CARSON, Calif. – It’s amazing what something as simple as a victory can do for a struggling team like the LA Galaxy.
There is a little extra bounce in their steps at training, there are more smiles and the collective mood is much more upbeat.
It was all that and then some Wednesday, their first full day of training this week, as the Galaxy (2-3-0), fresh off a badly-needed 3-1 victory over the Portland Timbers, started preparations for Saturday’s game in Commerce City, Colo., against the Colorado Rapids (3-3-0).
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“I can actually enjoy my life,” midfielder Mike Magee said with a grin Wednesday. “I can go back to smiling and showing my face at Starbucks.”
Head coach Bruce Arena said the proverbial dark cloud hadn’t been entirely lifted from the team – “I think there’s still a little gray up there,” he joked – but the performance against the Timbers was sorely needed for the defending MLS Cup champions who had been languishing at the bottom of the Western Conference table.
“We’re starting to move forward,” Arena said. “Every little bit helps.”
A number of players said the victory also carried over into Monday’s reserve match, a 1-0 victory over the Seattle Sounders.
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“Winning helps,” said veteran Pat Noonan, who made his second appearance of the season when he came on for Magee in the 80th minute Saturday. “The performance against Portland was a team effort, which was encouraging. I think as a group you come into training the next week feeling positive, thinking ‘Hey, we did that as a team.’
“And that’s great.”
Magee said he could tell a difference almost at the moment Juninho scored in the 83rd minute against the Timbers to give the Galaxy a 2-1 lead. David Beckham then sealed the outcome with a goal in stoppage time.
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“As soon as Juni scored that goal,” Magee said, “I think it was kind of like a weight had been lifted off our shoulders.”
Juninho even broke out a samba dance in celebration of his first regular season goal since last August against FC Dallas.
“That goal allowed us to breathe a little bit easier,” he said through an interpreter Wednesday. “That goal was very important. It was hard to see us at the bottom of the table.
“The confidence is definitely there now. It allows us to work better.”
Noonan, in his 11th MLS season and first with the Galaxy, said the club’s core group of veterans convinced him the surprising, early slump wouldn’t last long.
A younger team, he pointed out, might have continued to have problems.
“Fortunately for us we have the veterans that have been in these situations and know how to respond to them, and they responded well,” he said. “You need that leadership to get over the hump of a little losing streak. If it was a younger team, maybe it is cause for concern.
“With the leadership we have luckily we were able to get over a little bad spell like that and turn it around. And we did that. At the same time it’s one game. We need to do it for long stretches.”
