TEMPE, Ariz. – Fresh off Wednesday’s preseason defeat at the hands of the Colorado Rapids, the LA Galaxy changed up their plans for Thursday in an effort to give some players time to recover and others the chance to put in a bit of additional work.
After a morning meeting at the team hotel, a group of 17 players traveled to the team’s training field for a 50-minute game against the U.S. Under-18 National Team while the other nine guys joined Strength and Conditioning Coach Ben Yauss for a 90-minute pool and gym workout at Athletes’ Performance. That group included Juan Pablo Angel, Landon Donovan, Todd Dunivant, Sean Franklin, Omar Gonzalez, Juninho, Leonardo and Miguel Lopez, all of whom played at least 45 minutes in Wednesday’s game, as well as midfielder Dan Keat who is continuing his recovery from a heel injury.
While that group went in one direction, the rest of the squad and the coaching staff traveled back to Tempe for the game. Played over two 25-minute halves, the Galaxy won 1-0 with Mike Magee scoring the game’s only goal midway through the second half.
In addition to Keat, the only Galaxy player not to play in either of the two contests was Chad Barrett, who also missed training on Tuesday with tightness in his hamstring. After receiving treatment on the muscle over the last two days, Barrett was able to go through the warm up with the team and play possession for more than 10 minutes before continuing his rehab work on the side of the field with Head Athletic Trainer Armando Rivas and jogging around the field throughout the first half.
Josh Saunders and Donovan Ricketts went through a complete training session with Ian Feuer throughout the game, utilizing an area behind one of the goals that has become their home for the last four days.
After the two groups reconvened for lunch at the hotel, the 17 players that had gone to the training field joined Yauss for an extended gym session at AP in Phoenix while the others met with the training staff to receive treatments and massages.
With four days already completed in Arizona, the team is nearly halfway through their 10-day camp with three training sessions and two games against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC still remaining on the docket.
Be sure to check back here throughout the club’s trip to Arizona for all the latest news and information from Tempe.
More Updates from Arizona:
Galaxy fall to Rapids, 4-2
Day 2 Training Update
Day 1 Training Update
On The Road: Arizona (part 1)
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