CARSON, Calif. – Bruce Arena addressed the media following the LA Galaxy’s 3-0 victory over Chivas USA on Sunday afternoon.
His complete thoughts are below:
(On the play of Stefan Ishizaki…)
ARENA: “In time he is going to give us good passing. He is capable of scoring goals like he demonstrated today, but he needs a little time, he is still making the adjustment in to the league. Today is a difficult day for a player that has played in Europe his whole life, a lot in Scandinavia and all of a sudden he is on a field that is about 80 degrees, it’s sticky, all of that. So that was a little challenging for not only Stefan but all the players. The conditions were difficult today to play in. He had a solid game, obviously a good goal. I think he needs to deal with the speed and the pressure on the ball a little bit better than he did today.”
(On the tactical changes made in the midfield…)
ARENA: “I don’t want to underscore us or over score us. Formations are what they are. It is 11 players out on the field. It just so happens that it accommodates the players that we have out there a little bit better. If we somehow shifted [Marcelo] Sarvas next to Juninho and Stefan [Ishizaki] a little on the right and Baggio [Husidic] a little bit on the right, the world wasn’t going to change. Don’t be understanding that this formation is what we’re changing; it’s the 11 players on the field. If that was the case, then you create formations all day using that as a reason of why you’re winning or not winning. And really in all honesty, I really think it is overplayed and I think it is a question of how those players move together and work for each other.”
(On the Galaxy’s first win of the season…)
ARENA: “I suspected we win a game at some point this year, I think we have such an awkward schedule it’s been difficult. It’s just good to get back playing again and winning a game. You know you have to win a game, that’s the name of the game. That’s why you play. It’s important, it’s our first win. It has to establish some confidence in the team, and it’s good to just be playing again. If we had to do another two weeks of training, I think we’d kill each other, we wouldn’t have a team ready for the next game.”
(On the team’s performance…)
ARENA: “We do have a good team. We have good days. We had a good day today, but I think we were a bit sloppy. I think we could have been better today. Obviously we had a two goal lead at half time and it’s a little easier. I anticipated this game would be a close game. I think we did a good job in the first 15 minutes of the second half and basically killed the game.”
On Landon Donovan’s 90 minute performance…)
ARENA: “He played 30 minutes the other day. He played 90 minutes today, we’d expect a little fatigue but 30 minutes shouldn’t bother him. Landon is pretty fit, and he looked pretty good to me tonight.”
(On Chivas USA’s performance…)
ARENA: “Like I told Wilmer [Cabrera] after the game, I think he is doing a good job with the team. It’s a starting point. Defensively they had a plan there, they’re hard to break down. The players worked hard for 90 minutes, which is a good sign for them, and that means in our league that if you could do that then you can steal some games, you’re going to win some others but you’re going to be around there. So those are the characteristics they have. I think they have a very good goalkeeper in Dan Kennedy, they have a young player up top who has now scored goals in the League, [Erick] Torres, which is encouraging. [Mauro] Rosales could play for any team in the league. [Carlos [Bocanegra] is a good experienced player. They’ve got good players and good things going and they have a good year. I think for sure there are more signs of improvement for Chivas.”
(On the play of forward Robbie Keane…)
ARENA: “Robbie [Keane] doesn’t necessarily like these conditions. This would be like burning in hell in Ireland. He got the first goal; he was part of a bunch of goal scoring opportunities. He could have had another goal. Robbie played well; he is a factor on the field.”
(On the team’s midfielders…)
ARENA: “They’re all good soccer players. There’s enough bite in them where they can win tackles. Marcelo [Sarvas], Juninho, and Baggio [Husidic ] get around the ball pretty well. They can all pass the ball; those are good characteristics for midfield players. If your midfield players can’t pass the ball then you’ve got some problems. So that helps us a little bit.”
