CARSON, Calif. – It’s starting to come together for Gyasi Zardes. The speed and the dynamic movements are clearly there, but there is still work to be done before he finds the back of the net.
The LA Galaxy Homegrown forward went 35 minutes in the LA Galaxy’s 1-0 defeat to the Houston Dynamo on Sunday. The match was Zardes’ second after undergoing surgery for a broken fifth metatarsal, Zardes admitted that all fitness concerns were gone, but he’ll need to be sharper in order to contribute.
“I felt pretty good. Once I came on I tried to contribute as much as possible,” Zardes told reporters. “We had a couple of opportunities; we were just unlucky (that) the ball didn’t go in the back of the net.”
The energy was certainly there in spades for Zardes, who repeatedly found his way behind the Houston defense, but at times, an extra touch turned a shot on goal into a clearance or a save. His best chance came in the 66th minute when he cut through the Dynamo defense, only to see his shot fired into the chest of Houston ‘keeper Tally Hall for one of LA’s two shots on goal on the night.
After an uneven performance, Zardes understands that he’ll have to be quicker with his trigger in the future.
“With more practice comes consistency and I understand I have to keep practicing and just make sure my head is up so I can look at teammates and put it in the box,” Zardes said. “I definitely need to work on being more of a threat and more aggressive, instead of looking for a pass sometimes just going on to goal and being the initial threat.”
Arena agreed: “Gyasi had his moments; technically he could have been a little bit better. It is going to take him a little bit of time.”
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