Galaxy Finds Its Comfort Zone

Steve Sampson says that, yes, he is a card player.

As such, the Galaxy coach knows what it means to stand pat, and that’s almost exactly what he has done during the winter with the defending Major League Soccer champions and U.S. Open Cup winners.

When the Galaxy opens its 2006 season Saturday night against the New England Revolution at the Home Depot Center, it could field the same lineup that defeated the Revolution in November’s championship match -- with one exception.

Guillermo “Pando” Ramirez, who scored the championship-winning goal, has returned to Guatemala. His spot in left midfield has been taken by Josh Gardner, a third-year player who has been “the surprise of the preseason,” Sampson said.

Other than Gardner, the status quo is undisturbed. Sampson said the successes of 2005 caused he and Doug Hamilton, the late president and general manager of the Galaxy, to keep the core of the team in place.

That is not to say there won’t be change.

There is a good chance that U.S. national team veteran John O’Brien will soon be playing in Los Angeles. Chivas USA has a player allocation it could use to sign the midfielder from Playa del Rey, but there is a chance that Coach Bob Bradley will trade that to the Galaxy in exchange for striker Herculez Gomez.

If the trade were made, Chivas USA would have a strike partner for Ante Razov and the Galaxy would have a playmaker to lead the team in the absence of Landon Donovan during the World Cup. Assuming, of course, that O’Brien, who has been training with the Galaxy, is not called up for Germany ’06.

“There are no trade talks with respect to John O’Brien,” Sampson said Wednesday. “There are no trade talks with respect to Herculez Gomez.

“Would I like to have John O’Brien on our squad? Absolutely. But not at all costs. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”

Whether or not Gomez, whose 11 goals in 2005 were second only to Donovan’s 12, is retained, the Galaxy needs some help up front, especially when Donovan is gone.

The team, in the next week or two, is expected to announce the signing of Anderson Thiago de Souza, a 21-year-old forward from Sao Paulo, Brazil, who was most recently with Borussia Dortmund in the German Bundesliga.

Thiago, as he is known, could be a foil for fellow Brazilian forward Ednaldo da Conceicao, whose effectiveness in 2005 was limited to one goal.

His arrival would also give the Galaxy four Brazilians on its roster, including midfielders Paulo Nagamura and Marcelo Saragosa.

“We are in contract negotiations with him,” Sampson said of Thiago. “We hope it gets done this week.”

Thiago trained with the Galaxy in Costa Rica recently and Sampson described him as “a diamond in the rough.”

“I’m not going to put any undue pressure on him,” the coach added, “but I think he could be a very special player.”

The Galaxy was 13-13-6 in the 2005 regular season before its storming run through the playoffs.

Can the team repeat as MLS champion?

“I think it’s more difficult to defend a title than to win a title,” Sampson said. “But every challenge we put before this team last year they came through.

“I think we’re all very excited about the challenge, and Doug’s passing gives us extra motivation.”