Galaxy left to play D.C. United with thinning roster
Frank Yallop has any number of reasons to be glum these days, but the Galaxy coach is as upbeat as ever, convinced that his team’s fortunes sooner or later will turn around.
The Galaxy is 1-3-2 and next-to-last in the Western Conference going into tonight’s Major League Soccer game against D.C. United at the Home Depot Center, and Yallop is missing 10 players --in other words, more than a third of his roster.
This is how it breaks down:
Forwards Alan Gordon and Gavin Glinton, midfielder Quavas Kirk, and defenders Chris Albright and Troy Roberts are sidelined, the majority with long-term injuries. Midfielder Kyle Martino is suspended after being red-carded in the Galaxy’s 1-0 loss at the Colorado Rapids last weekend.
Midfielder Kevin Harmse and defender Ante Jazic left to join the Canadian national team for its Friday friendly against Venezuela in South America and will not return until Canada either wins or is eliminated from the Gold Cup, which runs from Wednesday through June 24.
Midfielder David Beckham and defender Abel Xavier have not yet arrived.
The Galaxy is about to sign a foreign forward, whose name is being kept under wraps, but the paperwork needed to get him a visa is taking a while.
Which leaves Yallop with only 16 players tonight, and three of them are goalkeepers. On Sunday, Landon Donovan joins the U.S. national team for the Gold Cup. In all likelihood, he will stay away until the U.S. wins or is knocked out of the Copa America, which runs from June 26 to July 15.
It’s enough to make a coach cry foul, but Yallop knew the rules coming in. “This stuff is sent to test you, I think,” he said, adding that he has had to start several young players, including rookies Ty Harden and Robbie Findley, who normally would have been eased into the lineup.
“I feel a little bit sorry for some of them. They’ve been thrown in the deep end -- Harden and Findley, to name two, and even Kevin Harmse,” Yallop said.
All three have played well, for the most part, but the Galaxy has not gotten off to the start it wanted. “What we don’t have, maybe, is that little bit of luck at the moment,” Yallop said. “But I think the quality players coming will make the difference, once we get everyone available.”
Alexi Lalas, the Galaxy’s president and general manager, is learning the hard way just how frustrating the MLS salary cap and player acquisition rules can be. Manchester United just spent $100 million to bolster its team by signing only three new players. Lalas, meanwhile, has $2.1 million to spend on his entire roster, and $400,000 of that counts toward Beckham’s $6.5-million-a-year salary.
There are days, such as today, when the Galaxy might have preferred -- and indeed been better off -- getting six $1-million players, but, as Yallop said, better days are ahead.
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TONIGHT
vs. D.C. United, 7:30, FSC, FSE
Site -- Home Depot Center.
Radio -- 1700, 830 (Spanish).
Records -- Galaxy 1-3-2, D.C. United 3-3-1.
Record vs. D.C. United (2006) -- 1-0-1.
Update -- Four-time MLS champion D.C. United got off to a slow start but is unbeaten in its last four. Jaime Moreno and Christian Gomez are still United’s key players, but useful newcomers include Brazilians Luciano Emilio and Fred, the Ivory Coast’s Guy-Roland Kpene and England’s Kasali Yinka Casal. The Mexican rock band Kinky will perform a pregame concert in the stadium at 6 p.m.
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