Injuries don’t prevent Galaxy’s Gregg Berhalter from contributing

Bruce Arena might be among the smartest coaches U.S. soccer has produced. But innovative? Well, not so much.

So it’s a credit to Arena, whom the Galaxy hired as its coach in 2008, that as he has gotten older he has not only challenged some of the concepts he once held dear, but also tried things that, years earlier, he probably would have dismissed out of hand.

And that, in a roundabout way, brings us to Galaxy defender Gregg Berhalter.

As Arena and the Galaxy were licking their wounds after a disappointing end to last season, Arena approached Berhalter and asked if he would like to come back as a player-coach, a concept as rare in top-level professional soccer as it is in any other sport.

“You could tell he always had an interest in the coaching side of the game,” Arena said. “I always felt that Gregg had the makings to be a coach. And I thought, as he was approaching the end of his career, that it would be nice to offer him that opportunity.”

The experiment has worked marvelously, both on the pitch and off. Though injuries have limited Berhalter to 10 games —eight starts — this season, his presence alongside Omar Gonzalez in the central defense has helped solidify a Galaxy unit that has given up the fewest goals in the league heading into the team’s playoff opener Sunday against the New York Red Bulls at Harrison, N.J.

And off the field, Berhalter has proven adept at teaching Arena’s concepts to a talented back line that is among the MLS’ best.

“I learned so much from him,” Berhalter said. “To see how it all works. And put some of my own ideas in, it’s been unbelievable. It’s been a great learning experience.”

But it hasn’t been easy. After training with his teammates each morning, Berhalter had to stick around every afternoon to work with the coaches.

“You just have to be smart,” the 38-year-old said. “There’s times when we’re playing a lot of games and I knew that when I went home I had to rest. You can’t really do much else.

“But at the same time you’re learning tons about soccer. And breaking down a lot of video.”

In addition to learning to manage his time, Berhalter had to walk a fine line between being a player and being a coach. If his teammates felt he was betraying them to the staff, he would have lost their respect. And if the coaches felt he was putting one player’s interest above the team, he would have lost their trust.

“That’s always an issue. And he’s had to be good about that,” Arena said. “It’s never perfect because our approach is — especially when we started off the year — he’s a player first, a coach second. With the time off from the playing field because of injury he’s been able to devote more time to the coaching end of it.”

Although Berhalter started the Galaxy’s final two regular-season matches, he is listed as questionable for Sunday’s playoff game against the explosive Red Bulls, who led the Eastern Conference in scoring with 50 goals.

A cerebral defender, Berhalter would certainly like to be on field and not the sideline in the postseason. He has announced his plans to retire as a player to go into coaching full time. So when the Galaxy’s season ends, so will his 18-year professional career, one that included lengthy stops in England, Germany and the Netherlands as well as two World Cups and 44 caps with the U.S. national team.

And that has imbued this postseason with a bit more urgency because for all Berhalter has accomplished in his career, there’s still one thing missing: a championship.

“It’s huge. And it’s huge for everyone,” Berhalter said.

“For me, it has special connotations because it’s my last year. So obviously it means a tremendous amount to me. But it means a lot to everybody. We’re focused on winning. And we can talk all we want about it. But we have to go out on the field and do it.”

Sounds like a coach already.

kevin.baxter@latimes.com