer.
“Quite frankly, we have a lot of work to do here and I think it would be inappropriate for me to leave the team at this time,” he said.
“I would love to do it, but we have a game on the Saturday, the [MLS] team leaves on Sunday, they arrive on Monday, they play on Tuesday and then they come back on Wednesday.
“So I truly believe it should go to a coach who does not have a match on the following Saturday.”
The Galaxy plays at D.C. United on Aug. 20 and at San Jose on Aug. 27, and a trip to Europe in between would be a disruption. The team also was supposed to play the Earthquakes in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals at San Jose on Aug. 24, but Sampson said a new date is being arranged for the quarterfinals because of the Real Madrid match.
As for Galaxy players who might be a part of the MLS all-star team -- midfielder Landon Donovan, defender Chris Albright and goalkeeper Hartman are prime candidates -- Sampson said he was negotiating to limit the damage.
“The case that we’re making is that anyone called into the national team [for the Aug. 17 World Cup qualifier against Trinidad and Tobago in Hartford, Conn.] should not be called in the Real Madrid match; it’s just too much soccer,” he said.
“If that’s agreed to, our position is that Landon Donovan should not go to Madrid.”
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Jones reported from Los Angeles.
