SEATTLE— Bruce Arena spoke to the media at the LA Galaxy’s hotel prior to the club’s final training session ahead of Sunday’s Western Conference Championship Second Leg match against Seattle Sounders FC.
The Galaxy head coach touched on a number of topics including the club’s injury situation, the mindset of Seattle head into the match, and a multitude of other issues.
Arena’s complete thoughts are below…
(On whether there was an update on Landon Donovan, Edson Buddle and Juninho…)
ARENA: “I think everyone is doing well. We’ll make that decision tomorrow, but our guys are all here and we’ll get on the field and see how everyone is feeling.”
(On what he hopes to gain from the training session today…)
ARENA: “We just know that they’re training and ready to go.”
(On what the team gains from traveling the complete squad…)
ARENA: “It’s good for our team spirit. Our whole group has contributed to our success to date—our young players got us through the champions league and throughout the season as have others so it’s nice that we’re able to accommodate everyone and have them here. We think it’s important, we did the same thing when we went to San Jose.”
(On his expectations of the game…)
ARENA: “It’ll be crazy. It’s always crazy when you play here. It’ll be a good crowd, the weather conditions will be probably similar to what they are now. It can be just a hectic afternoon or evening of soccer.”
(On his plans for Saturday’s training…)
ARENA: “Most of our guys have played here before so we’ll probably train for around an hour and we’ll just let them get used to the field again, the conditions, and to get a little bit of the travel out of their system.”
(On Eddie Johnson and Fredy Montero only playing together a half this postseason and their ability to unlock LA’s defense…)
ARENA: “They’ve played together a lot; I don’t think they’re going to be looking like they don’t know each other. They’re good players and one would suspect that they’re going to get some chances. But our team is playing well, our backline has been solid, we’re not going to make anything easy. They have a good team and one would expect that they’re going to get chances.”
(On what it is like to face a team with nothing to lose…)
ARENA: “I think that’s an odd statement, it’s like we’re the ones that have all the odds against us. We do have a three goal advantage and I do think that they have something to lose. I don’t understand that rationale at all.”
(On Seattle having nothing to lose because they have to erase the deficit…)
ARENA: “That doesn’t sound like they have nothing to lose, it sounds like they have a lot to lose…I’m going to not even get into that debate, it seems like one of the oddest statements that I’ve ever heard—“they have nothing to lose.” We all have something to lose, they have something to lose, and we have something to lose. It’s an important game for both teams; both teams want to advance to the MLS Cup Final. Both teams have a lot to lose. I don’t mind being the team that happens to have the three goal advantage at this point.”
(On whether LA’s situation was a decent situation to be in…)
ARENA: “I think that we have a little bit of an edge in that regard, but anything can happen in this game and we’ll be prepared to play hard, play well and try to win the game.”
(On what he saw from Seattle’s match with Real Salt Lake in the 2011 playoffs…)
ARENA: “I haven’t watched it. I saw a couple of clips, but I haven’t watched that game.”
